NCOA Launches One Away Campaign for Elder Economic Security; Releases National Poll on Struggles Facing Older Adults

Ken Schwartz, NCOA Director, Marketing & Communications, 202-600-3131, ken.schwartz@ncoa.org

Washington, D.C. (March 31, 2011) – More than 13 million older adults are considered economically insecure, living on just $21,780 a year or less. Every day, these seniors, and millions of Boomers, have to choose whether to pay for food, housing, utilities, or out-of-pocket for medication costs. They live one bad break, one accident, or one layoff away from economic disaster.

To spotlight their struggles—and call for change—the National Council on Aging (NCOA) is launching One Away, an innovative, national advocacy campaign that uses video to allow older adults to tell their own stories, in their own words. One Away videos and stories are available at OneAway.org.

“We are already receiving real stories of seniors who are struggling,” said Sandra Nathan, senior vice president for economic security at NCOA. “It’s clear that vulnerable older adults are in desperate need of help and want to be heard.”

National Poll Shows Depth of Problem

Almost two-thirds (63%) of adults aged 18+ said they or an older adult they know is struggling to make ends meet in today’s economy, according to the new One Away poll. A majority (62%) also knows that one out of three older adults relies on Social Security for over 90% of their income.

Commissioned by NCOA and conducted online in March 2011 by Harris Interactive, the One Away poll of 2,526 adults aged 18 and older also found that 80% of adults know that older workers who lose a job are more likely to face very long-term unemployment, up to 99 weeks or more.

In spite of this harsh reality, the House of Representatives recently passed legislation to cut funding by 64% for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), our nation’s only jobs program designed to help older Americans in need. The cut would result in the loss of over 83,000 jobs.

At the same time, some economic challenges facing older adults are less well known to the public:

Fewer than 1 out of 5 people (19%) are aware of the scale of senior credit card debt, which averages $10,000.


Only 34% are aware that people over age 65 make up the fastest-growing segment of the population seeking bankruptcy protection.


Almost three-quarters (72%) either underestimated or did not know that nearly 6 million seniors are at risk of going hungry every day.

“The struggles seniors are facing are all too often overlooked or dismissed,” said James Firman, president and CEO of NCOA. “This campaign is about elevating their voices, and we need Congress to catch up to the realities of their constituents and develop concrete solutions to make life better for our seniors.”

As part of the One Away campaign, NCOA has also published A Blueprint for Increasing the Economic Security of Older Adults: Reauthorizing the Older Americans Act. The report outlines specific recommendations to improve elders’ economic security through reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA), which is scheduled to occur this year.

Funding for the One Away campaign was provided by The Atlantic Philanthropies.

Iowa Senior Care Advocate's Job Plan, Silence Are Questioned | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com

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Written by CLARK KAUFFMAN (ckauffman@dmreg.com)

Iowa's top advocate for seniors in nursing homes wants to have her job performance evaluated by the industry she oversees.

At the same time, the director of the Iowa Department on Aging is telling the state's eight local long-term care ombudsmen that they should not speak out about a recent dramatic cut in the number of state nursing home inspectors.

"That is unconscionable," said John Tapscott, a former state legislator who now advocates for the elderly. "You can't tell our ombudsmen not to speak out on the issues that affect their constituents."

According to federal law, each of the nation's long-term care ombudsmen is to advocate independently for the elderly residents of care facilities - a job that historically has put the ombudsmen at odds with both nursing homes and state regulators.

But new questions are being raised about whether Iowa's ombudsman, Jeanne Yordi, is working independently or advocating effectively for the elderly.

More

Related articles:
Seniors' advocate must be independent
Iowa long-term care ombudsman's tie to lawyer questioned

Study: Drug Firms Fund Health Advocacy Groups - ChicagoTribune.com

By Judith Graham

Many health advocacy organizations rely on financial support from drug companies. But few disclose the extent of that funding or make information easily accessible, according to a new report published Thursday by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The groups often sit on important federal advisory boards and press lawmakers for greater funding for medical research, more generous reimbursement for brand-name drugs, and easy access to diagnostic tests and medical devices for people afflicted by various illnesses.
Full Article

Can Good Care Produce Bad Health?

Excerpts from the Amy Berman post on the John A. Hartford Foundation blog

For those of you who haven’t yet heard, I have recently been diagnosed with Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer. This rare form of breast cancer is known for its rapid spread. True to form, it has metastasized to my spine. This means my time is limited. As a nurse, I knew it from the moment I saw a reddened spot on my breast and recognized it for what it was.

My recent journey through the health care system has been eye-opening. In only a few months, I have witnessed the remarkable capabilities and the stunning shortcomings of our health care system firsthand. I am writing here because in the time I have left, I hope my story and my journey can help illustrate why some of the reforms that my colleagues and I at the John A. Hartford Foundation, as well as many others, have championed are so important.

