Citizens of all ages “want elected officials to work together to ensure their health and financial security,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer, after the bill passed Congress. “AARP is pleased that the bipartisan bill addresses important priorities for Americans age 50-plus.”

The bill provides a road map for federal government spending through September of this year. Here’s a look at some elements of the law that address the financial and health needs of older adults, some of which take effect in future years.

The spending law includes $785 million in additional money for ongoing operations at the Social Security Administration (SSA).

AARP had called on Congress to fully fund the administration’s $14.8 billion budget request, which the SSA says it needs to begin reversing a crisis in customer service attributed to years of underfunding and staff losses. Instead, the SSA was allocated $14.1 billion, a 5.9 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. (Note that Social Security benefit payments are funded separately and are not tied to the annual administrative budget.)

The average wait time for calls to Social Security’s national phone line more than doubled in the agency’s last fiscal year, reaching 35 minutes in November. And compared with a decade ago, it takes an average of 80 percent longer to get a claim for disability benefits processed, according to SSA data. “The higher funding is a needed step to begin to address this customer service crisis, but more must be done,” LeaMond says.

The new law includes a package of provisions collectively called Secure 2.0 that will expand workers’ access to retirement plans and older Americans’ ability to contribute to and maintain such accounts. AARP strongly backed the package. “While Social Security is the bedrock of income for retired Americans, individuals want and need additional retirement income,” LeaMond says. Among other things it addresses, Secure 2.0:

▶︎ Increases from 72 to 73 the age at which retired Americans must start taking required minimum distributions from private retirement accounts like IRAs or 401(k)s. In about a decade, the minimum age for taking an RMD will rise again, to 75.

▶︎ Replaces the Saver’s Credit, a tax break that can reduce tax bills for low- and moderate-income earners who contribute to qualified retirement plans, with a federal matching contribution of up to $1,000. The law also makes the contribution available to more taxpayers. Both changes go into effect in 2027.

▶︎ Establishes a national “lost and found” retirement account database to help people keep track of money in plans tied to past employers.

▶︎ Raises limits on catch-up contributions to 401(k) and 403(b) accounts for people ages 60 to 63, starting in 2025.

▶︎ Requires employers to allow part-time workers to join a retirement plan within two years of being hired, rather than having to wait the current three, starting in 2025.

“The package extends several pandemic-era provisions for people on Medicare,” LeaMond says. Among them:

▶︎ Telehealth: The spending package extends for two years—until the end of 2024—the expansion of telehealth medicine for Medicare recipients that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The spending law also permits Medicare enrollees to continue having these remote visits, either via video or telephone, from their homes. Before the pandemic, telehealth visits had to be video calls made from authorized locations.

▶︎ Hospital at home: The law extends through the end of 2024 a Medicare provision that allows hospitals to treat some patients in their homes instead of on-site. This effort began in November 2020 to free up hospital beds during the COVID crisis and protect older Americans from being exposed to the virus.

▶︎ Behavioral and mental health: Beginning in 2024, Medicare will expand the types of behavioral and mental health providers it covers; added to the list are intensive outpatient mental health services.