Medicaid safety net stretched to pay for seniors’ long-term care, By Anna Gorman, August 3, 2016, National Public Radio: “Donna Nickerson spent her last working years as the activity and social services director at a Turlock, Calif., nursing home. But when she developed Alzheimer’s disease and needed that kind of care herself, she and her husband couldn’t afford it: A bed at a nearby home cost several thousand dollars a month. ‘I’m not a wealthy man,’ said Nickerson’s husband Mel, a retired California State University-Stanislaus professor. ‘There’s no way I could pay for that.’ About half of all people turning 65 today will need daily help as they age, either at home or in nursing homes. Such long-term care will cost an average of $91,100 for men and double that for women, because they live longer…”
Tag: Seniors
Retirement Security
Women more likely than men to face poverty during retirement, Associated Press, July 10, 2016, Chicago Tribune: “During their working years, women tend to earn less than men, and when they retire, they’re more likely to live in poverty. These are women who raised children and cared for sick and elderly family members, often taking what savings and income they do have and spending it on things besides their own retirement security. The National Institute on Retirement Security, a nonprofit research center, reports that women are 80 percent more likely than men to be impoverished at age 65 and older. Women age 75 to 79 are three times more likely…”
Aging Homeless Population
Old and on the street: The graying of America’s homeless, By Adam Nagourney, May 31, 2016, New York Times: “They lean unsteadily on canes and walkers, or roll along the sidewalks of Skid Row here in beat-up wheelchairs, past soiled sleeping bags, swaying tents and piles of garbage. They wander the streets in tattered winter coats, even in the warmth of spring. They worry about the illnesses of age and how they will approach death without the help of children who long ago drifted from their lives. ‘It’s hard when you get older,’ said Ken Sylvas, 65, who has struggled with alcoholism and has not worked since he was fired in 2001 from a meatpacking job. ‘I’m in this wheelchair. I had a seizure and was in a convalescent home for two months. I just ride the bus back and forth all night.’ The homeless in America are getting old…”