MW The loneliness crisis has gotten so bad that lawmakers are ready to spend millions of dollars to fight it

By Jessica Hall

The health damage of loneliness is similar to effects of heavy smoking and obesity, former surgeon general says

Loneliness is as dangerous for people's health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, a former U.S. surgeon general said.

Loneliness has grown into a "full-blown crisis" that two new legislative proposals aim to tackle by providing funding for community groups and research into the health implications of isolation.

Sens. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, and Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, introduced on Thursday the Addressing Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults $(SILO)$ Act, which would provide $62.5 million in annual grant funding to support community organizations that foster social connection among older adults and people with disabilities.

"This is a very positive thing. I hope this is just the start of a national conversation on loneliness. Seniors are struggling. Young people are struggling even more," said Richard Weissbourd, senior lecturer and faculty director for the Making Caring Common Project, a program of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Older adults and people with disabilities face unique challenges making and maintaining strong social connections, including diminished mobility, limited access to transportation, and often, the loss of a loved one or caretaker, Murphy said.

"Loneliness can be a silent killer for the elderly and people with disabilities, and we need to do a lot more to protect these vulnerable groups from social isolation and help them find community," Murphy said in a statement. "The challenge of loneliness isn't going anywhere and the social-connection safety net this bill funds is among the best investments we can make for the mental and physical health of our seniors."

Separately, Murphy also introduced the National Strategy for Social Connection Act, which would create a permanent Office of Social Connection Policy within the White House to work across federal agencies to combat social isolation and provide national guidelines for social connection.

The bill would also fund $5 million in annual research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the public-health implications of social isolation and help Americans feel more connected.

"Americans are feeling more disconnected than ever, and it's a full-blown crisis for our democracy when people retreat to their devices and lose sight of what it means to be part of a community," Murphy said in a statement. "Tackling the loneliness crisis is a shared project, and the government's role is to understand why people feel so angry and alone, and to create a culture and an economy that encourages more social connection."

The proposals follow a similar, but unsuccessful, legislative effort by Murphy in 2023 to create a national program to tackle loneliness. The latest legislative proposals also come after former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in 2023 declared loneliness a public-health epidemic, saying it was as dangerous for people's health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death.

The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is greater than that of obesity and physical inactivity, Murthy said. It's also costly. Social isolation among older adults alone accounts for about $6.7 billion in excess Medicare spending a year, largely due to increased hospital and nursing-facility spending, the former surgeon general said in a report.

"America's epidemic of loneliness demands a coordinated, government-wide response, particularly for older adults and people with disabilities," said Andrew MacPherson, founder and board chair of the Foundation for Social Connection Action Network, an advocacy group dedicated to addressing loneliness and social isolation. "Social-connection policy cannot be siloed, it must be woven into the fabric of how government and communities serve people."

The notion of getting the government involved in loneliness has precedent in other nations.

In 2018, the U.K. created a Minister of Loneliness to combat what former British Prime Minister Theresa May called as a "sad reality of modern life." In 2021, Japan appointed a minister to tackle social isolation and rising rates of suicide.

The legislative efforts could help raise the discourse on loneliness and create some real action plans to tackle the epidemic, experts said.

"In the U.K., doctors have been prescribing social connection. That's how important it is. There's a lot we could be doing, as well," Weissbourd said.

Prescribing social connection means a doctor may write a prescription for a person to take part in an activity, often at a subsidized price, to help them meet other people and find a new purpose or focus.

"Loneliness and meaning and purpose is something more people are mobilizing around and focusing on, but it needs a much more broad and comprehensive approach," Weissbourd said.

The U.S. could tackle loneliness on a policy level through parks and recreation, housing, transportation, healthcare and education. Loneliness can be affected by everything from how we create outdoor spaces so people can sit and talk, to creating housing with common rooms to gather, to how cities and rural areas are structured without ways for people to genuinely interact.

Loneliness also needs to be tackled by individuals, businesses and community organizations.

"As a personal issue, it's important to reach out to someone who is lonely. Businesses can do a lot as well. Business and jobs have become much more transactional and that has added to an increase in loneliness. A decline in religion has played a role, and tech and social media have fueled this as well," Weissbourd said. "What really helps people who are lonely is working for others for a greater good - volunteering, community, taking a class, doing jobs that help others."

-Jessica Hall

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June 19, 2026 10:00 ET (14:00 GMT)

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