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Trumps new rules on Foodstamps means eliminating eligibility with resources. Like money in retirement accounts? Will these new regs affect the elderly?
I would say yes. In reality, how many seniors with a sufficient amount of money in retirement accounts, plus SS, would need food stamps? If they don't have much money in retirement accounts, then whatever "Trumps new rules" are, isn't going to affect them much anyway.
The above is shared for information and discussion and not advocacy.
We often have discussion in here about the safety net for seniors.
So here is some FOOD for thought.
The following is from the link:
(Indeed, millions of seniors across the country quietly go hungry as the safety net designed to catch them frays. Nearly 8% of Americans 60 and older were “food insecure” in 2017, according to a recent study released by the anti-hunger group Feeding America. That’s 5.5 million seniors who don’t have consistent access to enough food for a healthy life, a number that has more than doubled since 2001 and is only expected to grow as America grays.
While the plight of hungry children elicits support and can be tackled in schools, the plight of hungry older Americans is shrouded by isolation and a generation’s pride. The problem is most acute in parts of the South and Southwest. Louisiana has the highest rate among states, with 12% of seniors facing food insecurity. Memphis fares worst among major metropolitan areas, with 17% of seniors like Milligan unsure of their next meal.)
I live in Louisiana (hoping to move, though). So I can appreciate the problem. It has a lot of poor people, high sales taxes (low property taxes, but poor people don't own homes), and a "you're on your own" attitude.
HOWEVER, in my area, we have a local food pantry. You can sign up to shop there. I guess you have to provide proof of income or whatever, and you get to shop there. I think the food is free (it comes from donations, I think), or it's very very cheap.
ALSO, there's a local church that every week passes out boxes of food to the poor. Each box contains an assortment of nutritious food and staples (rice, potatoes, canned veggies, etc.).
But you have to have transportation to go to those places, and there is precious little public transportation in the state. "You're on your own."
Of course not, it was at a bar. But she obviously had enough money extra to buy beer even on SNAP.
SNAP doesn't care what one spends their disposable income on. Beer, or the more common anecdotes presented by detractors of the program; Iphones and expensive sneakers.
You're confusing two issues. There's a big difference between "food security" which is the topic of this thread and "long term care security".
If you're physically or mentally disabled to the point where you can't handle buying and preparing food, that's not a "food security" issue. At that point, there are going to be other basic things in life you can't do for yourself.
My point is that a US citizen age 65+ has enough of a safety net that food security isn't the issue. The issue is when you degrade to the point where you need assisted living level of services. In the US, that is private pay. In a lot of the country, there's a huge gap in services between living independently and qualifying for Medicaid services. With low birth rates, this is going to be a huge problem. ~70% of seniors aren't in a position to private pay for assisted living.
I agree. Any 65+ who can't afford food, likely couldn't afford food before they turned 65.
This is such a stereotype. Expensive watches? Next time you are in a crowd, look around and see how few people even wear watches. People can have things they bought when times were better for them, and then a layoff or illness came along and, boom, their income is gone. Is anyone really going to suggest they sell that Apple phone they bought 3 years ago for the little it would bring them? How will they ever find a job, then? Unless you know the details, are you really in a position to judge?
Check out line stalking is a growing hobby. The more ardent stalkers follow the individual into the parking lot to assess the value of the subjects vehicle.
So, your point is that Scrooge was actually the "Hero" in Dickens' tale? That even before the visits of the Christmas Ghosts, that without his ingenuity and frugal manner, Bob Cratchet would not have had a job and his entire family would have been on the streets, likely to starve?
People hate the wealthy and powerful. But they without a doubt, are dependent upon them, and that is likely the source of their hatred. Not that I'm one of them, LOL. I just understand the benefits of someone having perseverance, vision, discipline, innovation, an extremely strong work ethic, self-control and diligence. Versus sitting at the bar all day for years and years, and then expecting to have the same standard of living of someone who didn't do that after retirement. And that's my direct experience with someone I grew up with, it ain't dorm room musings.