. . .

Based on a perverse set of metrics, the Philadelphia oncologist was offering technically the “best” care America had to offer. Yet this good care was not best for me. It wouldn’t give me health. Instead, it might take away what health I had. It doesn’t matter if care is cutting-edge and technologically advanced; if it doesn’t take the patient’s goals into account, it may not be worth doing.

. . .

I was determined not only to choose treatment that would maximize the healthy time I had remaining, but also to use that time to call on our health care institutions and professionals to make a real commitment to listening to their patients. In the health policy field, we call this patient-centered care. As a nurse and a senior program officer at a health care foundation, I understood my disease and my health care options well enough to make an informed decision about my treatment.

What about the millions of older Americans facing a terminal illness or chronic disease? How can they possibly stand up to the juggernaut of our health system and say, “No. I want care that focuses on my goals, care that is centered on me.” We need to make it easier for everyone to obtain care that fits their health care goals. How can we change the system and the measurement of quality to place the patient at the center? I call on everyone involved in health care practice and reform efforts to give serious thought about how we can reorient our health care system toward patient-centered care.

Read the full post at The John A. Hartford Foundation blog

Making the Most of Washington’s Change of Mind on End-of-Life Planning

excerpt from Transcend Hospice Marketing Group blog

Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, said, “By having Medicare cover these voluntary consultations, beneficiaries will be able to get information that will help them make their own decisions about their care and what they would or would not want at life’s end.”

While we may not have predicted a change of mind regarding the end-of-life planning provision in Medicare legislation, this recent turn of events underscores the vital importance of hospices teaching their local communities the truth about the benefits of hospice care. While Medicare may not be facilitating advance care planning, there’s nothing stopping hospice organizations from stepping to the plate and engaging their local communities in conversations about options for care and support and the end of life. Go take advantage of the opportunity!

Transcend Hospice Marketing - Making the Most of Washington’s Change of Mind on End-of-Life Planning

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Improving Lives of Vulnerable Americans Through Social Security

With support from the Ford Foundation, the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) is awarding funds to projects designed to educate Americans most reliant on Social Security about its role in their economic security. The purpose of the project is to support constituency building, education outside of the beltway, and the development of user-friendly, research-based information on the adequacy of Social Security benefits and how these could be strengthened for vulnerable groups, including communities of color, women, people with disabilities, low-wage workers and children. In light of rising out-of-pocket medical costs, declining asset values and job losses, it is more important than ever that groups most reliant on Social Security have their voices heard in policy debates about its future.

NASI anticipates approving several project applications up to a maximum of $100,000. Targeted projects of smaller amounts (e.g., $20,000 to $35,000) are encouraged and will be given special consideration. The application deadline is February 15, 2011. Interested organizations are encouraged to send a notice of intent to apply by January 15, 2011, to Elizabeth Lamme (elamme@nasi.org).

Organizations that were funded by NASI for projects starting in October 2010 may not receive over $100,000 total, including this new grant and the October 2010 grant. Funding for projects that started prior to October 2010 will not count toward the $100,000 limit.

Successful projects will translate existing knowledge about Social Security, including the relevant research and analyses of the National Academy of Social Insurance, into messages that empower constituencies most reliant on Social Security. They will also develop innovative outreach strategies to more effectively communicate such messages, and/or build practical knowledge about how Social Security could better meet constituency needs. Finally, they will include a credible strategy to encourage and support constituencies in making their voices heard in the public debate on Social Security. Successful projects will commit to producing at least one educational deliverable (e.g., pamphlet, YouTube video, PowerPoint presentation) to be made publicly available for educational purposes. Preference will be given to applications involving organizations with a grass-roots base in vulnerable communities. Proposals involving collaboration among outreach and research organizations are welcome. Applications from large, well-established national organizations will be considered, although substantial cash participation by the organization will be expected. The initiative will seek to fund a balanced mix of projects, which (across all projects) focus on a range of activities, strategies and target constituencies.

Project funds may not be used in any way that violates tax exempt status under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Moreover, funds cannot be used for political campaign activities or to lobby policymakers about specific legislation that may be or has been introduced. It is permissible to educate policymakers and the media about the need for policies to address a particular issue, such as improvements in Social Security. Organizations may conduct educational meetings, prepare and distribute educational materials, or otherwise consider public policy issues in an educational manner.
Full Grant Announcement

Older Americans and People with Disabilities - Bridging the Disconnect. Information Bulletin # 320 (8/2010)

by Steve Gold

This Information Bulletin is an attempt to bridge and solidify advocates from two communities - older Americans and people with disabilities.  For many reasons, there has been a disconnect between them.

