Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Life Happens Radio.
I am Lou Piro, your host for this morning, and
we welcome you to the show that brings you ideas, thoughts,
and plans.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
To help you shape your future. Life Happens. Are you prepared?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We hope that if you listen to this show on
a regular basis, you are, and that you've had an
opportunity to do all the things that you need to
do to make sure that your retirement is secure. You're
planning properly for retirement if you're in retirement, that you're
maximizing the benefits available to you Social Security, that Medicare
(00:34):
and Medicare advantage and Medicare supplement is part of it
if you're in retirement. And we also look at wills
and trusts and powers of attorney and healthcare proxies and
the legal side of the planning that everyone should be
taking advantage of while you have the opportunity. And there's
an old saying that goes the time to fix a
(00:55):
leaky roof is when the sun is shining. So if
you have an opportunity in your life life right now
to put a plan in place, now's the time to
do it, because when that rain starts to fall, and
something like in Alzheimer's diagnosis, Parkinson's an automobile accident, something
happens in life that puts you off your regular routine
(01:15):
and takes you out of the ability to do all
the things you need for yourself. You need a plan
in place. And Pierre connoran Strauss is a law firm
here in Latham, but we serve most of New York
State and we do planning for this type of work.
And today I'm very happy to introduce you to a
special guest of the show, someone who has been on
(01:36):
with me before, and that is Beth Thinkel. And Beth
is the statewide director of AARP. And as most of
us know, that turn fifty we get an AARP card
in the mail. But as we age, AARP has become
the single best voice for seniors in the country and
(01:57):
in particular in New York State. And with that, good
morning Beth.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Good morning learn I could be back with here, and.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
It's so good to have you back.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
The challenges that face AARP and face all of us
in the aging services world are getting nothing but greater.
And today we're going to talk about some of those challenges,
some of the initiatives that AARP has, and some.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Of the things going on here in New York.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And of course I don't think any of us are
mushrooms living in a cave. Things are going on in
Washington as well. So where do we begin? I think
probably the foremost problem that our clients have is getting
care at home and how do you get care, how
do you pay for care?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
What are the resources available?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And this is the dilemma Beth, that isn't going to
get better over time because the numbers are against us.
What are some of the challenges New York State in particular,
is facing in this area, and what are some of
the things that AARP is proposing to help?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, thanks Gully. So it is a serious situation. There
are two sizes. This one is the availability of home
care workers, and the second part of it is the
affordability of being able to pay for home care and
so and then on the demographics that really run right
(03:28):
into the face of this is that New York State
has this hugely growing older adult population. In fact, in
the last census from twenty ten to twenty twenty, the
population of sixty five plus and New York State went
up over thirty five percent, and for the first time
in the state, we have more people that are sixty
(03:50):
five plus than that are fifteen years old and younger,
and we've never had that before.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
No, And for those that are new to the show,
this is an issue that we focus on on a
very regular basis. And we've had Greg Olsen from the
State Officer Aging, Rebecca Prevy from the Area Agencies on Aging,
Al Cardillo, head of the Homecare Association. We've had legislators
John McDonald, Jacob Ashby, and we all talk about the
(04:17):
same problems, but there are no real good solutions yet
to stem the tide. Because you're talking about demographics, and
I've seen AARP studies, and we'll talk about AARP as
a resource for people and where they can get more
information in a moment, But I've seen the studies and
it isn't just the swell of the sixty five plus
(04:40):
population or even the bigger swell of the eighty five
plus population. It's the shrinking of the population in the
younger age groups, which are working age because of out
migration people young people leaving New York.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yes, that's absolutely true. I mean, look, we lost another
congressional seat right in the last go round of the census.
So yes, it's very true our numbers have been going
down to general population, and so you know, of course
our leaders are looking at our tax coffers, right, And
(05:21):
that's one of the reasons why AARP is constantly stressing
and I know, Lou you noticed so well, the longevity economy,
because what's happening is older people. That's where the money
is just a certain extent, So you want to make
sure that, yes, you're losing people out of state and
younger people, and that absolutely has to be addressed, but
(05:43):
you better keep your base of taxpayers in the older people.
And there are certain things that can be done that
can address this. I mean, we know, you know, if
older people are living in their homes, you're paying the
property taxes, right their money is going to the local
grocery stores and local pharmacies et cetera, like local dry cleaners,
(06:03):
and all of those business contribute to the tax Office
of New York. So if you want to be totally
mercenary a Baptist as a policy maker, you better keep
older people where they are and you better keep them
at home because once they go into institutional care, they
stop paying those property taxes and they're no longer paying
into the local economies of their communities.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And once they leave their home, it's typically to go
to either assisted living or a nursing home, that's right,
or to move out of state somewhere where they're going
to live in a more independent setting with better weather.
But when once they leave home, and the numbers are
pretty startling, And I'm not going to give out a
bunch of data and statistics, but I will talk about
(06:51):
one thing, and that is that the people who are
fifty plus have contributed seventy two billion dollars just in
state and local taxes. So the older population is the taxpayers.
I mean, those are the people that are putting back
into the economy of New York State, and they want
(07:12):
to be treated fairly on the back end once they
have hit a point where they need assistance. And let's
just talk about that and kind of break it down
a little bit. Because people have federal benefits. You collect
Social Security, and you can start at sixty two. You
have to take it by the time you're seventy. You
(07:34):
have medicare. Most people start at sixty five unless you
have a disability. And then you look at Medicare and
Medicare gaps and supplemental policies and Medicare advantage policies just
touch on the federal benefit side and then.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Flip it over.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Why is New York State spending ninety six billion dollars
on Medicaid when the federal government has these programs?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Well, I don't know if I can answer that one.
But one of the things that you didn't list when
you were talking about all those benefits is the Medicare
Savings Program. And I know you know about it, and
actually it can put back into people's pockets who are
on Medicare but are low income to low middle income eligibility.
(08:26):
And so you could receive back in your Social Security
check every single month over one hundred and seventy dollars,
and so that is not small change that would pay
somebody's monthly grocery bill. So it's really important that if
(08:46):
you think you might be eligible for that Medicare Savings program,
that you take care of that as soon.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
As possible, undeniably. And so the resources and one of
the resourcess.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
That you and I know that AARP provides a lot
of education to seniors and has a great website with
a lot of information on it.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
So how do people reach out.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
To AARP, Well, you go to AARP dot org, forward
slash and why, and it'll take you right to our
New York site. Can also go to the national site,
which is just basically a ARP dot org, and when
you go into either one of them, you're going to
see so much information. I'm sure that many of the
(09:33):
folks listening here today are already members. We have over
two million members in New York State, and I'm sure
that they are receiving the magazine AARP. The magazine which
is chock full of information, and then the AARP Bulletin,
which also has great ways to save money, great ways
to understand benefits, great ways to understand what's going on
(09:56):
with social security and medicare in the stage where things
might be changing or not changing rapidly. So it's it's
something that's really important for everybody to stay a tune
two but AARP New York. If you go on that
AARP dot org bowets list and why, we also have
great programs and great services, so I certainly hope you'll
(10:18):
go in there and I know we're going to touch
on a bit of that today, right we are.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
And we'll give out those numbers in the email and
we'll say bet in a bit again as the show
goes on. But you were just called to testify, I'm
not sure what the date was in the New York
State Assembly for the Standing Committee on Aging to talk
about this problem of older New Yorkers who need help
(10:44):
in home and go on to a very very long
waiting list. Tell our listeners a little bit about that
committee and what your testimony included.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Well, you know, we hear a lot about people who
get benefits from Medicaid, but I was talking about that
Medicare savings program for lower income, middle income folks. There
are some benefits out there or services out there that
people can avail themselves of the problem is, and this
(11:15):
is in particular regard to New York State in Home
Services which is also called ISP which is a fancy
acronym for saying Expanded in Home Services for the Elderly program,
And that is a part of the state budget that
unfortunately Governor Hocol has really not added more money to,
(11:36):
or any significant money. And because of that, there are
up to eighteen thousand requests waiting for in home services.
So eighteen thousand requests are sitting on waiting lists at
the New York State Office for the Aging, and the
services that people are waiting for are home delivered meals,
(11:59):
personal care, air transportation to a doctor's office. I mean,
really basics of being able to live a dignified life.
And it's something that AARP feels very very strongly about
because if these folks don't get the services that they
need at the end of the day, just that we
were talking about earlier, they're going to end up in
(12:21):
institutional care. And nobody wants that. They don't want it
for themselves, their family members don't want it for them,
and honestly, do you want anyone not to be able
to have their personal hygiene taking care of for them?
