Author Archives for Herb Weiss

Costa takes helm of SACRI, Crafts Vision for Upcoming Conference

Published in RINewsToday on September 9, 2024

The Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island (SACRI), an independent and diverse coalition of over 20 agencies and individual members who advocate for older Rhode Islanders, gears up for the planning of its 16th Annual Conference and Expo with the recent appointment of its new Executive Director, Carol Anne Costa.

Bringing a Wealth of Experience to SACRI

According to Diane Santos, SACRI Board  Chair, Costa brings a wealth of experience from her positions in the Raimondo administration and most recently as the Constituent Service Coordinator for the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General. Her institutional knowledge at the state and federal levels gained in her past positions in the Rhode Island Judiciary, as well as Executive Director of National Utility Contractors of RI (NUCARI) and her managerial role at the Johnston Housing Authority, is a great asset.

“Most importantly, Carol is passionate about helping others, not only through her work but also through her volunteerism in the community. This commitment is exemplified by her serving on many Boards and committees, most notably as a member of the Board of Directors of Wiggin Village for the past 20 years,” says Santos.

The conference will bring together important voices: people from across the state together with the politicians who serve their interests at the levers of power, says Costa. “To achieve progress on any issue the participation of decision makers along with those they represent is the best way to meet budget, legislative and policy goals,” notes Costa.

SACRI Conference is Just a Month Away

In July, Costa stepped into the role of managing SACRI’s upcoming annual conference, “A Bridge to a Secure Future,” to be held on October 9, 2024, from 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, at the Warwick-based Crown Plaza.  This major task remains on her desk as do many of the other tasks to move the organization forward to prepare for the upcoming General Assembly session.

We must embrace the future and respect the past,” says Costa, in developing strategies to advocate for legislative proposals that enhance the lives older persons.

 “My goal is to fill the ballroom at the Crowne Plaza to capacity with older Rhode Islanders, aging advocates, partners and coalition members to educate them about legislative proposals that SACRI supports during next year’s legislative session.

According to Costa, the conference theme, “A Bridge to a Secure Future,” focuses on the kitchen table issues facing older adults and adults with disabilities: economic security, healthcare, and housing. Presenting the keynote address is US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse who will be followed by a panel including US Congressman Seth Magaziner, RI Attorney General Peter F. Neronha and Housing expert, Julie Leddy, she says.

“The conference will be informative and opportune.” said Costa, noting that SACRI’s mission is helping to better the lives of older Rhode Islanders and adults with disabilities and the conference helps us to expand our outreach into the community.

“Empowering people by giving their voice to pertinent issues is something I value, and this conference is the perfect way to begin my tenure at the helm,” she continued.

“In Rhode Island, the healthcare system is under great stress. Older Rhode Islanders face a system rife with worker shortages, long wait times and a dwindling pool of doctors. Solving these problems requires the voices of our coalition and its partners to bring attention to them and the impact they have on people,” said Costa.

In speaking about housing issues, Costa noted, “The housing situation in the state is at a crisis point where new stock is virtually nonexistent and underfunded agencies tasked with building, managing, and easing rental spikes are the only bulwark to help ordinary folks.”

But the big question which looms is will the monies allocated for new development be proportionally distributed, particularly for our older adults as threats to Medicare and Social Security at the federal level compound the stress they feel?” asks Costa.

“This advocacy work is in my DNA, and I am enjoying every minute of it,” says Costa, stressing that she looks forward to moving SACRI forward to accomplish its legislative and policy goals that will impact Rhode Island’s older population.

“And I would be remiss if I did not ask everyone to join us on October 9, 2024,” she said.

Building on Last Year’s  Success

Looking back, over 300 people attended last year’s conference, says Maureen Maigret, SACRI’s Policy Advisor, who assisted its Board members to organize the 2023 conference.  After educating the attendees, the coalition mobilized its troops composed of older Rhode Islander, aging and health care organizations, educators, unions, and Medicare insurance providers to push for change. “

How did that conference impact SACRI’s lobbying efforts?

“Last year’s legislative agenda reflected policy issues discussed by the keynote speaker and panelists at the conference,” noted Maigret, a former Director of the State’s Office on Aging.   According to Maigret, SACRI’s lobbying efforts resulted in the General Assembly enacting SACRI’s legislative priorities that included increasing home and community service provider rates, increasing funding for the state’s senior centers and the streamlining of zoning requirements for the building of Accessory Dwelling Units.  Lawmakers also put a $120 million housing bond program on the November ballot, she said.