More than two years ago, we wrote "The Older Americans Act: Consumer Choice and Control over Long Term Care," (see February 9, 2007 Information Bulletin).  We reviewed how Congress' amendments to the Older Americans Act and its "Choices for Independence" began to provide services for people to remain in their homes, instead of going into nursing homes.  The Older Americans Act was for the first time really focused on community!

The OAA provided grants for States to develop a "single point of entry" for long-term care, so people would know what community-based services were available in order to avoid institutionalization.  This single point was through the "Aging and Disability Resource Centers" (ADRC).  It also adopted the "consumer model" so people could self-direct care and services.

The Older Americans Act is up for reauthorization in 2011. Yes folks, Congress will have to face whether or not the "Aging and Disability" centers will be refunded. This reauthorization will provide a forum and opportunity for these two communities to discuss how well they have worked together, how well the ADRCs are functioning, if they are serving both older Americans with disabilities and younger Americans with disabilities and what changes should occur.

There are a number of issues which we hope both communities understand and address:

1. Medicaid is the same funding stream for long-term community care and nursing homes for all people with disabilities, regardless of age.Cut-backs and reductions of Medicaid services impact every disabled person, and State legislatures' common attacks on services will hurt; people regardless of age.

2.Yes, these two communities do not agree on everything (e.g., assisted living, identifying oneself as having a disability), but there are unequivocally common interests. In an era of reductions and attacks by States on community-based services, it is critical to put aside differences and join to fight what the two communities have in common.

3. There really is power in numbers!  Can you imagine a State legislative hearing with twenty-five year old wheelchair uses holding hands with seventy-five year old wheelchair uses demanding their right to live in the community and not being dumped into nursing homes.

4.  How about next year, during the Congressional reauthorization hearings, joining forces? Tell Congress that all people with disabilities, regardless of age, want the right to receive services in their own homes.

5.  The increased Medicaid funds for Money Follows the Person grants must focus on getting anyone out of nursing homes who wants to live in the community - not just people with disabilities under 60 years old. Older Americans do not enter nursing homes because they want to; they do not have community-based services offered to them. If both communities combined their efforts, they could have a significant impact of enhancing waivers - especially in those 20 States that have not yet received MFP grants but probably will be applying for them very soon.

6. The Independent Living Centers serve many older Americans with disabilities. Yet, the AAAs and ILCs in most states keep each other at some distance. As the under 60s younger Americans with disabilities become the over 60s older Americans with disabilities, yes it really happens, the disability issues and culture will cross the age barrier. Let's hope that the people take the lead and make these organization really work together.
To not take the 2011 reauthorization as an opportunity to address these issues and to jointly work out strategies is perilous.

POWER concedes nothing without a struggle.

    Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues

Back issues of other Information Bulletins are available online at http://www.stevegoldada.com with a searchable Archive at this site divided into different subjects.

To contact Steve Gold directly, write to stevegoldada@cs.com or call 215-627-7100.

Agency pairing with new disability network will benefit both

by Lynn Kellogg

In 1976, my final project to complete an undergraduate degree in social work at Western Michigan University was helping to establish an office of information and support for students with disabilities. The primary paper for my second major in environmental studies focused on recreational planning for people with disabilities. While searching for a job, I served as a volunteer staff member for a state event associated with a White House conference on issues surrounding disabilities.

I had it in my head that work in the field of disability was in the cards. It didn't exactly work out that way - but in some ways it did.

As we age, it's only when barriers to daily activities get in the way that any issues appear. Sometimes people need help with daily chores, or transportation, or housing, or coping with and managing a health condition. Changes in how we do things trigger lifestyle changes, sometime minor, sometimes substantial. We change, we go on. Sometimes we're judged as "different" or feel a difference in people's perception of us.

At a recent Rotary Club meeting, Miss Southwest Michigan presented her platform as a disability rights advocate. Growing up with a brother with Down syndrome had taught her that he was normal. He was happy and functioned well in society. Contending with the judgment of others was what was difficult.

"Disability is a natural part of the human condition. Disability is simply a characteristic of a person. A disability doesn't exist until someone encounters a barrier. It is the environment or culture that needs to be fixed, not the individual with the disability." This is the philosophy of a new organization in town - Disability Network Southwest Michigan.

Sometime in the next few months, new Disability Network Southwest Michigan signage will be added to the Area Agency on Aging's sign at its base of operations at 2900 Lakeview Ave. in St. Joseph. The organization is based at a central office in Kalamazoo and has recently expanded to cover an eight-county area. It now serves Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties and has co-located its local offices with the Area Agency on Aging.

The new partnership holds great potential. Both organizations have missions of empowerment of the person and advocacy for social change. There are many areas of common interest and expertise. Both organizations strive to have communities that accept and embrace older and disabled citizens by having services and supports in place that make possible staying engaged throughout a lifetime. Both are committed to providing quality information when people seek solutions to barriers they've run up against.

