Column: Advocates warn proposed Trump budget cuts and agency changes put senior services at risk
Diane Slezak, president and CEO of AgeOptions, has worked in the aging services sector helping to meet the needs of seniors for nearly 50 years.
'I have never encountered a moment as challenging and concerning as the one we face now,' she said.
Slezak and other advocates are worried about the risks facing seniors posed by the Trump administration proposed $880 billion cuts to Medicaid and other U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funding, massive job cuts and other changes affecting programs that have long served the elderly.
AgeOptions is the Area Agency on Aging for suburban Cook County. That includes the south suburbs where more than 188,000 adults ages 60 and older reside. The nonprofit partners with agencies to connect older adults and caregivers with resources and services and funds senior services programs.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration announced the Health and Human Services Department was slashing 10,000 jobs. That included cutting half of the staff at the Administration for Community Living, responsible for implementing the Older Americans Act.
The act supports a range of health and health-related social services programs for adults ages 60 and older and individuals with disabilities to help them live independently. That includes home-delivered and congregate meals programs, transportation to medical appointments, personal care assistance, respite care for caregivers, health and wellness programs, falls prevention and elder abuse prevention programs and other health and wellness programs.
The agency is also responsible for supporting the funding for more than 600 area agencies on aging nationwide, Slezak noted.
In Fiscal Year 2024, Illinois agencies funded under the Older Americans Act assisted 478,113 older adults and caregivers, including 32,551 in Chicago's south suburbs served by AgeOptions, according to Slezak.
As part of the Trump administration's planned restructuring of the Health and Human Services, Older Americans Act programs will be moved to other agencies, and the proposed department budget calls for eliminating funding for some programs including senior health promotion and disease prevention programs, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, Adult Protective Services support, and other elder abuse, neglect and exploitation efforts, notes the National Council on Aging.
It would also no longer fund the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps seniors and others with their heating and electricity bills, Aging and Disability Resource Centers and the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, which provides counseling to help seniors enrolling in Medicare.
Older Americans Act-funded programs play a vital role and help seniors avoid more costly nursing home care, advocates note. For example, according to Meals on Wheels America, the cost of home-delivered meals for one senior for the entire year is $2,602 while the cost of one day of hospital care is $2,754 and for 10 days in a long-term care facility, the cost is $2,070.
The proposed changes are occurring at a time when the need for senior services is growing and when programs have long been underfunded, said Slezak. The population of seniors is set to reach 91 million nationally by 2030, according to Meals on Wheels America, which also notes one in two older adults living alone lack the income to pay for basic needs and 12 million older adults face financial challenges that impact their ability to age at home.
From 2010 to 2013, the number of adults ages 60 and older in the southern townships increased by more than 42,000 while the number younger than that dropped by more than 64,000, she said.
'Older Americans are one of the most rapidly growing populations,' said Slezak. 'We have in Illinois 25% of the population now over age of 60. Funding needs to be increased and not paused or terminated.'
The restructuring at Health and Human Services included laying off 10 Administration for Community Living regional administrators and veteran career staff in key roles along with experts in budgeting, grants, policy, evaluation and communications, and is disrupting the agency's functions, Slezak said. The changes, including fragmenting services into different departments, will make them less efficient and effective, she stressed. She worries seniors will fall through the cracks.
She's also concerned about any potential slowdown in funding for agencies that provide services to seniors. She cited a recent USAging survey that noted 38% of agencies would have to reduce services within two weeks of a funding disruption.
According to AgeOptions, statewide, without Older Americans Act funding, some of the monthly losses would include:
183,209 fewer home-delivered meals
154,971 fewer congregate meals served
30,264 fewer contacts providing information, assistance and outreach
14,933 fewer rides provided to older adults
'That is just unimaginable,' Slezak said. 'It's just unfathomable. I can't even think about it.'
The state would never be able to make up for that funding, she said. Medicaid provides health care coverage for 654,000 people ages 50 and over in Illinois, according to AARP.
Elaine Grande, executive director of Palos Heights-based eldercare services provider Pathlights, said the organization is closely monitoring the proposed cuts and changes and said it's essential to raise awareness on the proposed cuts 'and just how detrimental they could be for older adults in our communities.
'At Pathlights, we remain committed to advocating for older adults, providing accurate information, and emphasizing the critical importance of programs like Medicaid, SHIP and those under the Older Americans Act.'
The statewide aging network is working together to build awareness, advocate for services and ensure the needs of older adults are recognized and met, she said.
'I'm very concerned about all the cuts and all the changes,' said U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, a Democrat from Matteson. 'That puts services and care for older Americans and people with disabilities at risk.'
Earlier this month, Kelly unsuccessfully sought to meet with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for an explanation on recent layoffs and the restructuring.
She and other senior advocates note cuts in staffing at the Social Security Administration are also negatively affecting seniors with reports of people calling the agency and having to wait four and five hours to reach anyone to get help with services.
Constituents have voiced their concerns, said Kelly, who noted two town halls she held recently attracted 11,000 and 13,000 people.
'Seniors, their children and grandchildren, everybody is concerned,' she said. 'They're worried about what's going to happen to services.'
While Democrats are limited in what they can do legislatively to block the proposed changes given Republican majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, Kelly praised lawsuits filed by advocates and intervention by the courts.
Those being negatively affected and or opposed to the cuts and changes must speak up, said Kelly.
'This is not the time to stay on the sidelines,' she said. She encouraged people to contact their senators and representatives.
The area agencies on aging in Illinois are organizing a statewide advocacy day on May 28 to elevate the importance of senior services and the critical role they play in the lives of older adults across the state, said Grande. For more advocacy information visit AgeOptions www.ageoptions.org and click on the advocacy tab.
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