New Congress Reverses Gains for Seniors

The 112th Congress convened this January. Already the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging has sent up distress flares.

Last December's Congress recessed with a parting shot at seniors by passing a resolution to keep federal spending frozen at 2010 levels until March. March 4 is when Republican leadership intends to roll back government spending to 2008 levels, like Social Security Benefits!

Elderly housing legislation was enacted last year that updates HUD's grant program, Section 202, making it more streamlined and with fewer hurdles to develop and preserve senior housing. A new category of housing options has been created by providing grants for health and other supportive services ("service-enriched housing") that developers would include for residents.

In addition to assisted living, nursing homes and affordable housing, now HUD will have a new category of "service-enriched housing". The flip side of this coin is the privilege of staying in your own home which is more challenging for legislators to consider.

The Affordable Care Act presently supplies many provisions that help older adults with chronic conditions and their caregivers. The present Congress has indicated that they want to repeal it.

We should take note of the implications of what Washington can do to our circumstances. There seems to be a trend funneling the elderly from their own homes into group living situations. Whether with "service-enriched housing" or not, there is no substitute for the comfort of familiar surroundings.

Funding that helps keep seniors at home is essential, so they can live with dignity and independence. Senior incomes have been frozen at 2008 levels in spite of escalating costs for food, housing, prescriptions and medical care, and while a HUD clearinghouse of affordable facilities may make it easier to locate available alternatives, being uprooted is often the last blow to a fragile, aging adult.

One of my neighbors lived next to her church for over fifty years. When her house was turned over to the parish, and she had to move to an apartment, she was crushed. She made weekly trips past her former home but never connected to her new accommodations in senior housing.

She passed away recently and I wonder if her past three years, transplanted into a tiny apartment, might have been more comfortable for her if she had been able to stay home with a companion in familiar surroundings. The expense of a live in aide is prohibitive, but the Affordable Care Act was a step in the right direction to keep someone in their own home.

Seniors rock.