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Financial Insecurity is Major Concern for Women Approaching Retirement
 Almost sixty percent of Americans aged 60 and over are concerned that health care costs (56%) and 43 percent are concerned that prescription drug costs are outpacing retirement savings, according to a new NCOA/Ipsos survey. The national survey also finds that women are even more concerned than men about these costs and the potential impact on their family.
“All too often, older women are feeling the very real consequences of the income gap during retirement. After careers of earning less than their male counterparts, women are more likely to face financial insecurity, and this survey shows widespread concern among women, far more than men,” said Anna Maria Chávez, NCOA Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer.
The National Council on Aging (NCOA), a trusted national leader working to ensure that every person can age well, in partnership with Ipsos, a leading polling and data firm, released the results today.
“Those results underscore the reality of an uneven playing field for women in the American economy and the economic opportunity cost after years as mothers and caregivers and not wage-earners. However, the ever-rising cost of health care and prescription drugs are a real and imminent threat to a safe, secure, and dignified retirement for aging adults across the country regardless of gender. Those on fixed incomes are even more worried,” added Chávez.
The survey of 1227 adults aged 60 and over conducted between May 29, 2019 and June 14, 2019 found the rising cost of health care and prescription drugs and losing their independence are the top concerns of older adults and a direct threat to a secure retirement:
60 percent of women aged 60 and over are worried health care costs will exceed retirement income
- 56 percent of Americans aged 60 and over, regardless of gender, are worried that health care costs will exceed retirement income
- 68 percent of Americans aged 60 and over with household incomes of under $50,000 are worried
46 percent of women aged 60 and over are worried that prescription medicine costs will exceed retirement income
- 43 percent of Americans aged 60 and over, regardless of gender, are worried that prescription medicine costs will exceed retirement income
- 54 percent of Americans aged 60 and over with household incomes of under $50,000 are worried
51 percent of women aged 60 and over are worried about outliving their savings
- 48 percent of Americans aged 60 and over, regardless of gender, are worried about outliving their savings
- 61 percent of Americans aged 60 and over with household incomes under $50,000 are worried
59 percent of women aged 60 and over are worried about losing their independence
- 54 percent of Americans aged 60 and over, regardless of gender, are worried about losing their independence and almost half (46 percent) worry about becoming a burden to their families.
52 percent of women aged 60 and over are worried about becoming a burden to their families, a full 12 percent more than men
“Every day, 10,000 people in America turn 65 and nearly half of our population is already over the age of 60,” said Chávez. “Our recent NCOA/Ipsos survey of older Americans finds that most people 60 and older report being pretty happy with their current lives,” reports Annie Weber, Senior Vice President at the research company Ipsos. “That is despite majorities of this group reporting worry about their physical health and their health care costs exceeding their savings.”
These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted May 29-June 14, 2019. For the survey, a sample of 1227 adults aged 60 and older from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The poll has a credibility interval plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
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Following years of uncertainty, federal lawmakers are working to renew a popular Medicaid program that moves people with disabilities from institutions into the community.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 371 to 46 last week to extend the so-called Money Follows the Person program for four and a half years.
The federal program offers states money to cover employment supports, housing and other services so that individuals with disabilities can transition from nursing homes and other institutional facilities to homes in the community.
Money Follows the Person officially expired in 2016 and states were exhausting whatever funds they had remaining when the program got a short-term extension in January. Then, with no long-term solution in sight, lawmakers approved legislation this spring to tide the program over through September.
Now, advocates are hoping that Congress will cement a multiyear plan and they’re pushing the Senate to take up the measure, which includes over $1.99 billion in funds.
“States that had a program were helped with the temporary funding, but we really need to see the longer-term extension pass to see the robust taking up of the program that we have seen since 2005,” said Nicole Jorwic, senior director of public policy at The Arc.
The bill approved by the House this month, known as The Empowering Beneficiaries, Ensuring Access and Strengthening Accountability Act, or H.R. 3253, would reauthorize Money Follows the Person through 2024.
Jorwic called the program a “win-win” providing cost savings for Medicaid while offering people who want to leave institutions a better quality of life.
“These funds will ensure that people with disabilities can leave institutions and return back home to their communities,” she said.
About $3.7 billion has been spent on Money Follows the Person since 2006, allowing states to help more than 88,000 people leave institutions.
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 President Signs Law Improving Disaster Planning for Those with Disabilities
The federal government will be required to do more to consider the needs of people with disabilities when hurricanes, fires and other disasters strike under a new law signed by President Donald Trump.
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act, which was signed by the president this week, calls for the creation of a national advisory committee specifically focused on disaster planning for those with disabilities.
Comprised of government officials, health care professionals and people with disabilities, the committee will be tasked with reviewing federal policies and making recommendations to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are properly factored in disaster planning.
“No American should ever feel like they might be left behind or forgotten when disaster strikes,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., who proposed the advisory panel and who has a disability himself. “By including people with disabilities as advisors during disaster planning and policy development, this bill ensures that the unique needs of this vulnerable community will be included.”
The establishment of the so-called National Advisory Committee on Individuals with Disabilities and Disasters is part of a larger law enhancing the government’s ability to respond to natural disasters and public health emergencies. It comes as multiple government reports in recent months have exposed flaws in the nation’s disaster preparedness for people with disabilities.
Earlier this month, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office issued a report finding that people with disabilities and individuals over age 65 “faced particular challenges evacuating to safe shelter, accessing medicine and obtaining recovery assistance” during the 2017 hurricane season. Investigators said that changes are needed at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to better accommodate this population.
Separately, a report out last month from the National Council on Disability found that people with disabilities are often unnecessarily institutionalized during and after disasters because of conflicting federal guidance and inadequate access to services, among other issues.
ACL Releases a New Alzheimer’s and Dementia Program Cooperative Agreement Grant Opportunity
AoA’s Alzheimer's Disease Programs Initiative - Grants to States and Communities program announcement (HHS-2019-ACL-AOA-ADPI-0360) seeks to support and promote the development and expansion of dementia-capable home and community-based service (HCBS) systems in States and Communities.
There are two application options contained in the single funding announcement: Grants to States (Option A) and Grants to Communities (Option B).
No entity is eligible to apply for both State and Community options.
The dementia-capable systems resulting from program activities under either option are expected to provide quality, person-centered services and supports that help people living with dementia and their caregivers remain independent and safe in their communities.
Please visit the link above for more details about the grant opportunity and application process.
This grant opportunity closes on August 13, 2019.
For further information, or if you have questions, please contact Erin Long at erin.long@acl.hhs.gov.
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