Maryland Department on Aging unveils Longevity Ready Maryland plan, urges cross-agency action

Chair Jocelyn Pena Milnick convened the Health and Government Operations Committee briefing and introduced the secretary of the Maryland Department on Aging, who outlined the agency’s multi‑year Longevity Ready Maryland multisector plan and the department’s priorities for serving older residents.

The secretary said the department’s vision is “to transform institutions, systems, and norms so all older people live lives that are healthy, financially secure, socially connected, and purposeful,” and described a mission focused on preparing for a growing older population through innovation, multisector collaboration and improved access to resources.

Why it matters: Maryland’s demographic shift means more residents will be older in the coming decade, the secretary said, and many existing programs were created decades ago when the population profile looked different. The department is asking sister agencies to consider older Marylanders when allocating transportation, housing, health and workforce funds.

Key details from the briefing

- Plan and timeline: The department said it worked with the Center for Health Care Strategies and extensive stakeholder groups to produce the Longevity Ready Maryland plan, which the secretary said contains four broad goals, 14 objectives and 76 strategies. A draft plan will be ready for public comment in March, and the department expects a data dashboard to go live in spring to track progress.

- Funding and scale: The secretary described the Department on Aging as a small agency that primarily administers federal and state funds while relying on an “aging network” of 19 area agencies on aging and local providers to deliver services.

- Long‑term care financing: In response to questions from delegates, the secretary said some states (notably Washington) have experimented with compulsory long‑term care funding models that require contributions to a pooled program. She said private long‑term care insurance is expensive for most people and that the department will explore financially feasible approaches as part of the Longevity Ready Maryland work.

- Social isolation and community approaches: The department highlighted social isolation as a cross‑cutting issue. The secretary said roughly 10% of Maryland residents over 65 live alone and said the department is investing in hyper‑local programs (including the village model and strengthened senior‑center efforts) to reduce isolation and delay higher care needs.

- Dementia and disparities: The secretary flagged brain health and Alzheimer’s disease as priorities and said Maryland has a relatively high burden of Alzheimer’s in some jurisdictions, particularly communities of color. She described a two‑track approach: supporting biomedical research while addressing social determinants that raise risk across the life course.

- Ombudsman role vs. Office of Health Care Quality: The secretary explained that Maryland’s long‑standing state ombudsman program is housed in the Department on Aging and is independent of the agency; the ombudsman handles confidential, person‑centered complaints and may refer regulatory or compliance issues to the Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ), which enforces state and federal standards.

What the committee asked and what the department will follow up on

Committee members asked for concrete data on projected gaps in home‑ and community‑based services by 2030; the secretary said wait lists exist across programs and offered to provide specific statistics after the briefing. Delegates also raised workforce and intergenerational employment concerns; the secretary said evidence supports multigenerational workforce strategies and that Maryland does not currently have enough workers overall.

No formal votes or motions were taken during the briefing. Committee members were told the committee would move directly from the briefing into bill hearings.

Ending

The secretary asked for collaboration across state agencies and stakeholders to implement the Longevity Ready Maryland plan and said the department will post a public draft for comment, publish an interactive data dashboard in spring and provide additional data to the committee on demand. Chair Jocelyn Pena Milnick closed the briefing and moved the meeting into bill hearings.