I mean, if they can't take care of it themselves,
it's indignified enough if you can't take care of it
(12:44):
for yourself, but then to be put on a waiting
list by New York State because they can't provide that service.
Eighteen thousand requests are out there, and by the way,
I don't think that's the full number because what we
know from some research that we've done is that people
can't wait on those lists forever. So very often they
(13:07):
just number one drop off, or number two they end
up having a fall or some kind of accident or
something that makes them more fragile that moves them out
of their house, or number three they die. So is
that what New York State is about. We're letting people
languish on waiting lists until they die. And that, by
the way, is data that came right out of the
(13:28):
New York State Office for the Agent right.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
And I'm looking at some of that data right now.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
And I've had the benefit of hearing both Greg Olsen
and Rebecca Prevy present on the data and on the
challenges that NISOFA and the area agencies are facing. And
we just had Becky Becky Prevy and our listeners have
heard Becky on the show before, but for those that
don't know her, she is one of the leading authorities
in New York State, along with Greg Wilson, on the
(13:55):
Aging Services Network and the problems and issues and the
real bright spots. Because there are a lot of really
good things that the Officer Aging does for people, but
the challenges of these numbers of people needing service, the
numbers of people on waiting lists. We have a monthly
broadcast called Medicaid Monday, and Becky was just on this
(14:18):
past Monday. So if you want to hear all the
wonderful things that the State Officer Aging and the Triple
Aser doing, you can log into the recording of Becky's
presentation and a lot of these are included in her
slide presentation. A lot of these details and numbers, and
you can go to purolaw dot com and go to
our resources tab and Medicaid mondays are all up there.
(14:41):
This was the first one, Beth we did that was
in non Medicaid Monday, because usually we're covering the Medicaid topics,
but Becky covered everything non Medicaid and all of the
different resources, everything from IIP which we just talked about,
congregat or home delivered meals all the way through to
animatronic pets and other things technology that are helping people
to cope at home with loneliness and social isolation. And
(15:04):
they're really one of the most innovative groups in the
country doing this.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Absolutely, the services that they provide are wonderful. The problem
is that weightless that we were just talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
And when you flip over and we're going to take
a short break and talk about the cost. When you
look at dollars spent upfront on the types of things
that we're talking about, home delivered meals, transportation assistance within
the home. The cost to keep somebody at home is
such a small fraction of what it costs Medicaid to
(15:42):
put someone in a nursing home, and yet the dollars
are not being spent in this type of preventative maintenance system,
which is the upfront piece of aging services in Medicaid,
which is supposed to be the payer of last resort,
becomes the only payer for people who are sitting on
these waiting lists.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
So that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
We're going to unpack that, and we're going to talk
about how people can talk about or think about this
from a perspective of how do I plan so that
I can access resources and if there's a waiting list,
I have an ability maybe to use insurance. Maybe I
have long term care insurance, maybe that's been part of
my planning. If I don't, then I have to look
(16:29):
at marshaling my own income and assets, and if I
need help with that, then you're going to use the
ISIT program or the Office for Aging Resources, and then
if it gets to the level where that's not sufficient,
you're going to go to Medicaid. But having an understanding
of this is something that we think is very critical
to our listeners, and so when we come back, we're
(16:51):
going to walk all the way through it and take
them down that path. You're listening to Life Happens. I'm Lupiro,
your host for this morning, and we'll be back right
after this short break. Welcome back. You're listening to Life
Happens Radio. I am Lou Piro, your host for this morning,
and we're talking with Beth Finkel, the director of New
(17:12):
York State AARP, about something near and dear to this
show's heart, and that is aging services keeping people independent
and in their own homes and the challenges that we
face as New Yorkers in providing the services that people
need to live independently, with dignity and with an ability
to be with their families in their homes. And Beth,
(17:35):
we're coming up on holiday season and this becomes particularly
poignant as we get into Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas and families
coming together and when you have the ability to have
that in the home of the person who has been
the matriarch or patriarch of the family. It makes such
a difference for people, and keeping people at home is
(17:56):
something AARP is dedicated to. So let's just talk a
little bit about the emotional side of this and what
it means to people to stay at home an AARP's
mission in keeping them that dream of reality.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Yeah, well, Luke, you and I have talked about this before.
I know you know this so well. But we survey
our members. Gosh, I'm at ARP on the thirty years
and every year we survey our members and every year
more than eighty percent of them say they want to
live at their days in their own homes and communities,
and family members want to be respectful of that. But
(18:31):
I'm glad you brought up the holidays because that raises
the whole issue around isolation, and sometimes at the holiday
time of the year that some people feel most isolated
of all because maybe they can't travel to their family
members home, or just things are just incapacitated for them,
(18:54):
and people tend to get more withdrawn. And then you
watch the TV and you watch it The Wonderful Life,
that old movie and all the other you know, Hallmark
special movies that really you know, pull your emotions and
you're at home by yourself. So I hope that your
listeners will think about that for their older neighbors and
(19:16):
their older relatives, and if they're older friends, the touching base,
it's the time of the year is really almost more
important than any other time of the year because they
can feel very alone and abandoned.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, think back just four years Beth, what this country
was like four years ago.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
During holiday time, which was.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
The height of COVID and all the things that were
going on during COVID and we won't even touch the
nursing home crisis and all the things that happened there.
But we were doing holiday zoom meetings and trying to
get the whole family on a zone. The US was
(20:00):
such an empty feeling and such a holloway where you
couldn't be together and you couldn't share the holiday season
and the music and the food and all the traditions
of the holidays. It does become that once a year
emotional height or trough that people.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Face absolutely, and you know, isolation is a major problem
in this country. And if you are isolated or lonely.
It actually can affect you physically if you are isolated.
It's the equal to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day on
the negative effects on your health.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And it affects not only the person who's in the home,
but the caregivers as well. Oh, absolutely, it hits everyone.
And we talk about this frequently, and we have worked
on technology and services and service packages for clients who
can stay at home longer, stretch out the human services
(21:03):
that are necessary, but also integrate caregivers into the day
to day routine. And the impact on caregivers, I know
AARP has studied as well.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Well. Yes, And you know, it's an interesting point because
the caregivers themselves can feel isolated, you know, because they
are burdened with the care of their loved ones. Or
even if you're a paid caregiver, it can be very
isolating too. So you know, it's not just the client
who can feel isolated, but it can be those are
(21:39):
surrounding them. And then there's a financial burden on the caregiver.
You know, in New York State, a family caregiver pays
out of their own pocket eight thousand dollars a year
to help their loved ones stay at home, and that
might be because they're putting in a ram or grab bars,
(22:02):
or it could be that they are helping to pay
for someone's prescriptions, or it could be that they're paying
out of pocket to bring in paid services. But all
of those things really drain a person's a family member's resources,
and they do it out of love and respect for
(22:23):
their loved ones.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
And the survey that ARP did shows that cutting work
hours leaving jobs showed that thirteen percent had actually left
their jobs to help older loved ones remain at home.
So that takes them out of the workforce, and what
does that do to their lives and their own ability
to make ends meet. It is a problem again that
(22:45):
is not going away anytime soon. And we're going to
take a break for the news. When we come back,
we are going to dig into medicaid and I'm going
to touch on some of the things that have just
been announced federally with regard to me decade. And when
you come back, Beth Finkel and I will break it
all down for you.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Welcome back everyone to Life Happens Radio Loop. He Aro
your host for this morning on with New York State,
AARP director Beth Finkel. Before we begin to go in
really dig into this aging crisis that we're facing, I
want to invite you to sign up for our final
webinar of the year in our monthly Medicaid Monday series
(23:30):
on December ninth, from twelve to twelve thirty join us
for our holiday edition. We'll be playing Christmas music and
having a good time talking about twenty twenty five what's coming.
My partner Aaron Connor, Frank Heming myself will discuss the
unique opportunities you have today for crucial conversations during the
(23:50):
holiday time and also to put such a burden behind
you by enacting a plan that under today's rules, today's
laws will allow you to protect yourself safeguard assets. Again,
the key here is accessing every resource available to you,
(24:11):
your own finances, insurance, Medicare, insurance, long term care insurance
and ultimately the payer of last resort Medicaid. We're going
to go through what's coming for twenty twenty five, how
you can plan today to get ready for twenty twenty five,
and as all Medicaid Monday webinars and all of our
educational events go to purolaw dot com. That's pie rrolaw
(24:35):
dot com. Go to the events tab and you can
sign up for the December ninth Medicaid Monday webinar from
noon to twelve thirty and you can sign up for
all of our events. You can also on the resource
page find all of our past events. And as I mentioned,
the last Medicaid Monday with Rebecca preview outlining all of
the services from the Aging Network. And you know, Beth
(25:01):
Becky is I think one of the good guys here.
