A Dismantled Safety Net Could Drive Housing Insecurity Among Older Americans

The social safety net for older adults—including Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, and income-based programs like Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and housing assistance– were intended to mitigate (PDF) persistent challenges seniors face. But this web of support has been straining as baby boomers reach retirement age and recent federal cuts threaten these programs.

As a result, many are facing heightened risks of housing instability, homelessness, and unnecessary institutionalization. This situation is devasting for the people affected and will have large impacts on broader communities. Here are the five key ways the social safety net is being eroded and steps local governments can take to support older adults.

1. Threats to home and community-based supports: Cuts to the Administration for Community Living jeopardize core programs that help older adults live independently, including home- and community-based services, area agencies on aging, and centers for independent living. These cuts threaten essential services such as senior centers, caregiver supports, transportation, assistive technology, and the 244 million meals delivered annually through Meals on Wheels.
2. Cuts to Medicaid and long-term care access: Cuts to Medicaid—which funds most home- and community-based services—could leave many older adults with no choice but to enter nursing homes they may neither want nor need. Though states must cover personal care in nursing facilities to receive federal Medicaid dollars, comparable services that help seniors and people with disabilities remain at home—such as assistance with bathing, dressing, and meal preparation—are optional and vulnerable to cuts under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
3. New work requirements and rising food insecurity: As of January 1, 2026, OBBBA’s new work requirements for SNAP recipients will increase the risk of severe food insecurity among older adults who may face challenges to employment because of health limitations and caregiving responsibilities. Before OBBBA, the able-bodied adults without dependents time limit applied to beneficiaries ages 18-54; OBBBA expanded it to include those ages 55–64 unless they qualify for an exception. This means many older SNAP beneficiaries now have to document that they’re working or participating in required employment programs to maintain their benefits. SNAP currently provides adults 50 and older with an average of $7 a day, helping them stretch fixed incomes to cover food, housing, and medical costs, but this is at risk under the new rules.
4. Cuts to housing assistance programs: Cuts to housing assistance—including the proposed elimination of Continuum of Care programs and potential reductions or limitations to housing vouchers and public housing—will place older adults and disabled people who rely on these supports at heightened risk of housing instability and homelessness. Older adults are already the fastest-growing group experiencing homelessness.
5. Reduced Social Security Administration (SSA) staffing and slower Supplemental Security Income (SSI)/SSDI processing: Reductions in staffing at the SSA, paired with retirement claims increasing by half a million in 2025, mean there are fewer personnel to process applications and payments, which will delay access to essential income supports for older adults and people with disabilities. More than 7 million (PDF) adults 65 and older rely on Social Security for at least 90 percent of their income, and over 11 million disabled Americans depend on SSDI or SSI.

Though these cuts will affect many across the country, some regions will be hit harder than others. Approximately 59.3 million people in the US are older than 65, and almost a quarter are residents of Maine, Vermont, and Florida. Other states at risk include West Virginia, New Mexico, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana, which represent large aging populations with a heavy reliance on federal safety net programs and government transfer payments, accounting for roughly a quarter or more of total personal income. Although these states are highlighted, there are likely regional differences, especially in rural and poorer communities.

Here are a few steps local policymakers take to better protect their older adults:

1. Use data to paint an accurate picture of older adult residents in your community. As federal systems erode, local governments need a clear picture of the service gaps they’ll be facing. Start by inventorying what data you already collect from health systems and other sources and where gaps remain across housing, health, aging, and human services systems. Key considerations are: where older adults live, which services they rely on, where waiting lists are growing, and who’s falling through the cracks (people who never enroll, drop off between services, and cycle in an out of care).
   
   Just as important is identifying what needed data points are currently unmeasured, such as unmet care needs, informal caregiving, or housing instability. Even imperfect local data can help cities target limited resources more effectively, estimate budget shortfalls, and avoid flying blind as risks accelerate.
2. Connect systems that older adults already rely on. Older adults often interact with multiple systems—housing, health care, food, and income supports—but those systems often aren’t effectively coordinated. Local governments can strengthen connections among providers through shared referrals, aligned intake processes, and cross-agency coordination. Better integration helps streamline access to services that remain, reduce duplicative processes and applications that may create service lags or risk inaccurate rejection, and identify problems earlier, before issues escalate into crises. In a constrained funding environment, connecting services (PDF) effectively stretches local dollars while improving outcomes.  
    
3. Engage state policymakers. Many consequential decisions affecting older adults are made at the state level. Local leaders can play a critical role by elevating on-the-ground evidence of rising needs, growing waiting lists, and service disruptions tied to federal cuts. Some jurisdictions already use their own funds to support programs to help residents age in place—these could become models for other communities. Coordinated engagement with these state-level policymakers can help protect funding, shape program design, and prevent policy changes that push costs and risk down to cities and families.

This moment leaves little room for delay. Without coordinated action, cuts to the safety net can quickly push more older adults toward housing instability, food insecurity, and institutionalization, shifting costs to the families and local systems least able to absorb them. Clear assessment and cross-sector planning can help policymakers act now to prepare to fill gaps, reduce harm, and stabilize the supports older adults need to thrive.