By 2030, 20 percent of New York’s population will be older than 60. Here and around the world, the victory of longer life expectancy comes with unprecedented challenges for the social safety net. New York is starting to grapple with them now. This project is supported by The New York Foundation.
‘At less than one-half of 1 percent of the city’s overall budget, the Department for the Aging has long struggled to receive the financial support it requires to meet its mission of ensuring the ‘the dignity and quality of life of diverse older adults.”
Family caregivers (who are mostly women) across New York State provide $31 billion of free care each year.
Provider after provider, several with tears in their eyes, expressed dismay at the city’s inadequate reimbursement rate for meals.
Advocates predict that changes proposed by the governor could reduce the number of ‘fiscal intermediaries,’ who help administer the Medicaid program that pays for home-health aides, by 90 percent.
While the poverty rate among older New Yorkers declined slightly, a massive surge in the over-65 population meant more people were living in poverty. In some areas, the poverty problem grew more serious.
In the next two decades, New Yorkers 65 and older will account for 18 percent of the city’s population, according to the AARP. And they’re going to need a lot more elevators than the transit system currently offers.
The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program or CDPAP pays for home-health aides and family caregivers. The state recently has subjected the program to major changes and more might be coming.
The state’s paid-leave law is helpful, experts say, but cannot fully close the gap between what family caregivers can provide and what older New Yorkers need. But, unlike most states, at least New York is trying.
The city offers a menu of mental-health services for seniors. But funding and services are uneven at the city’s senior centers and neighborhood resources can determine what mental-health care seniors receive.
A new book released by the transit advocacy group Riders Alliance on Thursday details the experiences of Bronx seniors as they traverse the bus system.