She tries to do so much and as does Greg
with a very limited budget. Their budget actually got cut
this year, and so they're trying to put all of
these services out there on a county by county basis,
and the county offices for Aging are trying to put
things out for people and educate people and get information
(25:23):
into their hands so they can act accordingly. But at
the end of the day, the money has to be
sufficient to pay for the services that are necessary. And
you and I were just talking at the break about
the Master Plan on Aging which has been going on
now for a couple of years, and what's coming in
twenty twenty five, which is the final report and recommendations
(25:47):
from the master Plan.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
But what we don't see, and I've been on.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
One of the committees, and I'm sure you're familiar with
some of the things that are being discussed. The one
group that really gets left out of all this, and
the same thing is true in healthcare, is the caregiver.
And I'm not talking about the paid caregiver in the home.
I'm talking about the caregiver children, the family members, the
loved ones who are doing the work to provide the care,
(26:15):
sacrificing and we talked about this in the first half,
sacrificing their own jobs, their ability to earn, and all
of that is coming out in the AARP surveys and studies,
and this, Beth, doesn't lead us to a very good
place in New York. No.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
And you know, it's apparent that these caregivers who are working,
many who have dropped out of the workforce or are
working part time because of their commitment to their family members,
Then what happens to them and their own personal finances
if you're not able to make those that they call
(26:54):
forty quarters, which is basically ten years of work to
get the baseline Social Security, not to mention paying into
it more over the years. Because the more you pay in,
the longer you pay in, the more you're going to
get at the end, at the end of your work life.
And then on top of that, how are you going
(27:15):
to pay into your four ROH one K if you're
lucky enough to have one, or your IRA if you're
lucky enough to have one, so that all contributes. And
then in at the end of the day or the
end of their working life, we're setting up another generation
who will not be prepared financially for their retirement. And
that's the last thing I think our society wants to do.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
I think the statistics there will bear that out. What
I have heard is that seventy percent of the people
who are planning their retirement are underfunding it. They're just
not able to put away enough money to satisfy the
needs that they're going to have. And we look at
this from a societal perspective. Medicine has made such significant
(28:00):
advancements over the last fifty years.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
And you know, nineteen sixty.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Five is when Medicare and Medicaid were enacted, so we're
coming up on sixty years and those programs were designed
to satisfy all the needs that we have today. And
I go back to Medicare, and I mentioned this earlier
in the show What are the Federal Programs Doing? Medicare
was enacted at a time when Lyndon Johnson's Great Society
(28:25):
had an average life expectancy of about sixty seven, so
most people lived not beyond age seventy, and so Medicare
coming in at sixty five and providing healthcare, was providing
care in short term acute settings. Someone had a heart attack, Beth,
what happened? They died, They got cancer, they died.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
There's a trajectory. I've seen these graphs.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
They're startling of what life expectancy looked like in nineteen
sixty five versus what it looks like today, which is
a graph that now goes out to eighty ninety one hundred.
And as you're living through those decades, you have needs
that the prior generations didn't have. Needs for home healthcare,
(29:10):
hands on care, the ability to receive assistance because you're
one hundred years old and now your body starts to
break down, you have cognition issues, and the services that
are being required for people are just becoming more and
more prevalent and expensive. So we have created this system
(29:31):
where people live a long time, but like a lot
of things, we're not taking care of them in that
aging process, nor the people that are now fifty sixty
taking care of the people that are eighty and ninety.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's very, very true. And you know, one of the
breakthroughs has been how many people now can be treated
with prescription drugs. And as you rightly pointed out, you know,
Medicare did not provide for drug coverage when it was
originally conceived, but in recent times it has been. But
(30:08):
prescription drugs have remained still very costly for some people.
And thanks to the changes in the in Place Reduction Act,
they were able to lower the cost of a drugs
for people, especially those who are Medicare. And now we
(30:29):
and plus we have part D so AAR's been advocating
this for a long time, but there's still more that
can be done. We'd like to see more done right
here in New York City. We know that in the
United States, more than eighty five percent of people who
are sixty five and older regularly rely upon at least
one prescription drug. And get this, over forty percent of
(30:52):
people sixty five and over are taking five or more
prescription drugs, so that can put a in you. And
there's no reason why we cannot be pursuing here in
New York getting our prescription drugs imported from Canada. You know,
Canadians pay thirty percent less for their prescription drugs than
(31:14):
we do. And why is that? Why do Americans pay
more than any other country in the world for our
prescription drugs. But there's also ways that we can get
r ex importation allowed. Florida has done it recently, and
we would love to have Governor Huckel take care of
(31:36):
that for us. I mean, she comes from Buffalo. She
knows how close Canada is and how easily we can
work across borders.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
That's a creative solution that is not in the mainstream certainly,
but something AARP is actually advocating for, and I think
that's great. Generally, we've had some breakthroughs, insulin pricing being
one of the most dramatic, but I think they got
ten of the major drugs in a position where they
can now negotiate price. And it's mind boggling to me, Beth,
(32:09):
how the federal government could be prohibited from negotiating price
when it's the largest purchaser of drugs.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Especially when you realize that the Veterans administration has been
able to negotiate drug prices forever. So you really have
to kind of scratch your head and say, well, it's
okay for veterans, but it's not okay for you know,
people who are on Medicare of Medicaid, and so that
means the government is paying so much more money.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
And I think the short answer to that is money
in politics, which will influence.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
I think the word that's right, influence.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
And so AARP. You know, Canadian drugs. I've known people
that get a bus trip to Canada and they go
up in the purpose of the bus trip, ye, to
buy medication, that's right, And so it's something that is happening.
But the state should be looking at ways to save money.
And typically what happens when the state wants to save
(33:06):
money is it cuts programs or it cuts the budgets
for programs when the demand for those programs is going.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Nowhere but up.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
You know. Sorry, I mean it's interrupt you, but you
were so. I mean that goes back to what we
were talking about waiting lists. So last year the government
and the governor actually in her budget for twenty twenty
four cut the budget and then the legislature had to
go back in and renegotiate. She cut the budget for
that homely community based care nine million dollars and then
(33:39):
both houses had to go back in and get that
money back, when in fact, what we needed was forty
two million to cover the waiting lists. So those waiting
lists haven't gone away, They've only increased. And now we're
up against the gun again. You know, State Office of
the Agent gets less than one percent of the total
budget for New York Day way less, by the way.
(34:02):
So that's talking about how you're prioritizing populations, and we
would like to see Governor Hokel prioritize older adults and
make sure that there are no waiting lists. It's just
unconscionable to have waitingless for services.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
And folks, this is why you should be supporting AARP.
And when you get that membership card at age fifty,
don't throw it away like I did. I have sense
accepted it at age fifty thinking what do I need
this for? But when you look at the issues we
face today, I'm sixty six, a fifty year old today
(34:39):
with an average life expectancy of another thirty five to
forty years can anticipate all of these programs eroding because
the baby boomers are going to suck the oxygen out
of the tent as they're turning sixty five in ten
thousand a day, turning sixty five, coming onto the Medicare rules.
We'll talk about social Security in a minute, because that's
(35:00):
another issue. If you don't start taking these problems seriously
when you're fifty, by the time you're eighty five, you
know the horses have left the bar.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
Well, that's why, that's why ARP believes so much in
grassroots at advocates calling your congress members. We have new
congressmen coming in in New York, and we hope that
everyone who's listening to this radio show, we'll go out
there and let their congress members know how important social
(35:33):
Security and medicare are to them and their plans for
how they plan to age in place in New York.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
And social Security is Let's let's turn to social Security
because it is another issue that AARP is strong on,
and the AARP is looking to those federal leaders.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
For reform of Social Security.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
So you want to reform it before it's bankrupt, and
you want to have logical, rational ways to extend the
life of Social Security. And you know, I'm not sure
how familiar you are with the Social Security Trust Fund.