Therein lies the strength of the partnership. Shared information on available resources and common messaging on needed social change strengthens both organizations.

Individuals seeking information on topics such as available resources, assistive technology information, or personal advocacy and support should give Disability Network Southwest Michigan a call. Businesses and community organizations seeking information on Americans with Disabilities Act compliance or home and workplace modification consultations will also find them helpful. The local office can be reached at 985-0111, with a toll-free line - (877) 674-5209 - ringing to the Kalamazoo office and serving outlining areas.

Lynn Kellogg is chief executive officer of Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Questions on age or independence services? Call the Info-Line for Aging & Long-Term Care at (800) 654-2810 or check the website at www.areaagencyonaging.org. The Generations column appears each Sunday in The Herald-Palladium.

TIME GOES BY | GRAY MATTERS: D-Day

by Saul Friedman

Ordinarily, this column, devoted to issues confronting older Americans, doesn’t get into more cosmic subjects of war and peace. But I can’t let tomorrow’s date go by without notice for it marked the most significant event in the war of my youth, my generation.

We gathered in the athletic stadium of my high school that morning to hear the news. It was D-day and American and allied forces had landed on the beaches of Normandy. We heard the voice of General Dwight Eisenhower telling us and the soldiers, sailors and airmen under his command: “You are about to embark on the Great Crusade.”

There was never a doubt in our minds that this was the beginning of the end of this noble and terrible war and the threat of fascism that had occupied most of our young lives.

Now, we are engaged in an endless, pointless 10-year-old war – the longest in our history – against corrupt and backward Third World nations that were and are no threat to us. They are certainly not in the same league as the Nazis, the Japanese and the old Soviet Union. But these wars are robbing us of the national pride and the sense of purpose that we felt in 1944, and have passed on to our children and grandchildren.

For my generation and its boomer children, the financing of Medicare, Medicaid and the dozens of domestic programs have been compromised by the costs of these wars. Deficits are wrongly blamed on Social Security and social insurance programs for the poor and elderly, but not the wars.

Ironically, the wars are being paid for, in part, with money borrowed from the Social Security trust fund.

More tragically, these wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere have now cost our treasury, which means you and me and our kids, one trillion dollars and thousands of lives – more than 4,000 American dead in Iraq; more than 1,000 dead in Afghanistan - and more thousands of the dead and terribly maimed here and in the countries we say we seek to save.

Imagine what even part of that trillion dollars could have done in this country for health care, long term care, education and the renewal of roads, collapsing bridges and decrepit schools. Indeed, it’s fair to ask – in the midst of this longest war, which seems to have no end – has it been worth it? Is it still worth it? Nearly ten years and still counting.

As of May 30, at 10:06 A.M., the National Priorities Project, which maintains a computerized counter on the costs of these wars, announced that the U..S. had spent $1 trillion. That’s $1,000,000,000,000.

So far, $747.3 billion and $299 billion have been appropriated., respectively, for the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New pending spending measures working through the mostly compliant Congress will add nearly $137 billion. (See the National Priorities Project) And that doesn’t include the costs of burying the dead and healing the wounded and giving comfort to families here and in the countries we occupy.

In practical terms, according to the Project, that trillion could have paid for Pell Grants for 19 million of our kids for nine years, health care for nearly 300 million people for a year, nearly 8 million low cost housing units, the cost of 16 million elementary school teachers for a year.

If you think you’re not paying for these wars, the Project estimates that taxpayers in Brooklyn (Kings County), New York will pay $9 billion of their taxes for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This past Memorial Day, television and most of the press gave us unctuous, flag waving interviews with veterans and high ranking officers who recommended honoring the Americans who died. Edmund Wilson called it “patriotic gore.” None was asked if any of these wars were truly just. None was probed on the human and financial costs of these wars.

Only one of our best social commentators, comedian Bill Maher, observed that the U.S. has gotten into more wars than most other nations. Only a few members of Congress, all Democrats, took action to demand that the country get out of the wars in Iraq and tribal Afghanistan, which only wishes to return to the 13th century and grow opium.

Unfortunately, President Obama seems unable to complete what he has promised, like getting out of Iraq. Other great presidents labored, often in vain, to keep the nation out of war; Obama chose to go to war.

Representative John Conyers [D, Mich.], the second longest serving member of the House (44 years), recounted the losses to the American taxpayers as a result of the wars., and what that $1 trillion might have paid for:

“We might be enjoying the fruits of a green economy... investments in wind and solar...a single-payer health care system...we’ll never know because our political leadership never explored alternative means of achieving peace...instead of overextending our military forces abroad.”

He called for the administration to honor its commitment, which seems to be slipping, to leave Iraq by December 31, next year. And he asked colleagues to join the “Out of Afghanistan Caucus” and vote against new funding for the war “because $1 trillion is more than enough.”

