During the year this month of commemoration was instituted, there were approximately 17 million Americans who were 65 years of age or older. Of these, about one third was living in poverty. At the time, only a small amount of programs were meeting seniors’ needs. A meeting was organized in April 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and the National Council of Senior Citizens.
As a consequence of the meeting, May was designated as the Senior Citizens Month, which later became known as Older Americans Month.
Every President since then has celebrated the contributions of older Americans to our country, and rightfully so. Every senior should be recognized for the contributions and sacrifices they have made— and continue to make— to support families, communities and our society. Starting within the household, seniors play a vital role to the well-being of their relatives and loved ones. Numerous older adults are caregivers to the children within their family, and even friends or neighbors. Others provide financial and emotional support to their grown up kids.
At the community level, older adults represent a high percentage of volunteers.
It may seem the contrary, but the reality is that more seniors are seeking volunteer opportunities, both domestically and abroad. Frequently, they give their time to local religious and social service organizations, such as Maria in Miami. After years of helping family members navigate U.S. systems and seeing how vulnerable they were to fraud, abuse, and scams, she decided to become a volunteer. She received training from NHCOA on Medicare fraud prevention through our National Hispanic SMP
Despite their selflessness, older adults— especially Latino seniors— are falling into poverty as they age.
Currently, the poverty rate of Latino seniors is twice that of the total population of adults 65 years and older. Hispanic older adults are also more reliant on Social Security as their sole source of income. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 21 percent of older adults who receive income from Social Security will only have their Social Security benefits to depend on for income. Among Hispanic seniors— who are estimated to represent 20% of the older adults by 2050— this percentage increases to almost 90%.
In addition to financial problems, a majority of Hispanic older adults suffer disproportionately from health problems.
Hispanics are 66% more likely than non-Latino Whites to suffer from diabetes. According to Center for Disease Control report on AIDS, Hispanics were twice more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than non-Latino Whites. In 2013, data showed the U.S Hispanic population continues to face numerous health disparities and difficulty accessing healthcare. For example, Latino seniors were much more likely to lack health insurance than non-Hispanics. Moreover, diverse older adults typically bear more out-of-pocket costs for health care, which amount to more than one-third of their income for those at the lowest income levels.
The Older Americans Act— the most important piece of legislations for America’s seniors— can address these issues, but lacks the reauthorization to better serve the population it was created to help.
Given the growth and diversification of the U.S. aging population, the Older Americans Act needs to be reauthorized to reflect our current reality, as well as meet the needs of our most vulnerable seniors across the country. This law supports a variety of home and community-based services, including in-home care, transportation, legal services, elder abuse prevention, and caregiving support. The law helps older Americans remain as independent as possible, for as long possible, as well as help avoid hospitalizations and nursing home care, which translates into savings at the local and federal level.
Throughout the month, we will be sharing more information about the Older Americans Act, why we should all care about it, and what we can do to ensure it is reauthorized.