“Feedback from Conference attendees about the presentations was excellent and they liked the variety of exhibitors, too,” says Maigret, noting that some participants did say they would have liked more time to ask questions to the presenters. This year’s conference does build in additional time for Q&A, she adds. 

Maigret says SACRI’s Board took charge in organizing the successful event.  This year, Costa and her Board continue its efforts to organize and prepare for the upcoming legislative session, she says.

The cost of SACRI’s upcoming conference is $25.00 per person for Members and $35 per person for nonmembers.  And any organization who wishes to exhibit their work at the Expo, the tables are $350.00. To register go to  https://senioragendari.org/2024-conference-and-expo.

For more details about SACRI, to https://senioragendari.org/.

Cap on out— of-pocket costs for Medicare drug plan enrollees coming soon

Published in RINewsToday on September 2, 2024 

Back on Aug. 16th in 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), it’s enactment lowering the health cost for millions of older Americans by lowering the high cost of prescription drugs by granting Medicare the power to directly negotiate drug prices with drug companies.  Rising drug costs were forcing some Medicare beneficiaries to cut their expenses by not filling a prescription or even skipping doses. This could lead to complications and side effects resulting in hospitalization, even death.

“AARP was instrumental in Congress passing the prescription drug law of 2022 to lower prices and out-of-pocket costs for Medicare enrollees,” said Jo Ann Jenkins, CEO of AARP in an Aug. 28 statement announcing the release of AARP’s new report. “As we approach January 2025, we want every senior in America to know that, thanks to the new annual cap which limits their out-of-pocket costs, they will have more money to invest in their families, spend on their broader health needs or simply save to achieve greater financial stability.”

Virtual Media Briefing Details Impact on IRA law

Last week, the Washington, DC-based AARP briefed the media on the state-level impact of the historic new federal protection for 56 million Medicare drug plan enrollees. The new law caps out-of-pocket prescription drug costs every year, beginning at $2,000 in January 2025. 

The nine-page Public Policy Institute report, released at the virtual media briefing, analyzes the number of enrollees (not receiving the Medicare low-income subsidy) that will benefit from the new cap by state, age, gender, and race between 2025 and 2029.

Nancy LeaMond, the chief advocacy and engagement officer for AARP, say putting the brakes to spiraling drug cost by enacting the IRA put money back into the pockets of millions of America’s retirees purchasing pharmaceuticals for their medical conditions. “Upwards of 95% of Americans, age 65 and older, have at least one chronic condition and close to 80% are dealing with 2 or more chronic conditions,” says LeaMond, like diabetes and heart disease, to debilitating neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Ms.

“Prescription drugs are a lifeline, said LeaMond, stressing that medicine is only effective if you have the money to pay for it. The passage of IRA two years ago is already having a significant and positive impact on millions of Medicare beneficiaries who now don’t pay more than $35 a month for insulin and get free vaccines for things like shingles,” she noted. 

“There are even bigger savings coming down the pike, starting in January 2025. The total amount that folks enrolled in Medicare drug plans pay out of pocket for their prescriptions will be capped at $2,000 a year,” reports LeaMond.  

During the media briefing, Leigh Purvis, Prescription Drug Policy Principal, AARP Public Policy Institute, stated “one of the biggest challenges in the original Medicare Part D benefit was the lack of a cap on out-of-pocket spending.”  Even after reaching a certain limit, Medicare beneficiaries were still required to pay 5% of their drug costs, with no limit for those on expensive Medications, she said.

According to Purvis, out of pocket expenses could exceed $10,000 per year, “an unmanageable amount for anyone, but especially for a population with a Median annual income of $36,000. Because of this, AARP pushed for the inclusion of a cap on out-of-pocket spending for Medicare Part D, to be included in the IRA, she said.  And it was…

Purvis noted that 3 million Part D beneficiaries (who don’t receive the Medicare Part D low-income subsidy are expected to benefit from the $2,000 cap in 2025.  This number is expected to grow to over 4 million by 2029.  These Medicare drug plan enrollees would see average savings of roughly $1,100, or 56%, in 2025 for their prescription drugs. 

Purvis also gave a few other takeaways from the report.  On average,  approximately 1.4 million (40 percent) Medicare drug plan enrollees who reach the new out-of-pocket cap between 2025 and 2029 are estimated to see annual savings of $1,000 or more, and just over 420,000 (12 percent) will see savings of more than $3,000.  In addition, more than three-quarters of Medicare drug plan enrollees who will benefit in 2025 are between the ages of 65 and 84.

