Biden administration announces $37B in funding to benefit seniors, disabled Americans

The Biden administration announced Tuesday that $37 billion in funding has been committed to benefit seniors and Americans with disabilities since the start of the administration.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released new data that showed all 50 states are leveraging support from the American Rescue Plan, which President Biden signed into law in 2021, and that states have committed about $37 billion so far. 

More than $25 billion of the funding has gone to help retain, expand, and train care workforces and to increase the pay and improve benefits for care workers.

The other roughly $12 billion includes services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, offering family caregivers training and counseling support, reducing waitlists for home and community-based services and providing housing-related services to Americans at risk of homelessness due to mental illness.

The Biden administration highlighted several states that have taken advantage of the funds, including Colorado, which it said had increased the base wages of 60,000 care workers with the funding.

Maine has provided bonuses to more than 24,000 care workers, while North Carolina established a fund to improve recruitment and retention of care workers, the administration said.

Later on Tuesday, officials will convene to discuss the investments in home and community care. The discussion will be led by Health and Human Services Administration Sec. Xavier Becerra and will include Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Democratic Govs. Josh Shapiro (Pa.), Janet Mills (Maine), and Jared Polis (Colo.).