Maryland aging officials warn cuts to senior-care funding would disrupt services as wait lists grow

Victoria Martinez, an analyst with the Department of Legislative Services, told the Health and Social Services Subcommittee that the Maryland Department of Aging's fiscal 2026 allowance falls about $869,000 (roughly 1%) to $90.3 million and that the department faces programmatic and spending issues that merit legislative attention.

DLS highlighted that the department's largest funding shares are federally supported Older Americans Act programs (about 28% of spending) and the state-funded senior care program (about 15%). Martinez described a pattern in recent years: participation in the senior care program has declined while the program's wait list has grown. She said the General Assembly added roughly $8.5 million to address the wait list in fiscal 2024, but MDOA reverted about $5.9 million at the close of fiscal 2024, resulting in actual spending of about $8.7 million that year. The department's fiscal 2025 appropriation was reported at about $13.9 million and the fiscal 2026 allowance at about $13.2 million; DLS recommended a $2.5 million reduction to better align the fiscal 2025 appropriation with recent spending patterns.

"DLS has asked that MDOA explain why participation in the senior care program in fiscal 2024 decreased while the wait list continued to increase and to also discuss efforts to efficiently enroll individuals from the wait list into newly opened slots," Martinez said during the committee briefing.

Carmel Roque, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging, told the committee the…