Very it has been readed numerous times. It has not
been given. It's just due, and it's money that people
(36:17):
have paid into Social Security that isn't going to be
there for them when that need arises.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Well, it's not it's not that so much that it
has been rated. What happens is social Security was created
as a system where the current workers pay in and
then when you stop working, you get the payout. And
the ratio of workers against retirees has been diminishing, so
we have less workers per retirees in this country. Because
(36:48):
it's just what you and I talked about earlier, the
demographic shifts. Now, this has happened before. In nineteen eighty three,
social Security had to be adjusted. And at the time
it was President Reagan was our president, and both houses
came together with his guidance, and both sides of the
aisle came together and they made some adjustments that we
(37:09):
are living with today. For instance, they raised the age
for retirement to sixty seven. They raised the cap on
how much people could pay into it. So there are
adjustments that can be made, and they could be made now.
But if they aren't made now back to the trust
fund that you were talking about, lou If that trust
(37:30):
fund is not adjusted, it will pay out twenty percent
less in the year twenty thirty four. Twenty percent. Do
you know any of us who want to pay a
twenty percent pay cut? And people who are on a
fixed income who rely on Social Security, for sure, they
(37:50):
don't want to take a twenty percent cut, nor should they.
We have all paid into Social Security. I don't know
about you, but I started paying in at the age
of sixteen. It never occurred to me that making a
covenant with this country about what I could expect when
I retired one day, that I would have to be
concerned that our country would not live up to their
(38:12):
obligation that they made. And so that obligation can still
be met. The trust un can be fixed, but we
need people from both sides of the aisle to come together.
There are a number of very good recommendations that are
out there, and they just need to get it. They
need to get it done.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
I am so glad to hear you say all of
that because it is my thinking exactly. There is a
group that I belong to and I'm going to go
on record as being part of a group called No Labels,
and No Labels has something called the Problem Solvers Caucus.
That is twenty five Democrats twenty five Republicans that meet
(38:52):
on a regular basis in Washington, and social security is
one of the issues in areas that they are exploring
right now to try to find by part of legislation
and a pathway forward on a bipartisan basis. I'm actually
flying to Washington on December twelfth for a full day
of meetings with legislators that are pledged to work to
the middle to try to find these solutions. And that's
(39:14):
the No Labels National Conference. So, whether you're on the
left or on the right, most people have a rational
basis for wanting to get things like social Security secured,
medicare secured, the borders secured. These are common goals that
we should all share and hopefully we can find enough
(39:34):
legislators and with AARP's advocacy, enough people take this seriously
to bring people to the middle so that social security
is there not just for us, but for our children,
and that it's something that is a sustainable benefit and
that the healthcare benefits are there. We're going to take
a short break, but when we come back, I'm going
(39:55):
to turn to medicaid BETH and talk a little bit
about that and what's now being floated in Washington. And
I just want to throw this out there for our listeners.
This is a little bit of data the need. The
current federal debt, the amount of money that the United
States government owes is roughly thirty six trillion dollars. The
(40:18):
deficit for this year twenty twenty four is one point
nine trillion dollars with a T. This number is the
one that I think we all need to start thinking
about because I get wide eyed when I think about it.
And that is the interest payment that the federal government
has to pay for twenty twenty four on its national
(40:40):
debt is one point one six trillion dollars. As the
debt increases, obviously, that debt service increases. And the only
two programs BETH that outpace the interest payment on the
debt are Medicare and Social Security.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
It's the third largest budget item.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
So as we go forward, this is going to shape
public policy, and as we start thinking about things like
tax cuts and expansion of programs, the question becomes, how
do we be fiscally responsible enough to do it in
a way that secures the future of the essential programs
that we all need. So think about that, folks, and
(41:21):
when we come back, we'll tackle it. You're listening to
Life Happens Radio on Talk Radio WGY. We'll be right
back after this short break. Welcome back, folks. You're listening
to Life Happens Radio every Saturday morning here at eleven
am on Talk Radio WGY. We're covering today some vital
(41:42):
issues that face us as a nation, that face us
as a state, and that face us as individuals. And Beth,
this always becomes personal and everyone has a personal story,
whether it's your mother, your father, a loved one, a
child with a disability, and the the inability to get answers,
to get services and to get the help that you need,
(42:05):
and it is such a growing crisis an AARP. If
you haven't been with us until just now, AARP is
one of the leading organizations in the country advocating for seniors.
And we have with us today the New York State
Director of AARP, Beth Finkel, and Beth families just get
ravaged by these issues over time. And the financial side
(42:29):
of this, as you mentioned, is a side that most
people are not really prepared for, many of them thinking
best that Medicare is actually going to cover this.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
Yeah, well yes, because Medicare does not cover long term care,
and that we've surveyed people again and again. It's amazing
how the majority of people are totally unaware that there
is no component for long term care in your Medicare.
And the other part is people are unaware of how
much you have to pay out of pocket once you
(43:02):
are on Medicare. They think that all of their healthcare
will be paid In fact, it won't, and so you
might be paying out for a wrap around policy, but
you might be paying out for innumerable other things. And
a couple can expect to pay out more than three
hundred thousand dollars out of pocket. And that actually is
(43:23):
a data point from a few years ago for additional
healthcare that is not covered by Medicare. And you have
to build that in to how you plan to pay
for that when you.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Retire, and we do a lot of education on that
at our firm, and I know AARP does as well,
but it comes down to three funding sources for people
when Medicare cuts out, and this is home health care.
This is if you need to get bring services into
your home, which is where a lot of the healthcare
system and the federal government are pushing people to get
(43:55):
more care and services at home where people want to be.
Also covers assisted living, It covers nursing home care. None
of that is covered by your health insurance or by
your Medicare program, or by a Medicare supplement or Medicare advantage.
You're on your own, except if you buy long term
(44:15):
care insurance, which is a product that doesn't really exist
in a meaningful way in New York anymore, or you
go on Medicaid and Medicaid beth is in New York
it became a verb. I like the joke, and I've
heard this talked about whenever New York had a problem
and there was a federal program available, they would say, oh,
(44:36):
let's medicate that, because the federal government provides fifty percent
of the funding for it, but New York pays the
other fifty percent. And that budget is now enormous, and
it's such a disproportionate share of New York State's budget,
that it puts pressure on the program.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
Absolutely right, It's absolutely right. That's why when people look
to to save money in government, that's where they look.
And that's problematic because none of us want to lead
people languishing without basic human needs services.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
And we were.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Talking earlier about the Office for Aging budget and the
aging services. There's a Network Association on Aging in New
York and I have their study and I've heard Greg
talk about this before. Their average client is an eighty
three year old female living alone with four or more comorbidities,
(45:35):
and those are diseases, things that the person is suffering
from with a very limited income, and the Office for
Aging is able to keep that person at home at
a cost of about eight thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
You flip that to Medicaid.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
Where someone has to go to a nursing home, and
the Medicaid reimbursement for that nursing home is one hundred
and thirty hundred and forty thousand dollars a year. So
looking at this from any rational planner would say we
need to spend less money keep people at home to
avoid spending more money. But that's not how the system works.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
I could not agree with you more. And let's and
I know you know this so well, but the vast
majority of beds in institutional care in New York and
nursing homes are paid by Medicaid. And I believe the
numbers upwards of eighty or ninety percent of all beds
are being paid by Medicaid.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Yeah, it's about eighty percent.
Speaker 3 (46:35):
Thanks through the math.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
Yeah, And it's it's not a zero sum game. This
whole thing is really a house of cards. So hopefully
we can advocate together AARP and Pierre o'connoran Strauss and
all of our life happens listeners. We can advocate to
make the system stronger, shure it up, and do the
things that are rational. And we're coming up on the hour,
(47:00):
our best. We had about a minute left, And I
want to make sure that you get your contact information
out there so that people can reach out and gain
the advantage of those AARP resources.
Speaker 3 (47:12):
Right Well, they can go to AARP dot org, slash nli,
which will take you to the ARP New York State
website where you can join us. Actually, this week and
last week and the week after we are going to
be taking it to the streets. We are asking folks
to go out and if you have intersections in your
(47:33):
community that you're concerned about the safety, and we know
mortality rates among older adult pedestrians are among the highest.
Please go out and go to our website. You can
pull down a survey. Takes ten minutes. Anybody can do it,
and then we will get it back to your local
officials and let them see how people are concerned about
(47:55):
the sidewalks and the intersections in their neighborhoods.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
Such an important issue.
Speaker 1 (47:59):
Best thinkl Thank you for joining me today, Thank you
all for listening, and we hope that you can join
us back here next week for the next edition of
Life Happens Radio.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
Are you prepared? Talk to you next week.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Life Happens Radio.
