Earlier this year, AgingNY collaborated with the New York Association on Independent Living to give you an assessment of how older adults and disabled people were treated in the Governor’s State of the State. This month, I will provide a brief overview of how aging services are being treated in the state budget process currently, and highlight some of the myriad places outside “aging” where older adults are addressed in the budget.
After the State of the State (which we pointed out failed to acknowledge he needs of older adults and caregivers), Governor Hochul revealed a budget that proposed a historic $45 million investment in aging services, the largest investment in the State Office for the Aging’s history.
With this investment, we can begin to serve the thousands of older New Yorkers who are on waitlists for services. Older adults cannot afford to wait for services; based on a study we did several years ago, 10% of people waiting for but not receiving services went directly to a skilled nursing facility, and 6% transition to community Medicaid. Failing to serve older adults results in a reduction in community living and more people having to impoverish themselves to qualify for Medicaid. A $45 million investment will be a helpful step, but waitlists do not fully capture unmet need, which is why the AgeStrong NYC campaign is asking for $89 million total. And we also know that as we work to meet current need, more people each year will need services.
The Assembly and State Senate recently shared their proposed budgets. Both accepted the Governor’s proposal and added their own for aging services. The Assembly supported our request for a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) of 7.8% for aging services staff and additional funding for specific types of services like the Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP). The Senate, meanwhile, proposed a greater investment to address unmet need, additional money for a COLA, and more funding than the Governor proposed for other specific programs like the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP) and the guardianship hotline.
Like people with disabilities, older New Yorkers and caregivers are not addressed by just one section of the budget. For example, older adults and caregivers with disabilities can make use of services provided by Independent Living Centers (ILCs), and ILC funding is covered in the education section of the budget. Some older adults serve as kinship caregivers to family members like grandchildren, so funding to kinship care programs like those offered through the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) can be impactful.
The Department of Health oversees numerous programs that impact older adults. One recent addition and example is the Master Plan for Aging. Meanwhile, any changes to Medicaid eligibility requirements impact older adults who look to Medicaid for services. Furthermore, you can see items in the Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) budget that impact older adults: items supporting creating accessible “senior housing” units, programs to make housing repairs and adaptations that allow older adults to stay in their homes, and voucher programs that help house homeless people—a population that is increasingly composed of older adults. Finally, while the state budget is largely about allocating spending, policy items without a budget allocation are often included as well. For example, the State Senate proposed expanding a property tax exemption for living quarters for parents and grandparents.
There are worthwhile proposals that would support older adults and caregivers, and not all investments appear under the “aging” part of the budget. We will continue monitoring and advocating up until the budget, due April 1st, is complete.
Opinions expressed are solely those of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Able News at The Viscardi Center and/or The Viscardi Center.