Unfortunately, but predictably, the mainstream American press has all but ignored the significant and growing movements against the wars. Last month, 18 members of the Senate voted for Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold’s amendment to the administration’s war spending bill calling for a timetable to redeploy American forces out of Afghanistan. Some of the supporters are among the most senior members of the Senate, including Richard Durbin of Illinois, the second highest ranking Democrat.

On the House side, 92 members have co-sponsored companion legislation to Feingold’s. Introduced by Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, it would require a timetable for getting out of Afghanistan. In all, more than 100 members have voted for a scheduled withdrawal from a war that has no light at the end of the tunnel.

Representative Alan Grayson calls his legislation for withdrawal, the “War is Making Us Poor Act,” not only because it’s costing lives among innocent civilians in Afghanistan as well as allied troops. More important, these wars are making us poor in spirit. Grayson pointed out that George Orwell in 1984 noted that it seemed as if America had always been at war in Eastasia.

So far, no Republican has joined any of the efforts to end American involvement in Afghanistan. The Republicans are saying in effect, “Let you and the other guy fight” while they wait to see how to make political capital, however it turns out.

That’s a departure from a president of my generation, Ronald Reagan, who “redeployed” American forces out of Lebanon in 1983 after 241 Marines were killed by a terrorist bomb (for which Reagan took responsibility) and he saw no reason to risk more lives. I think it can be said that fewer Americans died in combat on Reagan’s watch, than under George W. Bush or Barack Obama.

Why is it that we don’t learn, even from the recent past?

Write to saulfriedman@comcast.net

TIME GOES BY | GRAY MATTERS: D-Day

Ombudsman: Director of Iowa Dept. on Aging had employee 'hit list' | The Des Moines Register

The director of the Iowa Department on Aging reportedly created a "hit list" of employees he wanted to force from the agency, Iowa's chief advocate for the elderly says.

Iowa Long-Term Care Ombudsman Jeanne Yordi made the allegation in a letter Monday to Gov. Chet Culver.

Yordi told the governor she was among the targeted workers at the Department on Aging. She said she had planned to take early retirement because she had been subjected to a hostile work environment created by department director John McCalley and because she had been "forced to violate federal law."
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TIME GOES BY | GRAY MATTERS: Preserving Social Security

by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Saul Friedman

It’s past time that Social Security’s advocates, friends and beneficiaries quit playing defense for the single most popular American program and take the offensive against those who attack and lie about Social Security with intent to kill it.

First, find out if you have an IRA or other retirement saving accounts with a bank or brokerage or investment house that has been calling for the privatization of Social Security. If so, transfer the account (without penalty) and tell the broker why.

My broker/financial adviser with Merrill Lynch, is a champion of Social Security as a necessary and dependable leg of one’s retirement income. Ask your broker/financial adviser where he/she stands on Social Security privatization, i.e., changing it from pension and disability insurance into millions of 401(k)s subject to the rock and roll of the stock market.

If you’re affluent enough to have invested with the Blackstone group, transfer your money elsewhere. The hedge fund, whose trade in funny money helped bring on this recession, was founded by billionaire Peter Peterson, who retains an interest in the firm and spends millions through his various foundations to undermine Social Security with the claim that the program and the benefits for the undeserving elderly population’s are bankrupting the nation.

Second, Social Security advocate organizations and politically active beneficiaries and older members can join in the new effort by the National Academy of Social Insurance to expand Social Security to resume the coverage of 22-year-old students, especially the disadvantaged, which was ended in 1981, when Social Security was in imminent financial danger.

Such an expansion could dovetail with the new health insurance reforms which mandate coverage on their parents’ policy for children up to age 25. And it would not only help these families and kids pay for college, but it would strengthen the Social Security system with support from the young which has been eroding as too many the mainstream media buy into the Peterson nonsense that Social Security is in financial trouble. It isn’t.

Indeed, the 75-year-old program, which is in the black for another 30 years even if nothing is done, will outlast Blackstone as it has outlasted Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns. Enron, Eastern Airlines and the Pennsylvania Railroad, a few recessions and lots of wars.

During those years, Social Security has never defaulted on a payment. Indeed, it expanded to cover the disabled and the spouses and children survivors of beneficiaries who died before age 66, like those killed on 9/11.

And since the fixes of 1983-4 by the Reagan administration and Alan Greenspan’s commission, Social Security has run a surplus every year, enough to guarantee benefits for the huge boomer generation. Even this year and next, when high unemployment forces the program to pay out more than it takes in in payroll taxes, Social Security will still run surpluses of more than $100 million.

That should lead defenders to their main point, which they should repeat like a mantra: Aside from its administrative costs, Social Security’s benefits for 50 million Americans does not contribute even one dollar to the federal deficit. Let me repeat for reporters who are too lazy to understand Social Security: Aside from its relatively small administrative costs (which are in the Social Security Administration’s budget), Social Security adds nothing to the deficit.

