The 18th Annual Session of the NSHC was held in the D.C. area August 12-14, 2016. Fifteen resolutions were submitted for consideration. Two failed to pass through committee and one was withdrawn by the author. Twelve were approved.

  After these were approved by the Silver Senate and the Silver House, the NSHC narrowed its focus to the Top 5 priorities. These priorities will be recommended to the U.S. Congress for enactment into legislation to improve the quality of life for aging Americans.

The National Silver Haired Congress’s Top 5 Resolutions for 2016 are:

1. Implement a Silver Alert Notification Network for Missing Elderly Citizens

RESOLVED, that the National Silver Haired Congress urge the United States Congress to establish a Silver Alert notification network for missing vulnerable senior citizens, similar to the Amber Alert for children, so that law enforcement, news media, and the general public may be promptly notified and timely search and rescue may be undertaken when a vulnerable, disoriented elderly person is discovered missing.

2. Create an Ongoing Living Adjustment (SS COLA) Guarantee

RESOLVED, that the National Silver Haired Congress urge the United States Congress to provide certainty by guaranteeing annual COLA increases for Social Security beneficiaries that will help keep these beneficiaries out of poverty and provide financial security, such as provided in H.R 5295 by Representative Joe Heck (R) NV and Representative Richard Nolan (D) of MN.

3. Increase Funding in the States’ HCCBG (Home and Community Care Block Grants) to Support Malnutrition Screening for Older Adults.

RESOLVED, that the National Silver Haired Congress urge the United States Congress to: 

Section 1: Increase funding in the HCCBG program to include malnutrition screening and intervention in essential benefits and Medicare annual exam.

Section 2: Include coverage for oral nutrition supplements for malnourished and at-risk dual-eligible populations.

Section 3: Collect and analyze Medicare/Medicaid data to improve outcomes with malnutrition screening and intervention.

Section 4: Expand medical nutrition therapy coverage to include malnutrition.

4. Establish a Senate Standing Committee on Aging

RESOLVED, that the National Silver Haired Congress urge the United States Senate to convert the existing Senate Special Committee on Aging to a Senate Standing Committee on Aging with full legislative authority and to transfer to that Committee jurisdiction and oversight of issues and programs that primarily affect older Americans.

5. Reform Social Security Funding

RESOLVED, that the National Silver Haired Congress urge the United States Congress to reform Social Security funding by raising the cap on Social Security’s payroll taxes to restore Social Security’s long-term solvency, preferably as part of an overall comprehensive plan to reform Social Security funding.