HHS combines aging, disability agencies into new entity for seniors, disabled

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced this week that it has folded the Administration on Aging, the Office on Disability and the Administration on Developmental Disabilities into a new, single agency: the Administration for Community Living, or ACL.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement Monday the new agency will focus on increasing access to home- and community-based services for seniors and disabled Americans to receive care “rather than in nursing homes or other institutions.”

“The [ACL] provides national leadership and direction to plan, manage, develop, and raise awareness of comprehensive and coordinated systems of long-term services and supports that enable older Americans and individuals with disabilities, including intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities, to maintain their health and independence in their homes and communities,” HHS wrote in a notice Wednesday in the Federal Register.

Kathy Greenlee, who is the current assistant secretary for aging, will also serve as administrator of the ACL.

According to the ACL website, the new agency will work with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to “develop, refine and strengthen policies that promote independent living among all populations, especially those served by Medicaid.

“ACL will also work with CMS to promote home- and community-based services and supports.”

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