In fact, Social Security earns around $700 million a year, financing the federal debt by selling the Treasury its low-interest special issue bonds. Social Security could solve its long term fiscal problem if it could sell the government higher-interest bonds. But, of course, that would raise the deficit.

Ignoramuses suggest that these bonds in Social Security’s West Virginia vaults are nothing more than “worthless IOUs.” As the Chinese, Japanese and other investors know, U.S. IOUs are as good as cash. Indeed, if you examine your paper money or your employer’s check, they are IOUs until you spend or cash them out.
If the IOUs were “worthless,” why would Peterson and his greedy Wall Street and hedge fund investment banking allies be so eager to get their hands on the $2.5 trillion in Social Security bonds? What a tasty dish to set before the kings in their counting houses!

A friend at AARP says it will do no good to bash billionaires. I disagree because their message, backed by their money and the megaphone of the media, conservative Democrats in the Congress and the hysteria over the deficit has undermined support for Social Security and Medicare. And AARP has not been aggressive in helping to challenge Peterson and his deficit hawk allies who have been given aid and comfort by the administration which was bullied into creating the anti-Social Security commission on the deficit.

Fortunately, the latest defense and offense on behalf of Social Security has come from a definitive report on the future of the program prepared with the help of the Congressional Budget Office and published by the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

The seemingly alarming news is that Social Security faces a $5.3 trillion shortfall over the next 75 years. But the committee chairman, Senator Herbert Kohl (D., Wis.) echoes the current conclusion of Alan Greenspan, the Academy of Social Insurance and nearly every other expert, that the shortfall could be fixed with what Kohl called “tweaks.”

For Kohl and most advocates, cutting benefits is not an option, nor is reducing the criteria for the mandated cost of living (COLA) raises. And Kohl rejects the report’s suggestion that the future fiscal problems could be solved by raising the retirement age from 66 to 70. That would solve only 30 percent of the shortfall, and would delay and thus rob millions of workers of the benefits they now expect and count on.

Besides, many blue collar workers in tough, physically demanding jobs should not be required to work until 70; a coal miner may not be able to keep working after 66.

There are more likely alternatives which are obvious and simple: As the Social Security Trustees’ conservative outlook for the future reported last year, a 1.1 percent raise in the workers' and employers' payroll tax (now at 6.2 percent each) would wipe out the shortfall for 75 years. The trustees, incidentally, base their estimates on 1.5 percent annual growth in the GDP, which is far less than the past years.

More popular with the Obama administration, if Congress abolished the $106,800 cap on the wages subject to payroll taxes, the entire $5.3 trillion shortfall would disappear. Obama has suggested raising the cap to $250,00. Interestingly, several of the nation’s more honorable billionaires, like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates - junior and senior - have called for an end to the cap, noting that they are paying no more in Social Security taxes than a well-paid secretary.

As far as I know, they do not hold that Social Security’s assets should be put up for grabs on Wall Street. But then Buffet and the Gates's helped create wealth and something tangible, instead of a house of paper that collapsed.

You can see the Aging Committee’s information as well the views of advocates at the Committee's website, and you may read or download the full report here (pdf).
Write to saulfriedman@comcast.net


TIME GOES BY | GRAY MATTERS: Preserving Social Security

Fight Against Elder Abuse - At the Movies May 28 through June 24

June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Fight Against Elder Abuse  -  At the Movies May 28 through June 24

The national aging network works tirelessly to ensure that older Americans remain independent, healthy, and safe in their homes and communities for as long as possible. However, the independence of many seniors is threatened by abusive situations ranging from financial exploitation to severe neglect. A recent national survey revealed that more than one in ten seniors had experienced some type of elder mistreatment during the previous year. 

The consequences of abuse, neglect, and exploitation are grave; and abusive situations challenge all of the network’s efforts to promote the well-being of older adults.  Victims face considerably higher risk for premature death than elders who are not mistreated.  There are tremendous economic costs, as well.  A MetLife report released in 2009 estimates that $2.6 billion are lost annually to elder financial exploitation.  Many seniors are reluctant to admit they’ve been victimized.  Some are unable to ask for help.  Sometimes the abuse, neglect, and exploitation are not recognized by others.  As a result, many suffer in silence. 