Finally, Paula Cunningham, AARP Michigan State Director (discussing  results of a state survey) and Diana Devito , who has lived with chronic lymphocytic leukemia for over 19 years, participated in the media briefing. Both reinforced  how the report’s numbers aren’t just statistics, they represent real people “who are being forced to make impossible choices.” 

Cunningham told a “heartbreak” story about a woman who had lost her husband, and she had to sell her wedding ring in order to pay for her prescription drugs. “She’s now deceased, but I will never forget her story, or the stories of people across this great state that we met who had to make difficult choices between paying rent or buying groceries to pay for their medications,” she said.

After experiencing the high prescription costs for treating life-threatening chronic disorder, Devito came to share how important a $2,000 cap can be “for people like me.”  She said, “It’s a real-life changer,” noting that everyone doesn’t understand that. “If you’re not taking one of these expensive drugs, you don’t realize the impact that it has on your life,” she added.

On Another Note…

U.S. Senator Jack Reed brings to my attention another Congressional report that details the Rhode Island specific data as to the impact of IRA on older Rhode Islanders.

According to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (CJEC), this year, about 57,000 Rhode Island Medicare beneficiaries will save an average of roughly $200 each year because of IRA’s improvement to the Medicare Part D drug coverage. By 2025 this number would increase to 68,000 retirees, saving them an annual average of $340 on prescription drugs.

By allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to bargain down the high cost of many lifesaving drugs, 29,000 retirees use drugs that are with the new negotiated prices, says the CJEC report.

For a copy of AARP Public Policy Institute’s Medicare Part D Out-of-Pocket Spending Cap, go to https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/health/prescription-drugs/medicare-part-d-out-of-pocket-spending-cap-prescription-drug-costs/.

To learn more about AARP’s work to lower prescription drug prices, visit https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/prescription-drugs/.

For a copy of CJEC’s report, go to https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/356ae3d2-af5e-4d32-bd42-fafc548173c5/ri-cost-savings-fact-sheet.pdf

For details how the IRA impacts older Rhode Island retirees, go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Rhode-Island-Health-Care.pdf

New AARP Report Takes a Look at Older LGBTQ+ Issues

Published in RINewsToday on August 26, 2024

The newly released, annual AARP report, “Dignity 2024: The Experience of LGBTQ+ Older Adults,” shows that four in five (78%) older adults who identify as LGBTQ+ are concerned about having enough support from family and friends as they age. At the same time, the researchers noted that nearly half (45%) are already living with a chronic condition, disability, or both – a figure that will likely increase as they age. The 53-page report examines top concerns of LGBTQ+ adults age 45 and over, from caregiving, to mental health, to finances.

The Dignity survey, first published in 2018 and repeated every year, examines the LGBTQ+ communities that have different life experiences than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. Cisgender relates to a person whose gender identify corresponds with the sex registered for them at birth. 

About 7.6 percent of American adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another non-heterosexual orientation, reports a 2024 Gallup poll.  Four years ago, this percentage was 5.6.

Understanding aging LGBTQ issues

“The unique needs and realities of older LGBTQ+ Americans are still too often overlooked in society,” said Cassandra Cantave Burton, Senior Research Advisor for AARP in an Aug. 12 statement announcing the report’s findings. “AARP’s research has consistently shown that the majority of LGBTQ+ older adults are concerned about having adequate social supports to rely on as they age.”

Three-in-five LGBTQ+ respondents age 45 or older (58%) are a caregiver or have been one in the past, which can add additional challenges to their lives, say researchers, noting that 78% of respondents say they are stressed emotionally due to caregiving responsibilities. The study findings indicate that some feel obligated to care for someone who is not accepting of their identity (14%).  

Almost half of all study’s respondents (45%) expressed they lack companionship, with more (48%) saying they often or sometimes feel isolated from others. LGBTQ+ respondents with a disability say they are also more likely to be extremely or very concerned (51%) about having adequate social support compared to those without a disability (33%).

Most (77%) LGBTQ+ older adults say they have been physically active and health is important. But they face unique challenges when it comes to healthcare.

Sixty one percent of the LGBTQ+ caregivers say they find it difficult to get enough rest or exercise, while 45% find it hard to visit their doctors.  Fifty percent report that they struggle to maintain a healthy diet, while 85% take a prescription medication on a regular basis.

