Ensuring a Better Future for Older Adults Through Advocacy

Advocacy is always important. It ensures our voices are heard about federal, state and local issues that make a difference in our lives, especially older adults and people with disabilities. In these turbulent times, it is even more critical. In this issue of AgeWise, the articles will provide information about some current bills related to issues such as nutrition, housing, and medical and long-term care that the Seattle King County Aging and Disability Advisory Council, of which I am a member, is tracking. 

Federal

Funding for Medicaid, which is a state-federal partnership that guarantees federal financial support to every state to provide essential health and long-term care to older adults and other people with limited income and savings, is at risk. As the number of older adults who need long-term care grows and state Medicaid costs increase, the federal government helps meet many of those rising costs by matching a percentage of each dollar the state spends. Medicaid is a lifeline for older adults and people with disabilities who rely on it for support and activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing, which allows them to remain living in their home. The House and the Senate in D.C. are advancing budget resolutions that propose detrimental cuts to Medicaid which put those using this program at risk of losing coverage. We have included a reprint from Justice in Aging, How Medicaid Caps Would Harm Older Adults. This article explains how Medicaid supports older adults and how they would be affected under the proposed changes. If you don’t understand a lot about Medicaid, you can learn more in the following articles by KFF, an independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.

• 10 Things to Know About Medicaid
• Medicaid 101

State

• The Advisory Council has just released its state legislative priorities which includes support for additional nutrition funds as well as a number of other bills and budget items that were selected because they are so important for the health and well-being of older adults. Several members of the Advisory Council teamed up with staff from Sound Generations recently to meet with legislators on Senior Lobby Day in Olympia to advocate for older adult issues. Read the article, Advocates Take Action in Olympia, to learn more about their efforts.
• WA Cares is a state program that helps Washington workers save for long-term care so they can access support when they need it. Right now, We Care for WA Cares is looking for support for bill SB 5291. This bill would improve WA Cares by letting people who opted out rejoin, keeping benefits available for those who take time off between jobs, and offering affordable supplemental insurance. Visit their website to support their efforts. And, if you have advocates who would like to voice their support for SB 5291, please share this action alert with them. It’s an easy way to tell legislators that these improvements are important.

We encourage you to read these articles and decide how you can take action—maybe it’s an email, letter, or phone call to your legislators or members of Congress. Maybe it’s sharing this information with a friend. Whatever works for you, make your voice heard!

Contributor Alex O’Reilly chairs the Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging & Disability Services. She welcomes input from readers via e-mail (advisorychair@agewisekingcounty.org).

Mark Your Calendars

Following are upcoming events of interest:

• WA Cares Conversations: Aging and Nutrition webinar: March 12 (11 a.m. – noon) online. A panel of experts will discuss the relationship between aging and nutrition, why nutrition is important as you age, age-related nutritional changes, food insecurity among seniors and nutrition education and resources. We’ll also provide an overview of the WA Cares Fund and how it can help. ASL interpretation and live captioning will be available. Register here.
• ADS Advisory Council: Friday, March 14 (noon–2 p.m.); Online unless otherwise specified. To receive the meeting link, email aginginfo@seattle.gov in advance.
• Civic Coffee: Wednesday, March 26 (1 p.m.) at Filipino Community Village or online as we host an informative conversation about the different approaches and benefits to spring cleaning. Find more information here.