2025 in Review: A Year of Key Federal Law Anniversaries Benefitting Older Americans
It is too soon to tell how history will view the multitude of legal changes in 2025, but the impact on older adults will be closely analyzed by advocates, non-profit entities, and the various governmental agencies comprising the Aging Network in our nation. It therefore seems fitting to reflect upon some of the key federal laws benefitting older adults that have marked milestone anniversaries in 2025.
- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – 160th Anniversary
This Amendment abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude.
- 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – 155th Anniversary
This Amendment grants the right to vote for African American men.
- 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – 105th Anniversary.
This Amendment grants the right to vote for women.
- Age Discrimination Act of 1975 – 50th Anniversary
This law prohibits discrimination based on age in activities, benefits, and programs receiving federal financial assistance.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 – 35th Anniversary
This law extends protection against discrimination in employment and public accommodations to individuals with disabilities, including older adults who may experience various age-related physical limitations, cognitive impairments, and sensory losses.
- Civil Service Retirement Act of 1920 – 105th Anniversary
This law establishes the first federal contributory retirement system for civil employees.
- Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) of 2020 – 5th Anniversary
This law authorizes direct economic assistance for American workers, families, small businesses, and industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 – 5th Anniversary
This law allocates an additional $8.3 billion in funding for federal agencies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 – 20th Anniversary
This law authorizes the Medicaid Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing demonstration program, lengthens the look-back period for asset transfer period under Medicaid applications for long-term care, and permits states to offer self-direction of personal care services under Medicaid-funded home-and community-based services.
- Elder Justice Act – 15th Anniversary
This law addresses elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation at the federal level for the very first time.
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act – 5th Anniversary
This law provides for free coronavirus testing and paid emergency leave for workers with COVID-19 symptoms waiting on a diagnosis, caring for an individual under quarantine, or caring for a child whose school or place of care has been closed or is unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions.
- Federal Insurance Contribution Act of 1935 – 90th Anniversary
This law requires employers to withhold taxes from employee earnings to fund the Medicare and Social Security programs.
- Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 – 30th Anniversary
This law allows for the creation of senior living communities.
- Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 (MHSA) – 45th Anniversary
This law starts reform of the mental health care system in the country by emphasizing the need to provide appropriate treatment and related services through community-based care instead of institutional settings.
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – 50th Anniversary
This law guarantees that children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive a free public education that is appropriate to individual needs in the least restrictive environment.
- National Labor Relations Act – 90th Anniversary
This law guarantees the rights of private-sector employees to organize into unions, collectively bargain, and engage in strikes.
- Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970 – 55th Anniversary
This law ensures healthy and safe working conditions for employees.
- Older Americans Act of 1965 – 60th Anniversary
This law provides for comprehensive supportive home and community-based services so older adults can age in place at home through the establishment of the National Aging Network, comprised of the Administration on Aging at the federal level, State Units on Aging at the state level, and Area Agencies on Aging at the local level.
- Older Americans Act Amendments of 2000 – 25th Anniversary
This law establishes the National Family Caregiver Support Program.
- Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 – 35th Anniversary
This law prohibits age discrimination in the provision of fringe benefits, such as life insurance, health insurance, disability benefits, pensions, and retirement benefits.
- Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA 90) – 35th Anniversary
This law expands Medicaid coverage of Medicare Part B premiums (providing a voluntary medical insurance plan for doctors' services, outpatient care, and other medical services that are not paid by Medicare Part A) to Medicare beneficiaries with incomes between 100 and 120 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) – 15th Anniversary
This law institutes various health reforms for the purpose of increasing access to affordable health insurance, improving the quality of healthcare, and reducing healthcare costs.
- Patient Self-Determination Act – 35th Anniversary
This law ensures that individuals are informed of the right to make healthcare decisions using advance directive forms.
- Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act of 2000 – 25th Anniversary
This law removes earnings limits that penalize seniors who continue working while receiving Social Security benefits.
- Social Security Act of 1935 – 90th Anniversary
This law establishes several programs to provide benefits for old-age retirees and the jobless, as well as aid for dependent mothers and children, victims of work-related accidents, people who are blind, and those who have physical disabilities.
- Social Security Amendments of 1965 – 60th Anniversary
This law creates the Medicaid and Medicare programs.
- Social Security Amendments of 1974 (enacted in 1975) – 50th Anniversary
This law added Title XX to the Social Security Act thereby creating what is called the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) that requires states to prevent or reduce inappropriate institutional care by providing for home- and community-based services (HCBS).
- Supporting Older Americans Act of 2020 – 5th Anniversary
This law is the latest action to reauthorize the Older Americans Act (OAA), which reauthorized programming through Federal Fiscal Year 2024, and it also includes the Younger-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Act, which amends the OAA by extending eligibility for supportive services to individuals (under age 60) with younger-onset Alzheimer's disease as well as their caregivers.
- Tax Reduction Act of 1975 – 50th Anniversary
This law in part provides for an Earned Income Tax Credit that helps low- to moderate-income workers and families with children get a tax break.
- Voting Rights Act of 1965 – 60th Anniversary
This law prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
- Emergency Relief Appropriation Act – 90th Anniversary
This law creates the Works Progress Administration, which provided paid jobs for the unemployed primarily through construction projects during the Great Depression.
Upon reflection, it is so obvious that each of these laws, and subsequent amendments or successor legislative initiatives, has made a profound difference in the lives of countless individuals across the nation by addressing poverty; improving personal health, safety, and welfare in community, institutional, and workplace settings; expanding access to educational opportunities; and reinforcing how the rule of law and the legal system protect fundamental rights and justice in America. As policymakers today at all levels of government grapple with competing priorities in the face of budgetary constraints, let’s all keep in mind “that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” Quote attributed to Hubert H. Humphrey, Jr. on November 4, 1977.
For more information about important aging and disability policy priorities, visit:
- AARP: https://www.aarp.org/membership/benefits/advocacy/
- Justice in Aging: https://justiceinaging.org/priorities/
- The Arc: https://thearc.org/policy-advocacy/
- The National Adult Protective Services Association: https://www.napsa-now.org/public-policy
- The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care: https://theconsumervoice.org/resources/#priorities
- The National Council on Aging: https://www.ncoa.org/page/older-americans-act-reauthorization/
- The National Disability Rights Network: https://www.ndrn.org/take-action/
- The National Legal and Defender Association: https://www.nlada.org/issues-and-initiatives#:~:text=NLADA%20promotes%20policies%20that%20advance,leadership%20capacity%20and%20racial%20equity
- SAGE: https://www.sageusa.org/advocacy-partnerships/
- USAging: https://www.usaging.org/Files/USAging_2025PolicyPriorities_final_WEB.pdf
Karen Alice Kloppe is a graduate of Illinois State University (B.A.) and the University of Illinois College of Law (J.D.). She is employed as the Legal Assistance Developer at the Illinois Department on Aging in Springfield, Illinois. This message has been written by the author in her personal capacity for informational purposes only. It is not an official document of the Illinois Department on Aging or the State of Illinois.