II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4374 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to include screening for loneliness 

and coordination of supportive services and health care to address the 

negative health effects of loneliness, to require a report on loneliness, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2024 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to include 

screening for loneliness and coordination of supportive 

services and health care to address the negative health 

effects of loneliness, to require a report on loneliness, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Engagement 

5 and Network Initiatives for Older Relief Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SENIOR Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCREENING OLDER INDIVIDUALS FOR LONELINESS 

2 AND COORDINATION OF SUPPORTIVE SERV3 ICES AND HEALTH CARE TO ADDRESS LONE4 LINESS. 

5 Section 102(14)(N) of the Older Americans Act of 

6 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002(14)(N)) is amended by inserting 

7 ‘‘and loneliness’’ after ‘‘social isolation’’ each place it ap8 pears. 

9 SEC. 3. REPORT ON LONELINESS. 

10 (a) PREPARATION OF REPORT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in car12 rying out activities under section 206(a) of the Older 

13 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3017(a)), pre14 pare a report— 

15 (A) on programs authorized by such Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), and supported or 

17 funded by the Administration on Aging, that in18 clude a focus on addressing the negative health 

19 effects associated with loneliness through tar20 geting older individuals identified as being in 

21 greatest social need, as appropriate; and 

22 (B) that examines the relationship between 

23 the strength of multigenerational family units 

24 and loneliness in older individuals. 

25 (2) IMPACT.—Such report shall identify— 


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1 (A) whether loneliness is being adequately 

2 addressed under the programs described in 

3 paragraph (1)(A), including, to the extent prac4 ticable— 

5 (i) the prevalence of loneliness across 

6 geographic areas; 

7 (ii) the negative physical and mental 

8 health effects associated with loneliness; 

9 and 

10 (iii) the role of preventive measures 

11 and services under this Act in addressing 

12 the negative health effects associated with 

13 loneliness among older individuals; and 

14 (B) public awareness of and efforts to ad15 dress the negative health effects associated with 

16 loneliness. 

17 (3) TYPES OF PROGRAMS.—Such report shall 

18 identify whether programs described in paragraph 

19 (1)(A)— 

20 (A) support projects in local communities 

21 and involve diverse sectors associated with such 

22 communities to decrease the negative health ef23 fects associated with loneliness among older in24 dividuals and caregivers; 


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1 (B) support outreach activities to screen 

2 older individuals for negative health effects as3 sociated with loneliness; and 

4 (C) include a focus on decreasing the nega5 tive health effects associated with loneliness. 

6 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Such report shall, as 

7 appropriate, include— 

8 (A) recommendations for reducing the neg9 ative health effects associated with loneliness 

10 and to address any negative health effects iden11 tified under clauses (ii) and (iii) of subpara12 graph (A), and subparagraph (B), of paragraph 

13 (2); and 

14 (B) recommendations for policies or pro15 grams that foster strong and stable connections 

16 across different generations in a family. 

17 (b) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.— 

18 (1) INTERIM STATUS REPORT.—Not later than 

19 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

20 Secretary shall submit an interim report, to the com21 mittees of the Senate and of the House of Rep22 resentatives with jurisdiction over the Older Ameri23 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), and the 

24 Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, on the 


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1 status of the evaluation underway to develop the 

2 final report required under this section. 

3 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 5 years 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec5 retary shall submit a final report that meets the re6 quirements of this section to the committees of the 

7 Senate and of the House of Representatives with ju8 risdiction over the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

9 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) and the Special Committee on 

10 Aging of the Senate. 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

12 terms ‘‘greatest social need’’, ‘‘older individual’’, and 

13 ‘‘Secretary’’ have the meanings given such terms in sec14 tion 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

15 3002). 

Æ 


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