When asked about access to health care, respondents felt that age discrimination (25%), sexual orientation discrimination (21%), or gender identity discrimination (20%) have an effect on health.

Here are few more notable findings gleaned from AARP’s LGBSTQ study. 

When considering future employment prospects among those who are employed, age-based discrimination is feared by nearly half (45%) of LGBTQ+ adults 45-plus.  Almost all respondents (94%) say maintaining financial security is very or extremely important. And between all LGBTQ groups, transgender/nonbinary individuals are least likely to have $75,000 or more (34%) in household income.

The report also offers recommendations to improve outcomes, including increasing access to health care and providing health care providers tools and training for increased awareness of issues related to the LGBTQ+ community.

 LGBTQ Rhode Islanders weigh in

“The report’s findings are heartbreaking and highlight the social and health disparities that for so long have impacted our LGBTQ+ Community,” says Yesenia Rubio, calling for the creation of intentional legislation that would eliminate prejudice and disparities once and for all due to sexual orientation.  “We need to develop more resources within our healthcare system and communities across Rhode Island, said Rubio, Pawtucket City Councilwoman at-large who is the proprietor of Pawtucket-based Notes Coffee Co.

 “The release of this report is a call to action for all of us to ensure that the LGBTQ+ community can age with the dignity, equal care, and community support they deserve,” says Rubio.

“When my wife and I tried to get pregnant with our son Julian, our insurance would not cover our fertility treatment because we were a gay couple and not a heterosexual or “man and woman” couple,” says Rubio. “Where is the equity in that? It violates our civil and constitutional rights. Everyone should have the right to create a family regardless of their sexual orientation,” she adds. 

After reviewing AARP’s study, Deborah DeBare, 63, board member of Pride in Aging – RI (formerly SAGE-RI), questioned the age cutoff for the report. “Although it is great to see people between ages 45 and 60 being included in this study, the experiences  elated to health access, caregiving, social isolation and discrimination are significantly different when looking at elders,” she notes.

“I think that this skews the results. If the survey had been conducted among LGBTQ+ people who are 60 or older, I believe the results would have shown an even more alarming rate of social isolation and difficulties accessing care, feeling safe, and being discriminated against, says DeBare, who serves as Senior Deputy Director at the National Network to End Domestic Violence. 

The high percentage of women identifying as caregivers among the LGBTQ+ population is not surprising, adds DeBare, noting that women as a whole are disproportionately relied on for caregiving (with parents, children, adult children with special needs, with partners, and within social networks). “It would have been interesting to compare the rates reported in this survey with rates among the heterosexual population of women,” she says. 

According to DeBare, the AARP report does not dive deep enough into questions about abuse, exploitation or discrimination. “These are serious risks for LGBTQ+ elders. When they move into nursing homes or assisted living spaces, or participate in senior center activities/spaces, they are not able to “screen” the environments to ensure that the staff or fellow residents/participants are going to treat them with dignity and respect,” she warns.

“After having been “out” for many years or decades, it is an emotional burden for LGBTQ+ elders to have to approach their lives in the cloak of “the closet” to assess the safety of their new environment, says DeBare. “There are way too many stories of people having been insulted, treated disrespectfully, and discriminated against by caregivers, staff, and fellow residents,” she notes.  

Dignity 2024: The Experience of LGBTQ+ Older Adults was fielded online in April, 2024. A total of 2,212 LGBTQ community members age 45 and over participated, including 1,013 cisgender gay and bisexual+ men, 868 cisgender lesbian and bisexual+ women and an oversample of 331 transgender and nonbinary (TGNB) participants. The study oversampled Asian (106), African American/Black (276), and Hispanic/Latino(a/x) (269) individuals.

Resources

All reports in the Dignity series can be found at   https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/social-leisure/relationships/lgbtq-dignity-series/?CMP=RDRCT-PRI-HOMFAM

To download a copy of this report, go to  chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/topics/social-leisure/relationships/lgbtq-dignity-series-2024.doi.10.26419-2fres.00805.001.pdf.

For AARP’s LGBTQ Community Caregiving Guidelines, go to chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/caregiving/pdf/family-caregiving-guide/lgbtq.pdf?intcmp=AE-HF-VC-LGBT-R2-C3

Find more News, finance, wellness and other topics of interest for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, go to https://www.aarp.org/home-family/voices/lgbtq/?cmp=RDRCT-LGBTQ-03022023