I am Lou Piro, your host for this morning, and
we welcome you to the show that brings you ideas, thoughts,
and plans.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
To help you shape your future. Life Happens. Are you prepared?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We hope that if you listen to this show on
a regular basis, you are, and that you've had an
opportunity to do all the things that you need to
do to make sure that your retirement is secure. You're
planning properly for retirement if you're in retirement, that you're
maximizing the benefits available to you Social Security, that Medicare
(00:34):
and Medicare advantage and Medicare supplement is part of it
if you're in retirement. And we also look at wills
and trusts and powers of attorney and healthcare proxies and
the legal side of the planning that everyone should be
taking advantage of while you have the opportunity. And there's
an old saying that goes the time to fix a
(00:55):
leaky roof is when the sun is shining. So if
you have an opportunity in your life life right now
to put a plan in place, now's the time to
do it, because when that rain starts to fall, and
something like in Alzheimer's diagnosis, Parkinson's an automobile accident, something
happens in life that puts you off your regular routine
(01:15):
and takes you out of the ability to do all
the things you need for yourself. You need a plan
in place. And Pierre connoran Strauss is a law firm
here in Latham, but we serve most of New York
State and we do planning for this type of work.
And today I'm very happy to introduce you to a
special guest of the show, someone who has been on
(01:36):
with me before, and that is Beth Thinkel. And Beth
is the statewide director of AARP. And as most of
us know, that turn fifty we get an AARP card
in the mail. But as we age, AARP has become
the single best voice for seniors in the country and
(01:57):
in particular in New York State. And with that, good
morning Beth.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Good morning learn I could be back with here, and.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
It's so good to have you back.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
The challenges that face AARP and face all of us
in the aging services world are getting nothing but greater.
And today we're going to talk about some of those challenges,
some of the initiatives that AARP has, and some.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Of the things going on here in New York.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And of course I don't think any of us are
mushrooms living in a cave. Things are going on in
Washington as well. So where do we begin? I think
probably the foremost problem that our clients have is getting
care at home and how do you get care, how
do you pay for care?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
What are the resources available?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And this is the dilemma Beth, that isn't going to
get better over time because the numbers are against us.
What are some of the challenges New York State in particular,
is facing in this area, and what are some of
the things that AARP is proposing to help?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, thanks Gully. So it is a serious situation. There
are two sizes. This one is the availability of home
care workers, and the second part of it is the
affordability of being able to pay for home care and
so and then on the demographics that really run right
(03:28):
into the face of this is that New York State
has this hugely growing older adult population. In fact, in
the last census from twenty ten to twenty twenty, the
population of sixty five plus and New York State went
up over thirty five percent, and for the first time
in the state, we have more people that are sixty
(03:50):
five plus than that are fifteen years old and younger,
and we've never had that before.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
No, And for those that are new to the show,
this is an issue that we focus on on a
very regular basis. And we've had Greg Olsen from the
State Officer Aging, Rebecca Prevy from the Area Agencies on Aging,
Al Cardillo, head of the Homecare Association. We've had legislators
John McDonald, Jacob Ashby, and we all talk about the
(04:17):
same problems, but there are no real good solutions yet
to stem the tide. Because you're talking about demographics, and
I've seen AARP studies, and we'll talk about AARP as
a resource for people and where they can get more
information in a moment, But I've seen the studies and
it isn't just the swell of the sixty five plus
(04:40):
population or even the bigger swell of the eighty five
plus population. It's the shrinking of the population in the
younger age groups, which are working age because of out
migration people young people leaving New York.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yes, that's absolutely true. I mean, look, we lost another
congressional seat right in the last go round of the census.
So yes, it's very true our numbers have been going
down to general population, and so you know, of course
our leaders are looking at our tax coffers, right, And
(05:21):
that's one of the reasons why AARP is constantly stressing
and I know, Lou you noticed so well, the longevity economy,
because what's happening is older people. That's where the money
is just a certain extent, So you want to make
sure that, yes, you're losing people out of state and
younger people, and that absolutely has to be addressed, but
(05:43):
you better keep your base of taxpayers in the older people.
And there are certain things that can be done that
can address this. I mean, we know, you know, if
older people are living in their homes, you're paying the
property taxes, right their money is going to the local
grocery stores and local pharmacies et cetera, like local dry cleaners,
(06:03):
and all of those business contribute to the tax Office
of New York. So if you want to be totally
mercenary a Baptist as a policy maker, you better keep
older people where they are and you better keep them
at home because once they go into institutional care, they
stop paying those property taxes and they're no longer paying
into the local economies of their communities.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And once they leave their home, it's typically to go
to either assisted living or a nursing home, that's right,
or to move out of state somewhere where they're going
to live in a more independent setting with better weather.
But when once they leave home, and the numbers are
pretty startling, And I'm not going to give out a
bunch of data and statistics, but I will talk about
(06:51):
one thing, and that is that the people who are
fifty plus have contributed seventy two billion dollars just in
state and local taxes. So the older population is the taxpayers.
I mean, those are the people that are putting back
into the economy of New York State, and they want
(07:12):
to be treated fairly on the back end once they
have hit a point where they need assistance. And let's
just talk about that and kind of break it down
a little bit. Because people have federal benefits. You collect
Social Security, and you can start at sixty two. You
have to take it by the time you're seventy. You
(07:34):
have medicare. Most people start at sixty five unless you
have a disability. And then you look at Medicare and
Medicare gaps and supplemental policies and Medicare advantage policies just
touch on the federal benefit side and then.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Flip it over.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Why is New York State spending ninety six billion dollars
on Medicaid when the federal government has these programs?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Well, I don't know if I can answer that one.
But one of the things that you didn't list when
you were talking about all those benefits is the Medicare
Savings Program. And I know you know about it, and
actually it can put back into people's pockets who are
on Medicare but are low income to low middle income eligibility.
(08:26):
And so you could receive back in your Social Security
check every single month over one hundred and seventy dollars,
and so that is not small change that would pay
somebody's monthly grocery bill. So it's really important that if
(08:46):
you think you might be eligible for that Medicare Savings program,
that you take care of that as soon.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
As possible, undeniably. And so the resources and one of
the resourcess.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
That you and I know that AARP provides a lot
of education to seniors and has a great website with
a lot of information on it.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
So how do people reach out.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
To AARP, Well, you go to AARP dot org, forward
slash and why, and it'll take you right to our
New York site. Can also go to the national site,
which is just basically a ARP dot org, and when
you go into either one of them, you're going to
see so much information. I'm sure that many of the
(09:33):
folks listening here today are already members. We have over
two million members in New York State, and I'm sure
that they are receiving the magazine AARP. The magazine which
is chock full of information, and then the AARP Bulletin,
which also has great ways to save money, great ways
to understand benefits, great ways to understand what's going on
(09:56):
with social security and medicare in the stage where things
might be changing or not changing rapidly. So it's it's
something that's really important for everybody to stay a tune
two but AARP New York. If you go on that
AARP dot org bowets list and why, we also have
great programs and great services, so I certainly hope you'll
(10:18):
go in there and I know we're going to touch
on a bit of that today, right we are.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
And we'll give out those numbers in the email and
we'll say bet in a bit again as the show
goes on. But you were just called to testify, I'm
not sure what the date was in the New York
State Assembly for the Standing Committee on Aging to talk
about this problem of older New Yorkers who need help
(10:44):
in home and go on to a very very long
waiting list. Tell our listeners a little bit about that
committee and what your testimony included.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Well, you know, we hear a lot about people who
get benefits from Medicaid, but I was talking about that
Medicare savings program for lower income, middle income folks. There
are some benefits out there or services out there that
people can avail themselves of the problem is, and this
(11:15):
is in particular regard to New York State in Home
Services which is also called ISP which is a fancy
acronym for saying Expanded in Home Services for the Elderly program,
And that is a part of the state budget that
unfortunately Governor Hocol has really not added more money to,
(11:36):
or any significant money. And because of that, there are
up to eighteen thousand requests waiting for in home services.
So eighteen thousand requests are sitting on waiting lists at
the New York State Office for the Aging, and the
services that people are waiting for are home delivered meals,
(11:59):
personal care, air transportation to a doctor's office. I mean,
really basics of being able to live a dignified life.
And it's something that AARP feels very very strongly about
because if these folks don't get the services that they
need at the end of the day, just that we
were talking about earlier, they're going to end up in
(12:21):
institutional care. And nobody wants that. They don't want it
for themselves, their family members don't want it for them,
and honestly, do you want anyone not to be able
to have their personal hygiene taking care of for them?