Most people I personally know don't have any animus for the wealthy or powerful if they are not abusing their position to intentionally cause harm to others to enrich themselves. Someone has to take risks to build a business, advance technology, organize a community, create jobs. That hard work, personal sacrifice and willingness to assume the risk of honest failure, deserves reward. Not everyone has what it takes to do that or the desire and strength to face the hard decisions a business owner must take when times are bad to ensure a business survives and the bulk of the workforce makes it through hard times.
Scrooge was no hero. The story shows he started out very differently in life. I've read an alarming number of posts on this forums various threads on hunger and children's programs from people who like to toss out the word lazy or attempt to infer people, who may have a disadvantage that a poster has not considered, due to our own naturally narrow life experiences, are themselves to blame. It brought that old 1930s movie to mind.
In the past week we had example of food shaming of children in a nearby community. The proposal being made is if there is a past due on the lunch bill the child is still fed, but restricted to just one school board chosen menu item. The child is not left to go hungry. I like tuna salad myself and while tuna is nutritious, some tuna is not very palatable. However if the bill is in arrears $20 or more the child gets nothing and school children are very much aware of who gets assistance and who has nothing.
NOTHING FOLKS. A child gets nothing to eat for lunch.
Why should your property or other taxes go up to pay for deadbeats or people who made bad choices. I get that. While we can justifiably bemoan the absolutely useless POS parent with a Budwiser in one hand and a Camel dangling from their lips not paying their child's lunch bill, the child should be able to eat and not be singled out for special attention due to the food they have access to. I can still remember my school giving copper tokens to children who got free lunches and how they were taunted by other children over 50+ years ago. Nothing has changed as far as that is concerned.
The arguments for self reliance , personal and family responsibility, cooking and menu suggestions are all valid. However I find the thinly veiled mean-spiritedness in some of the threads to be a disappointment. If you are a reasonably financially secure, comfortable retiree as I suspect many of us are, get off you couch and volunteer with a program meant for at needs people just 1 day a week, for just a few months.
Be sure to volunteer a little farther out of your peer comfort zone/bubble and really talk with the people being served. Will you find a lazy person or a person who made bad life decisions? Yes you certainly will. Will you find a person who's situation does not provide a nice canned blanket excuse to dismiss their need? Far more likely.
Sooner or later a recession will come as it a natural cycle of business for those of us who have lived long enough to see them. The need will be great and the already strained resources in some parts of the country that are not doing as well, especially isolated rural resources, where they exist at all, will be at the breaking point. While children will get the bulk of the attention isolated seniors will not.
Medicare pays for housing? Just exhaust all your resources first. Really?
Medicare is the primary medical care insurance for a large number of seniors. Many are shocked to discover that Medicare does not cover costs for most types of long term care including Alzheimer's and dementia care. When it does pay, it is only in a very limited capacity. While Medicare is not a long term care solution, there are benefits for seniors with recoverable conditions on a short term basis.
If you want to know what medicare pays for and can go, or be taken to a local SS office, just make an appointment first and get the facts unique to your situation from a face to face meeting. Much better to have a face to face vs talking on the phone. Then test the information provided with some sites such as this one that have retires SS employees who can help validate what you were told.
Generally, Medicare Part A covers hospital care, hospice, home health and skilled nursing care only under certain conditions. As for senior housing, Medicare covers residency in a nursing home for a short period of time as long as custodial care isn’t the only type of care that you need. Certain conditions must be met, such as:
– The residence must be a certified skilled nursing facility.
– Your care must be medically necessary (nursing services, therapy, etc.).
– You had a prior hospital stay of at least three days.
– You must be admitted to a nursing facility within 30 days of a hospital stay.
– You must be 65 years old or older.
Once these conditions are met, Medicare will pay for some of your fees for up to 100 days:
– 100 percent for the first 20 days.
