Up against a Dec. 20, 2024, deadline to fund the government to keep it open, the 118th Congress approved a legislative package that included:

• A brief extension of current funding (the FY25 appropriations) through March 14, 2025
• A three-month extension of important Medicare programs
• $31 billion in disaster assistance

Fiscal year 2025 appropriations

Although the 2025 federal fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2024, the annual appropriations are still being provided through short-term continuing resolutions (CR). The latest one will keep the government open and vital aging programs running through March 14, 2025. Significant differences between Senate and House annual appropriations bills have yet to be resolved. We will have to continue to fight for investments and prevent cuts in Aging Services rather than gearing up for the FY26 funding debate.

MIPPA: Three month extension

Similar to last year, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), which  connects Medicare beneficiaries with programs that can make their health care and prescription drugs more affordable, has been briefly extended into March. Older adults should not have to deal with further delays in ensuring continued access to the guidance and counseling that connects them to assistance with affording their health care and prescription medications.

Another vital health care program that was included in the three-month extension is Medicare telehealth, which ensures continued access to telehealth for people with Medicare coverage. Specific telehealth flexibilities extended in the package include:

removing geographic restrictions and expanding service areas increasing the eligibility of health care providers to use telehealth, extending coverage for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), and delaying in-person visit requirements for mental health services provided through telehealth

Unfinished business for 2025

As the 119th Congress convened on Jan. 3, 2025, finalizing FY25 appropriations and providing long-term extensions of MIPPA and other health programs still needed to be addressed.

Work also needs to be finished on other issues of importance to older adults and their families that were left out of the final votes of 2024. These include:

• Reauthorizing the Older Americans Act (OAA)
• Replacing benefits for victims of skimming of SNAP EBT balances
• Protecting and strengthening SNAP in Farm Bill extension
• Renewing Money Follows the Person and Spousal Protections, as well as Medicare beneficiary access to social worker mental health services

This legislative work is on top of the debates already expected in early 2025, particularly those focused on the budget for FY26, which starts in October 2025. Learn more.