I mean, if they can't take care of it themselves,
it's indignified enough if you can't take care of it
(12:44):
for yourself, but then to be put on a waiting
list by New York State because they can't provide that service.
Eighteen thousand requests are out there, and by the way,
I don't think that's the full number because what we
know from some research that we've done is that people
can't wait on those lists forever. So very often they
(13:07):
just number one drop off, or number two they end
up having a fall or some kind of accident or
something that makes them more fragile that moves them out
of their house, or number three they die. So is
that what New York State is about. We're letting people
languish on waiting lists until they die. And that, by
the way, is data that came right out of the
(13:28):
New York State Office for the Agent right.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
And I'm looking at some of that data right now.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
And I've had the benefit of hearing both Greg Olsen
and Rebecca Prevy present on the data and on the
challenges that NISOFA and the area agencies are facing. And
we just had Becky Becky Prevy and our listeners have
heard Becky on the show before, but for those that
don't know her, she is one of the leading authorities
in New York State, along with Greg Wilson, on the
(13:55):
Aging Services Network and the problems and issues and the
real bright spots. Because there are a lot of really
good things that the Officer Aging does for people, but
the challenges of these numbers of people needing service, the
numbers of people on waiting lists. We have a monthly
broadcast called Medicaid Monday, and Becky was just on this
(14:18):
past Monday. So if you want to hear all the
wonderful things that the State Officer Aging and the Triple
Aser doing, you can log into the recording of Becky's
presentation and a lot of these are included in her
slide presentation. A lot of these details and numbers, and
you can go to purolaw dot com and go to
our resources tab and Medicaid mondays are all up there.
(14:41):
This was the first one, Beth we did that was
in non Medicaid Monday, because usually we're covering the Medicaid topics,
but Becky covered everything non Medicaid and all of the
different resources, everything from IIP which we just talked about,
congregat or home delivered meals all the way through to
animatronic pets and other things technology that are helping people
to cope at home with loneliness and social isolation. And
(15:04):
they're really one of the most innovative groups in the
country doing this.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Absolutely, the services that they provide are wonderful. The problem
is that weightless that we were just talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
And when you flip over and we're going to take
a short break and talk about the cost. When you
look at dollars spent upfront on the types of things
that we're talking about, home delivered meals, transportation assistance within
the home. The cost to keep somebody at home is
such a small fraction of what it costs Medicaid to
(15:42):
put someone in a nursing home, and yet the dollars
are not being spent in this type of preventative maintenance system,
which is the upfront piece of aging services in Medicaid,
which is supposed to be the payer of last resort,
becomes the only payer for people who are sitting on
these waiting lists.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
So that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
We're going to unpack that, and we're going to talk
about how people can talk about or think about this
from a perspective of how do I plan so that
I can access resources and if there's a waiting list,
I have an ability maybe to use insurance. Maybe I
have long term care insurance, maybe that's been part of
my planning. If I don't, then I have to look
(16:29):
at marshaling my own income and assets, and if I
need help with that, then you're going to use the
ISIT program or the Office for Aging Resources, and then
if it gets to the level where that's not sufficient,
you're going to go to Medicaid. But having an understanding
of this is something that we think is very critical
to our listeners, and so when we come back, we're
(16:51):
going to walk all the way through it and take
them down that path. You're listening to Life Happens. I'm Lupiro,
your host for this morning, and we'll be back right
after this short break. Welcome back. You're listening to Life
Happens Radio. I am Lou Piro, your host for this morning,
and we're talking with Beth Finkel, the director of New
(17:12):
York State AARP, about something near and dear to this
show's heart, and that is aging services keeping people independent
and in their own homes and the challenges that we
face as New Yorkers in providing the services that people
need to live independently, with dignity and with an ability
to be with their families in their homes. And Beth,
(17:35):
we're coming up on holiday season and this becomes particularly
poignant as we get into Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas and families
coming together and when you have the ability to have
that in the home of the person who has been
the matriarch or patriarch of the family. It makes such
a difference for people, and keeping people at home is
(17:56):
something AARP is dedicated to. So let's just talk a
little bit about the emotional side of this and what
it means to people to stay at home an AARP's
mission in keeping them that dream of reality.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Yeah, well, Luke, you and I have talked about this before.
I know you know this so well. But we survey
our members. Gosh, I'm at ARP on the thirty years
and every year we survey our members and every year
more than eighty percent of them say they want to
live at their days in their own homes and communities,
and family members want to be respectful of that. But
(18:31):
I'm glad you brought up the holidays because that raises
the whole issue around isolation, and sometimes at the holiday
time of the year that some people feel most isolated
of all because maybe they can't travel to their family
members home, or just things are just incapacitated for them,
(18:54):
and people tend to get more withdrawn. And then you
watch the TV and you watch it The Wonderful Life,
that old movie and all the other you know, Hallmark
special movies that really you know, pull your emotions and
you're at home by yourself. So I hope that your
listeners will think about that for their older neighbors and
(19:16):
their older relatives, and if they're older friends, the touching base,
it's the time of the year is really almost more
important than any other time of the year because they
can feel very alone and abandoned.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, think back just four years Beth, what this country
was like four years ago.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
During holiday time, which was.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
The height of COVID and all the things that were
going on during COVID and we won't even touch the
nursing home crisis and all the things that happened there.
But we were doing holiday zoom meetings and trying to
get the whole family on a zone. The US was
(20:00):
such an empty feeling and such a holloway where you
couldn't be together and you couldn't share the holiday season
and the music and the food and all the traditions
of the holidays. It does become that once a year
emotional height or trough that people.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Face absolutely, and you know, isolation is a major problem
in this country. And if you are isolated or lonely.
It actually can affect you physically if you are isolated.
It's the equal to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day on
the negative effects on your health.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And it affects not only the person who's in the home,
but the caregivers as well. Oh, absolutely, it hits everyone.
And we talk about this frequently, and we have worked
on technology and services and service packages for clients who
can stay at home longer, stretch out the human services
(21:03):
that are necessary, but also integrate caregivers into the day
to day routine. And the impact on caregivers, I know
AARP has studied as well.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Well. Yes, And you know, it's an interesting point because
the caregivers themselves can feel isolated, you know, because they
are burdened with the care of their loved ones. Or
even if you're a paid caregiver, it can be very
isolating too. So you know, it's not just the client
who can feel isolated, but it can be those are
(21:39):
surrounding them. And then there's a financial burden on the caregiver.
You know, in New York State, a family caregiver pays
out of their own pocket eight thousand dollars a year
to help their loved ones stay at home, and that
might be because they're putting in a ram or grab bars,
(22:02):
or it could be that they are helping to pay
for someone's prescriptions, or it could be that they're paying
out of pocket to bring in paid services. But all
of those things really drain a person's a family member's resources,
and they do it out of love and respect for
(22:23):
their loved ones.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
And the survey that ARP did shows that cutting work
hours leaving jobs showed that thirteen percent had actually left
their jobs to help older loved ones remain at home.
So that takes them out of the workforce, and what
does that do to their lives and their own ability
to make ends meet. It is a problem again that
(22:45):
is not going away anytime soon. And we're going to
take a break for the news. When we come back,
we are going to dig into medicaid and I'm going
to touch on some of the things that have just
been announced federally with regard to me decade. And when
you come back, Beth Finkel and I will break it
all down for you.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Welcome back everyone to Life Happens Radio Loop. He Aro
your host for this morning on with New York State,
AARP director Beth Finkel. Before we begin to go in
really dig into this aging crisis that we're facing, I
want to invite you to sign up for our final
webinar of the year in our monthly Medicaid Monday series
(23:30):
on December ninth, from twelve to twelve thirty join us
for our holiday edition. We'll be playing Christmas music and
having a good time talking about twenty twenty five what's coming.
My partner Aaron Connor, Frank Heming myself will discuss the
unique opportunities you have today for crucial conversations during the
(23:50):
holiday time and also to put such a burden behind
you by enacting a plan that under today's rules, today's
laws will allow you to protect yourself safeguard assets. Again,
the key here is accessing every resource available to you,
(24:11):
your own finances, insurance, Medicare, insurance, long term care insurance
and ultimately the payer of last resort Medicaid. We're going
to go through what's coming for twenty twenty five, how
you can plan today to get ready for twenty twenty five,
and as all Medicaid Monday webinars and all of our
educational events go to purolaw dot com. That's pie rrolaw
(24:35):
dot com. Go to the events tab and you can
sign up for the December ninth Medicaid Monday webinar from
noon to twelve thirty and you can sign up for
all of our events. You can also on the resource
page find all of our past events. And as I mentioned,
the last Medicaid Monday with Rebecca preview outlining all of
the services from the Aging Network. And you know, Beth
(25:01):
Becky is I think one of the good guys here.