– You pay up to $140 per day, and Medicare will pay the rest from days 21 through 100.
After this time, it is your responsibility to pay for your care. If you are admitted to hospice care, which is also long-term, Medicare will only cover it if you have a terminal illness and are not expected to live more than six months. This plan is not the best solution for those seeking senior housing or long-term care.
Medicare and Disabled Housing
Much like the coverage available for senior citizens, Medicare does not provide assistance for long-term housing needs for persons with disabilities. If you are under 65 and disabled, you can enroll in Medicare without paying premiums and receive the same benefits.
Skilled Nursing Facilities
Medicare will pay for 100% of the cost of care up to 20 days at a skilled nursing facility and approximately 80% of the cost up to 80 more days. The care must be for recovery following an inpatient hospital stay.
Assisted Living Communities Medicare does not cover any cost of assisted living. It will pay for most medical costs incurred while the senior is in assisted living, but will pay nothing toward custodial care (personal care) or the room and board cost of assisted living.
In Home Care
Medicare will cover skilled nursing care given in the home for a limited time period, but not non-medical care. Care must be prescribed by a doctor and needed part-time only. The senior must be “confined” meaning they are unable to leave the home without the assistance of another person. This is formally referred to as "homebound".
Adult Day Care Medicare does not pay for adult day care services.
Alzheimer's / Dementia Care
Unfortunately, most care associated with Alzheimer's is considered personal care and therefore not paid for by Medicare. Medical care associated with Alzheimer's is covered. For very late stage Alzheimer's patients, there is a hospice benefit that may be applicable to Medicare beneficiaries. Read more about paying for Alzheimer's care.
Hospice
Medicare offers hospice coverage for terminally ill individuals whom doctors determine have less than 6 months to live. While Medicare hospice does not typically pay for room and board, it does cover medical expenses, prescription drugs, and homemaker services, which are typically not paid for by Medicare. Although in most cases, hospice care is given in-home, it’s possible for one to opt for inpatient care.
Last edited by Kentucky62; 08-31-2019 at 02:47 PM..
And there it is. The conclusion is that anyone who can't care for themselves should have the decency to die.
Larry, I shared my own plan. Other people need to make theirs. For the record, I took care of my own Mom in my own home until she was 92 years old. Eventually, her health became so bad (kidney failure) she had to go into a nursing home for hospice care, since I was still working. She was there for less than three weeks.
Getting older is all about loss. You lose your friends, your family, your hearing, your eyesight, your mobility, your cognitive functioning, and eventually, your life. What do you want the Gubmint to do? Wave a magic wand and make old people young and healthy and vibrant again?
There are limited resources that need to be spent in the most efficient manner possible. Many counties provide at least some in-home assistance for the elderly (ranging from meals-on-wheels up to in-home caregivers for a small portion of the day). But there is no way in the world that we can afford to provide each and every elderly person a full-time, 3-shift group of caregivers in their own home, for the rest of their lives. When someone becomes infirm enough that they are at risk of "starving" in their own home, they need to enter an assisted living or nursing home environment (or have the guts to put my own plan into action), which will be paid for by Medicare. And, Medicare is going broke quickly, so even that is questionable going forward. The answer to elderly care has ALWAYS been, and will always have to be, self-help, then family and/or neighbors. I believe it was Hobbes who said that life is often "nasty, brutish and short". And for the elderly, who are no longer able to care for themselves, the effects are exacerbated. Where are the families???
So yes, and if this is "news" to you, then I'm surprised. Old people die, it's what they do. You, me, and every one reading this will likely get too old and sick to drive, and then to cook, and then to toilet themselves, if not taken out by something "suddenly", like a heart attack or stroke (a "blessing in disguise"). They will either be taken care of by family, or have to enter a nursing home, paid for with their own means if they have them, or in a Medicaid-funded facility if they don't. I currently have an Aunt in a Memory-Care nursing home I visit regularly. She can still feed herself and hold a halfway-intelligent conversation (although she has nothing to talk about, and is bored out of her gourd). At dinner, at least one of the residents needs to be spoon-fed like an infant, and cannot even converse with the person feeding her, she's a 100 lb. baby who may live like this for another year or two, at about nine grand a month. Is this a "Good" thing"? Not in my opinion.
