Federal health policy has seen major shifts, leaving millions of families and older Americans with new questions about their healthcare access.

The House of Representatives recently passed a new budget resolution that calls for cutting trillions of dollars from Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential programs that older adults rely on to meet their daily needs. Workforce cuts across the FDA, NIH, CDC, and the Administration for Community Living Health are hitting the country’s medical research infrastructure, food safety and infection surveillance, and support for critical local programs, such as Meals on Wheels.

At the same time, there are opportunities for positive change. Congress is considering the Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures (EPIC) Act, bipartisan legislation that fixes the IRA’s “pill penalty” by leveling the playing field for all types of medicines and ensuring adequate incentives for new drug development. There are also increasing calls for accountability of PBM “middlemen” and Medicare Part D plans to rein in excessive profiteering and utilization management.

What do older Americans need to know about these changes? What are the greatest risks and consequences of these new policies? And what can be done to ensure patients don’t lose out on the care that they need?

Join The Hill as we convene legislators, policy experts, patient advocates, and healthcare leaders to examine how older Americans are impacted by this time of rapid change.