She tries to do so much and as does Greg
with a very limited budget. Their budget actually got cut
this year, and so they're trying to put all of
these services out there on a county by county basis,
and the county offices for Aging are trying to put
things out for people and educate people and get information
(25:23):
into their hands so they can act accordingly. But at
the end of the day, the money has to be
sufficient to pay for the services that are necessary. And
you and I were just talking at the break about
the Master Plan on Aging which has been going on
now for a couple of years, and what's coming in
twenty twenty five, which is the final report and recommendations
(25:47):
from the master Plan.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
But what we don't see, and I've been on.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
One of the committees, and I'm sure you're familiar with
some of the things that are being discussed. The one
group that really gets left out of all this, and
the same thing is true in healthcare, is the caregiver.
And I'm not talking about the paid caregiver in the home.
I'm talking about the caregiver children, the family members, the
loved ones who are doing the work to provide the care,
(26:15):
sacrificing and we talked about this in the first half,
sacrificing their own jobs, their ability to earn, and all
of that is coming out in the AARP surveys and studies,
and this, Beth, doesn't lead us to a very good
place in New York. No.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
And you know, it's apparent that these caregivers who are working,
many who have dropped out of the workforce or are
working part time because of their commitment to their family members,
Then what happens to them and their own personal finances
if you're not able to make those that they call
(26:54):
forty quarters, which is basically ten years of work to
get the baseline Social Security, not to mention paying into
it more over the years. Because the more you pay in,
the longer you pay in, the more you're going to
get at the end, at the end of your work life.
And then on top of that, how are you going
(27:15):
to pay into your four ROH one K if you're
lucky enough to have one, or your IRA if you're
lucky enough to have one, so that all contributes. And
then in at the end of the day or the
end of their working life, we're setting up another generation
who will not be prepared financially for their retirement. And
that's the last thing I think our society wants to do.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
I think the statistics there will bear that out. What
I have heard is that seventy percent of the people
who are planning their retirement are underfunding it. They're just
not able to put away enough money to satisfy the
needs that they're going to have. And we look at
this from a societal perspective. Medicine has made such significant
(28:00):
advancements over the last fifty years.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
And you know, nineteen sixty.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Five is when Medicare and Medicaid were enacted, so we're
coming up on sixty years and those programs were designed
to satisfy all the needs that we have today. And
I go back to Medicare, and I mentioned this earlier
in the show What are the Federal Programs Doing? Medicare
was enacted at a time when Lyndon Johnson's Great Society
(28:25):
had an average life expectancy of about sixty seven, so
most people lived not beyond age seventy, and so Medicare
coming in at sixty five and providing healthcare, was providing
care in short term acute settings. Someone had a heart attack, Beth,
what happened? They died, They got cancer, they died.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
There's a trajectory. I've seen these graphs.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
They're startling of what life expectancy looked like in nineteen
sixty five versus what it looks like today, which is
a graph that now goes out to eighty ninety one hundred.
And as you're living through those decades, you have needs
that the prior generations didn't have. Needs for home healthcare,
(29:10):
hands on care, the ability to receive assistance because you're
one hundred years old and now your body starts to
break down, you have cognition issues, and the services that
are being required for people are just becoming more and
more prevalent and expensive. So we have created this system
(29:31):
where people live a long time, but like a lot
of things, we're not taking care of them in that
aging process, nor the people that are now fifty sixty
taking care of the people that are eighty and ninety.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's very, very true. And you know, one of the
breakthroughs has been how many people now can be treated
with prescription drugs. And as you rightly pointed out, you know,
Medicare did not provide for drug coverage when it was
originally conceived, but in recent times it has been. But
(30:08):
prescription drugs have remained still very costly for some people.
And thanks to the changes in the in Place Reduction Act,
they were able to lower the cost of a drugs
for people, especially those who are Medicare. And now we
(30:29):
and plus we have part D so AAR's been advocating
this for a long time, but there's still more that
can be done. We'd like to see more done right
here in New York City. We know that in the
United States, more than eighty five percent of people who
are sixty five and older regularly rely upon at least
one prescription drug. And get this, over forty percent of
(30:52):
people sixty five and over are taking five or more
prescription drugs, so that can put a in you. And
there's no reason why we cannot be pursuing here in
New York getting our prescription drugs imported from Canada. You know,
Canadians pay thirty percent less for their prescription drugs than
(31:14):
we do. And why is that? Why do Americans pay
more than any other country in the world for our
prescription drugs. But there's also ways that we can get
r ex importation allowed. Florida has done it recently, and
we would love to have Governor Huckel take care of
(31:36):
that for us. I mean, she comes from Buffalo. She
knows how close Canada is and how easily we can
work across borders.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
That's a creative solution that is not in the mainstream certainly,
but something AARP is actually advocating for, and I think
that's great. Generally, we've had some breakthroughs, insulin pricing being
one of the most dramatic, but I think they got
ten of the major drugs in a position where they
can now negotiate price. And it's mind boggling to me, Beth,
(32:09):
how the federal government could be prohibited from negotiating price
when it's the largest purchaser of drugs.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Especially when you realize that the Veterans administration has been
able to negotiate drug prices forever. So you really have
to kind of scratch your head and say, well, it's
okay for veterans, but it's not okay for you know,
people who are on Medicare of Medicaid, and so that
means the government is paying so much more money.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
And I think the short answer to that is money
in politics, which will influence.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
I think the word that's right, influence.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
And so AARP. You know, Canadian drugs. I've known people
that get a bus trip to Canada and they go
up in the purpose of the bus trip, ye, to
buy medication, that's right, And so it's something that is happening.
But the state should be looking at ways to save money.
And typically what happens when the state wants to save
(33:06):
money is it cuts programs or it cuts the budgets
for programs when the demand for those programs is going.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Nowhere but up.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
You know. Sorry, I mean it's interrupt you, but you
were so. I mean that goes back to what we
were talking about waiting lists. So last year the government
and the governor actually in her budget for twenty twenty
four cut the budget and then the legislature had to
go back in and renegotiate. She cut the budget for
that homely community based care nine million dollars and then
(33:39):
both houses had to go back in and get that
money back, when in fact, what we needed was forty
two million to cover the waiting lists. So those waiting
lists haven't gone away, They've only increased. And now we're
up against the gun again. You know, State Office of
the Agent gets less than one percent of the total
budget for New York Day way less, by the way.
(34:02):
So that's talking about how you're prioritizing populations, and we
would like to see Governor Hokel prioritize older adults and
make sure that there are no waiting lists. It's just
unconscionable to have waitingless for services.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
And folks, this is why you should be supporting AARP.
And when you get that membership card at age fifty,
don't throw it away like I did. I have sense
accepted it at age fifty thinking what do I need
this for? But when you look at the issues we
face today, I'm sixty six, a fifty year old today
(34:39):
with an average life expectancy of another thirty five to
forty years can anticipate all of these programs eroding because
the baby boomers are going to suck the oxygen out
of the tent as they're turning sixty five in ten
thousand a day, turning sixty five, coming onto the Medicare rules.
We'll talk about social Security in a minute, because that's
(35:00):
another issue. If you don't start taking these problems seriously
when you're fifty, by the time you're eighty five, you
know the horses have left the bar.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
Well, that's why, that's why ARP believes so much in
grassroots at advocates calling your congress members. We have new
congressmen coming in in New York, and we hope that
everyone who's listening to this radio show, we'll go out
there and let their congress members know how important social
(35:33):
Security and medicare are to them and their plans for
how they plan to age in place in New York.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
And social Security is Let's let's turn to social Security
because it is another issue that AARP is strong on,
and the AARP is looking to those federal leaders.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
For reform of Social Security.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
So you want to reform it before it's bankrupt, and
you want to have logical, rational ways to extend the
life of Social Security. And you know, I'm not sure
how familiar you are with the Social Security Trust Fund.
