More than 100 seniors packed Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens on Friday to hear elected officials and QICA board members speak about the issues that face them. “We were very pleased to have members from the federal, state and local governments here to speak,” Maria Cuadrado, president of QICA, said.
The current economic downturn has led to financial deficits in all levels of the government. Those deficits lead to budget cuts, and many programs being provided to senior citizens are in danger of losing funding. Those include senior centers, and Meals on Wheels, the popular program that delivers hot meals to seniors who cannot leave the house.
The elected officials at the forum agreed that the need to continue such programs for seniors is vital. State Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona) said, “Senior centers need to be protected at all costs.”
The idea was backed by Francis Levine, a member of Services Now for Adult Persons, who said, “senior centers are like our second home. Without them we would be staring at four walls. It becomes a second family.”
The national healthcare reform debate is also important to seniors. They are pushing for a Medicare buy-in program for Americans aged 60 to 64 who lack the option of employer-sponsored insurance. Medicare only covers those 65 and older, but people 60 to 64 are most likely to be in need of healthcare, Cuadrado said, explaining that they are the most likely to suffer from pre-existing medical conditions, excluding them from insurance coverage. “People from ages 60 to 64 fall through the cracks,” she said.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens and Brooklyn) agreed on lowering the age to receive Medicare, and supports federal healthcare for all. “You get Medicare at 65,” Weiner said. “Why not 55? Why not 45? Why not 35?”
One provision in the main healthcare reform bill being considered by Congress — America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 — is considered especially important by the attendees. That element would eliminate the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap by immediately requiring brand-name drug makers to provide a 50 percent discount on purchases within the gap, and phase it out completely over 14 years.
Also in the bill, Medicare benefits will not take cuts and there will be no rationing of care, Weiner said, specifying that there will be no mandate for euthanasia. Finally, he added, there is no mention of death panels or any provision infringing on an individual’s or family’s ability to make medical decisions with their doctor.
The last major topic discussed at the forum was how the economic downturn has affected seniors. The most detrimental aspect of the down economy is the upcoming freeze on Social Security’s cost of living allowance. Without a change to federal law, there will be no COLA increase over the next two years, the first time that has happened since automatic COLAs were instituted in 1975.
QICA is asking the elected officials for a modest COLA increase, to improve the financial conditions of seniors with low budgets and on fixed incomes. Weiner supports changing the law so that they would receive one, but Congress has not yet passed such a measure.
QICA also hopes for an amendment of the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption program which would require the rental cost not to exceed one quarter of the tenant’s annual income, instead of the current one third.
Cuadrado hopes that seniors get the benefits they are fighting for and learn about special programs they are entitled to because, “many seniors don’t access programs available to them.”
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