However, June provides a unique opportunity for us to raise public awareness of elder abuse and to enlist public support and involvement for our aging services programs, many of which are vital to elder abuse prevention.  June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), recognized by communities throughout the world as a time to increase our efforts to raise awareness of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.  AoA invites and encourages you to join the international community this year in recognizing World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

To assist communities in planning events to observe WEAAD, AoA’s National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) has created the Join Us in the Fight Against Elder Abuse campaign as part of the first-ever nationwide effort to raise awareness of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. A cornerstone of the campaign is the placement of the Elder Abuse Information Piece, a 15 second public service announcement, in movie theaters in major metropolitan areas throughout the country running May 28, 2010 through June 24, 2010.  This Information Piece, with actor and advocate William Mapother of the television show “Lost,” is the same as the one that ran in 2009, and sustains the message that echoed simultaneously throughout the country last year asking viewers to “join us in the fight against elder abuse.”  Click here (http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/About/Initiatives/doc/Movie_theater_sheet_for_web_and_dissemination.pdf) for a listing of cities and movie theaters showing the information piece this year.

The NCEA has also created a companion Elder Abuse Awareness Information Packet.  The NCEA Elder Abuse Awareness Information Packet provides tip sheets on activities, information about abuse, and other practical information and fact sheets to help organizations prepare for increased public awareness during this time.  Visit the “Join Us” section of the NCEA website (http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/About/Initiatives/Join_Us_Campaign.aspx) to view and download the materials. 

For questions, comments, or feedback on the Join Us campaign, please email the NCEA at ncea-info@aoa.hhs.gov, or telephone at 302-831-7010.  We hope that you will join the NCEA this year in observing World Elder Abuse Awareness Day!  Together, we have the power to prevent elder abuse.   

New Director of the AoA Office of Long Term Care Ombudsman Programs Announced

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Message from Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee congratulating the new Director of the AoA Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs.

It is my pleasure to announce that Becky Kurtz has agreed to join AoA as our new Director of the Office of Long Term Care Ombudsman Programs. Since 1994, Becky has served as the Georgia State Long Term Care Ombudsman in Atlanta. Prior to that position, Becky was the Advocacy Coordinator for the Senior Citizens Advocacy Project in the Atlanta Legal Aid Society as well as serving as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York Law Department. Becky has a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law and a B.S. from Emory & Henry College in Emory, Virginia.

I am very excited that Becky will be joining AoA. As the Older Americans Act statute states, "The Director shall serve as an effective and visible advocate on behalf of older individuals who reside in long term care facilities, within the Department of Health and Human Services and with other departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Federal government regarding all Federal policies affecting such individuals."

For many years I have considered her one of the most effective and committed state long term care ombudsmen. I look forward to working with her on behalf of the 1.6 million older people who live in nursing homes and other residential care settings. She is an exceptional advocate. Please join me in welcoming Becky to AoA.

The Hill's Lawmaker Ratings - TheHill.com

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The Hill has tabulated scores that Washington advocacy organizations give members of Congress, so you can check them at thehill.com rather than roaming the Internet from site to site. The Hill cites 31 organizations, which is a fair cross section rather than a comprehensive list.
The Ratings

Strengthening Older People’s Rights: Towards a UN Convention

This publication was produced by a coalition of aging organizations internationally to strengthen understanding and awareness of the need for a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. It aims to provide the arguments and tools for engaging stakeholders across the globe in debate about older people’s rights and the role of a convention.

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American Indian Elder Health: Critical Information for Researchers and Policymakers

As more American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) live to adulthood and old age, the elderly population (age 55 and older) is projected to increase from 5.5% of the total U.S. AIAN population in 1990 to 12.6% in 2050. This shifting demographic profile of the population calls for focused attention on the health status of AIAN elders.
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Paul Ryan v. the President - WSJ.com

excerpt from Wall Street Journal Opinion article

'Every argument has been made. Everything that there is to say about health care has been said, and just about everybody has said it," President Obama declared yesterday as he urged Democrats to steamroll his plan through Congress. What hasn't been heard, however, is even a shred of White House honesty about the true costs of ObamaCare, or its fiscal consequences.

Nearby, we reprint Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan's remarks at the health summit last week, which methodically dismantle the falsehoods—there is no other way of putting it—that Mr. Obama has used to sell "reform" and repeated again yesterday. No one in the political class has even tried to refute Mr. Ryan's arguments, though he made them directly to the President and his allies, no doubt because they are irrefutable. If Democrats are willing to ignore overwhelming public opposition to ObamaCare and pass it anyway, then what's a trifling dispute over a couple of trillion dollars?

At his press conference yesterday, Mr. Obama claimed that "my proposal would bring down the cost of health care for millions—families, businesses and the federal government." He said it is "fully paid for" and "brings down our deficit by up to $1 trillion over the next two decades." Never before has a vast new entitlement been sold on the basis of fiscal responsibility, and one reason ObamaCare is so unpopular is that Americans understand the contradiction between untold new government subsidies and claims of spending restraint. They know a Big Con when they hear one.
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The Way Forward with Health Reform - The Commonwealth Fund

One way to move forward is to look at what health reform is and isn't—to separate myth from reality. The myths and realities:
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DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM: ADAPT's Call to Action for Home and Community in America. (2/2010)

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by Steve Gold

We The People hold our government accountable for enforcing our rights.