Very it has been readed numerous times. It has not
been given. It's just due, and it's money that people
(36:17):
have paid into Social Security that isn't going to be
there for them when that need arises.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Well, it's not it's not that so much that it
has been rated. What happens is social Security was created
as a system where the current workers pay in and
then when you stop working, you get the payout. And
the ratio of workers against retirees has been diminishing, so
we have less workers per retirees in this country. Because
(36:48):
it's just what you and I talked about earlier, the
demographic shifts. Now, this has happened before. In nineteen eighty three,
social Security had to be adjusted. And at the time
it was President Reagan was our president, and both houses
came together with his guidance, and both sides of the
aisle came together and they made some adjustments that we
(37:09):
are living with today. For instance, they raised the age
for retirement to sixty seven. They raised the cap on
how much people could pay into it. So there are
adjustments that can be made, and they could be made now.
But if they aren't made now back to the trust
fund that you were talking about, lou If that trust
(37:30):
fund is not adjusted, it will pay out twenty percent
less in the year twenty thirty four. Twenty percent. Do
you know any of us who want to pay a
twenty percent pay cut? And people who are on a
fixed income who rely on Social Security, for sure, they
(37:50):
don't want to take a twenty percent cut, nor should they.
We have all paid into Social Security. I don't know
about you, but I started paying in at the age
of sixteen. It never occurred to me that making a
covenant with this country about what I could expect when
I retired one day, that I would have to be
concerned that our country would not live up to their
(38:12):
obligation that they made. And so that obligation can still
be met. The trust un can be fixed, but we
need people from both sides of the aisle to come together.
There are a number of very good recommendations that are
out there, and they just need to get it. They
need to get it done.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
I am so glad to hear you say all of
that because it is my thinking exactly. There is a
group that I belong to and I'm going to go
on record as being part of a group called No Labels,
and No Labels has something called the Problem Solvers Caucus.
That is twenty five Democrats twenty five Republicans that meet
(38:52):
on a regular basis in Washington, and social security is
one of the issues in areas that they are exploring
right now to try to find by part of legislation
and a pathway forward on a bipartisan basis. I'm actually
flying to Washington on December twelfth for a full day
of meetings with legislators that are pledged to work to
the middle to try to find these solutions. And that's
(39:14):
the No Labels National Conference. So, whether you're on the
left or on the right, most people have a rational
basis for wanting to get things like social Security secured,
medicare secured, the borders secured. These are common goals that
we should all share and hopefully we can find enough
(39:34):
legislators and with AARP's advocacy, enough people take this seriously
to bring people to the middle so that social security
is there not just for us, but for our children,
and that it's something that is a sustainable benefit and
that the healthcare benefits are there. We're going to take
a short break, but when we come back, I'm going
(39:55):
to turn to medicaid BETH and talk a little bit
about that and what's now being floated in Washington. And
I just want to throw this out there for our listeners.
This is a little bit of data the need. The
current federal debt, the amount of money that the United
States government owes is roughly thirty six trillion dollars. The
(40:18):
deficit for this year twenty twenty four is one point
nine trillion dollars with a T. This number is the
one that I think we all need to start thinking
about because I get wide eyed when I think about it.
And that is the interest payment that the federal government
has to pay for twenty twenty four on its national
(40:40):
debt is one point one six trillion dollars. As the
debt increases, obviously, that debt service increases. And the only
two programs BETH that outpace the interest payment on the
debt are Medicare and Social Security.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
It's the third largest budget item.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
So as we go forward, this is going to shape
public policy, and as we start thinking about things like
tax cuts and expansion of programs, the question becomes, how
do we be fiscally responsible enough to do it in
a way that secures the future of the essential programs
that we all need. So think about that, folks, and
(41:21):
when we come back, we'll tackle it. You're listening to
Life Happens Radio on Talk Radio WGY. We'll be right
back after this short break. Welcome back, folks. You're listening
to Life Happens Radio every Saturday morning here at eleven
am on Talk Radio WGY. We're covering today some vital
(41:42):
issues that face us as a nation, that face us
as a state, and that face us as individuals. And Beth,
this always becomes personal and everyone has a personal story,
whether it's your mother, your father, a loved one, a
child with a disability, and the the inability to get answers,
to get services and to get the help that you need,
(42:05):
and it is such a growing crisis an AARP. If
you haven't been with us until just now, AARP is
one of the leading organizations in the country advocating for seniors.
And we have with us today the New York State
Director of AARP, Beth Finkel, and Beth families just get
ravaged by these issues over time. And the financial side
(42:29):
of this, as you mentioned, is a side that most
people are not really prepared for, many of them thinking
best that Medicare is actually going to cover this.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
Yeah, well yes, because Medicare does not cover long term care,
and that we've surveyed people again and again. It's amazing
how the majority of people are totally unaware that there
is no component for long term care in your Medicare.
And the other part is people are unaware of how
much you have to pay out of pocket once you
(43:02):
are on Medicare. They think that all of their healthcare
will be paid In fact, it won't, and so you
might be paying out for a wrap around policy, but
you might be paying out for innumerable other things. And
a couple can expect to pay out more than three
hundred thousand dollars out of pocket. And that actually is
(43:23):
a data point from a few years ago for additional
healthcare that is not covered by Medicare. And you have
to build that in to how you plan to pay
for that when you.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Retire, and we do a lot of education on that
at our firm, and I know AARP does as well,
but it comes down to three funding sources for people
when Medicare cuts out, and this is home health care.
This is if you need to get bring services into
your home, which is where a lot of the healthcare
system and the federal government are pushing people to get
(43:55):
more care and services at home where people want to be.
Also covers assisted living, It covers nursing home care. None
of that is covered by your health insurance or by
your Medicare program, or by a Medicare supplement or Medicare advantage.
You're on your own, except if you buy long term
(44:15):
care insurance, which is a product that doesn't really exist
in a meaningful way in New York anymore, or you
go on Medicaid and Medicaid beth is in New York
it became a verb. I like the joke, and I've
heard this talked about whenever New York had a problem
and there was a federal program available, they would say, oh,
(44:36):
let's medicate that, because the federal government provides fifty percent
of the funding for it, but New York pays the
other fifty percent. And that budget is now enormous, and
it's such a disproportionate share of New York State's budget,
that it puts pressure on the program.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
Absolutely right, It's absolutely right. That's why when people look
to to save money in government, that's where they look.
And that's problematic because none of us want to lead
people languishing without basic human needs services.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
And we were.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Talking earlier about the Office for Aging budget and the
aging services. There's a Network Association on Aging in New
York and I have their study and I've heard Greg
talk about this before. Their average client is an eighty
three year old female living alone with four or more comorbidities,
(45:35):
and those are diseases, things that the person is suffering
from with a very limited income, and the Office for
Aging is able to keep that person at home at
a cost of about eight thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
You flip that to Medicaid.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
Where someone has to go to a nursing home, and
the Medicaid reimbursement for that nursing home is one hundred
and thirty hundred and forty thousand dollars a year. So
looking at this from any rational planner would say we
need to spend less money keep people at home to
avoid spending more money. But that's not how the system works.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
I could not agree with you more. And let's and
I know you know this so well, but the vast
majority of beds in institutional care in New York and
nursing homes are paid by Medicaid. And I believe the
numbers upwards of eighty or ninety percent of all beds
are being paid by Medicaid.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Yeah, it's about eighty percent.
Speaker 3 (46:35):
Thanks through the math.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
Yeah, And it's it's not a zero sum game. This
whole thing is really a house of cards. So hopefully
we can advocate together AARP and Pierre o'connoran Strauss and
all of our life happens listeners. We can advocate to
make the system stronger, shure it up, and do the
things that are rational. And we're coming up on the hour,
(47:00):
our best. We had about a minute left, And I
want to make sure that you get your contact information
out there so that people can reach out and gain
the advantage of those AARP resources.
Speaker 3 (47:12):
Right Well, they can go to AARP dot org, slash nli,
which will take you to the ARP New York State
website where you can join us. Actually, this week and
last week and the week after we are going to
be taking it to the streets. We are asking folks
to go out and if you have intersections in your
(47:33):
community that you're concerned about the safety, and we know
mortality rates among older adult pedestrians are among the highest.
Please go out and go to our website. You can
pull down a survey. Takes ten minutes. Anybody can do it,
and then we will get it back to your local
officials and let them see how people are concerned about
(47:55):
the sidewalks and the intersections in their neighborhoods.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
Such an important issue.
Speaker 1 (47:59):
Best thinkl Thank you for joining me today, Thank you
all for listening, and we hope that you can join
us back here next week for the next edition of
Life Happens Radio.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
Are you prepared? Talk to you next week.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.