If you don't like this, you'd better talk with God, because he set this system up, not me.
Larry, I shared my own plan. Other people need to make theirs. For the record, I took care of my own Mom in my own home until she was 92 years old. Eventually, her health became so bad (kidney failure) she had to go into a nursing home for hospice care, since I was still working. She was there for less than three weeks.
Getting older is all about loss. You lose your friends, your family, your hearing, your eyesight, your mobility, your cognitive functioning, and eventually, your life. What do you want the Gubmint to do? Wave a magic wand and make old people young and healthy and vibrant again?
There are limited resources that need to be spent in the most efficient manner possible. Many counties provide at least some in-home assistance for the elderly (ranging from meals-on-wheels up to in-home caregivers for a small portion of the day). But there is no way in the world that we can afford to provide each and every elderly person a full-time, 3-shift group of caregivers in their own home, for the rest of their lives. When someone becomes infirm enough that they are at risk of "starving" in their own home, they need to enter an assisted living or nursing home environment (or have the guts to put my own plan into action), which will be paid for by Medicare. And, Medicare is going broke quickly, so even that is questionable going forward. The answer to elderly care has ALWAYS been, and will always have to be, self-help, then family and/or neighbors. I believe it was Hobbes who said that life is often "nasty, brutish and short". And for the elderly, who are no longer able to care for themselves, the effects are exacerbated. Where are the families???
So yes, and if this is "news" to you, then I'm surprised. Old people die, it's what they do. You, me, and every one reading this will likely get too old and sick to drive, and then to cook, and then to toilet themselves, if not taken out by something "suddenly", like a heart attack or stroke (a "blessing in disguise"). They will either be taken care of by family, or have to enter a nursing home, paid for with their own means if they have them, or in a Medicaid-funded facility if they don't. I currently have an Aunt in a Memory-Care nursing home I visit regularly. She can still feed herself and hold a halfway-intelligent conversation (although she has nothing to talk about, and is bored out of her gourd). At dinner, at least one of the residents needs to be spoon-fed like an infant, and cannot even converse with the person feeding her, she's a 100 lb. baby who may live like this for another year or two, at about nine grand a month. Is this a "Good" thing"? Not in my opinion.
If you don't like this, you'd better talk with God, because he set this system up, not me.
Thanks Strawberry. I need to make an edit, however, when I wrote "Medicare" I actually meant "Medicaid". As Kentucky62 stated, Medicare only pays the majority of the first 100 days of inpatient rehab costs. Medicaid pays for long term care of the destitute elderly. My own Aunt is self-paying for her care (thank God, she and my uncle were frugal in life and built a large estate such that she can afford this). I chose the best place in the area for her, most Medicaid places aren't nearly as nice. A lesson in Good Planning for the Future.
So what has largely been established in this thread, is that the subject is not really "The Elderly" it's "The Impoverished Elderly whose family and friends have abandoned them". Those with means, even those with limited mobility, can afford to have groceries or prepared food delivered to their homes. Poverty among the elderly is definitely more acutely felt than poverty among younger, more abled persons. But people do have the ability to positively affect their own outcomes, even though they cannot escape the ultimate ravages that aging visits upon us all. Keeping as healthy as possible, moving as much as possible, eating as healthily as possible, keeping or making new relationships, getting one or more "housemates" who can work to keep each other viable, are all options that old folks with little money need to do more-so than those who have means as they age further, until it's ultimately check-out time. But don't think for a minute that you can escape checking out of the Life Motel. It's always been that way, and it will always be that way.
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