As the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act draws near, the disability community is not busy celebrating because we are literally in a fight for our lives and our most basic freedoms.

Eleven years ago, in the Olmstead decision, the Supreme Court said that Americans with disabilities have the right to live in the most integrated setting. Yet today, states are responding to budget shortfalls by drastically cutting home and community-based services. These draconian cuts are forcing seniors and people with disabilities into nursing facilities and other institutional settings because they don't have the services they need in the community to remain independent.

As states cut vital services, the federal government, which is charged with protecting our civil rights and enforcing the law, is simply standing by - silent - while Americans with disabilities have their most basic freedoms taken away by the states.

The disability community cannot sit by as our freedom is negotiated away in back room budget deals. We must take action!

DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM is a three-prong national campaign initiated by ADAPT to organize the disability community to:

* Demand that the Obama administration fulfill its duty to aggressively protect the civil rights of disabled Americans and enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act/Olmstead decision;

* File complaints with the Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice that document the violation of rights of individuals who have been forced into institutional settings, denied community services, or have had their community services reduced as well as complaints that document the state policies and budget cuts that violate our rights; and

* Document the disability community's efforts to fight back against state cuts so that we can learn from each other's efforts, rally others to join our fight, and hold public officials accountable when they do not support our freedom.

I. DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM: Demanding action by the Obama administration

The federal government is responsible for enforcing federal law and assuring that states comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act/Olmstead decision. ADAPT is demanding that the federal government affirmatively and aggressively enforce the Olmstead decision. To do this, the Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice, must:

1. Accept, investigate and resolve individual and systemic complaints which document state policies and budget cuts that threaten the freedom of Americans with disabilities;

2. Develop specific benchmarks/criteria for assessing state compliance, and holding them accountable. with the Olmstead decision, assess the states and publicly release this assessment on an annual basis;

3. Conduct regular, on-going compliance reviews of states for compliance with the Olmstead decision;

4. Develop "most integrated setting" criteria for determining when DOJ will step in and affirmatively enforce the Olmstead decision whether or not there has been a complaint filed;

5. With CMS, review state submissions for modifying their Medicaid State Plan and HCBS waiver services for the impact that these changes will have on the state's ability to comply with the Olmstead decision so that those changes which limit the freedom of Americans with disabilities are not approved by CMS;

6. With CMS, modify Section Q of the Minimum Data Set so that people who indicate they want to return to community living are actively assisted to do so;

7. Publicly report on the progress that has been made so that these results can be discussed in a potential meeting between Georgina Verdugo, the HHS/OCR Director, and ADAPT representatives.

ACTION TO TAKE: ADAPT is urging organizations across the country to sign on in support of these demands. If your organization would like to support this campaign, email DOF.signon@gmail.com

II. DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM: Filing complaints to protect our freedom

The Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and Department of Justice are charged with protecting the civil rights of Americans with disabilities who want to live in the most integrated setting. Although they are able to affirmatively enforce the law without specific complaints, these agencies typically take action only when complaints are filed. We need to file complaints that document the violation of rights of individuals who have been forced into institutional settings, denied community services, or have had their community services reduced. We must also file complaints that document the state policies and budget cuts that steal the freedom to we are entitled under the Olmstead decision.

ACTION TO TAKE: ADAPT has prepared a form you can download and fax to us toll free at 1-888-324-0787. We will forward your complaint to the Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights, the appropriate HHS/OCR Regional office, and the Department of Justice. If you choose to file your complaint yourself, please notify us at DOF.complaint@gmail.com that you have filed a complaint and, if possible, send ADAPT a copy.

III. DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM: Fighting back and sharing our stories

Even though there are different battles in individual states, we are fighting the same fight. To strengthen these efforts across the country, our campaign will collect personal and state stories about the effects of budget cuts and the efforts to fight back against them. ADAPT has created a website (www.defendingourfreedom2010.blogspot.com where we can post information and pictures of your advocacy. This will create a public record of the disability community's efforts to stop cuts and hopefully inspire others across the country to speak up and speak out, too. State advocates can also submit individual calls to action so that we can support each other's efforts.

ACTION TO TAKE: Send submissions to defendingourfreedom@gmail.com . And remember to keep up on what groups are doing by reading the blog: www.defendingourfreedom2010.blogspot.com

Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues

Back issues of other Information Bulletins are available online at http://www.stevegoldada.com with a searchable Archive at this site divided into different subjects.

To contact Steve Gold directly, write to stevegoldada@cs.com or call 215-627-7100.

Letters - What Do the Elderly Owe the Young? - NYTimes.com

Letters to the Editor in response to the David Brooks op-ed piece The Geezers’ Crusade in the New York Times.

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