Hearing of U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs "Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors"
Hearing of U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs "Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors"
Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this hearing. And, thank you Senator Sarbanes for championing this issue.
I could not agree with you more that better coordination of our federal resources aimed at assisting seniors is one that needs attention.
With seniors comprising more than 12% of the nation's population and that number increasing every year, we must begin putting in place the infrastructure necessary to handle the broad array of services that seniors draw upon each day.
My home state of Michigan has more than 1.2 million residents over the age of 65 and they will all benefit from a more efficient coordination of the services that assist with their housing and other necessary services.
As we know, many of our seniors need assistance with their daily activities. Other seniors need assistance with medication, meals, transportation, health care, and other needs. And, right now, we don't do a great job in matching up a person's housing needs with the way we deliver these vital services.
There are so many ways we can improve our safety-net services to make them more effective. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I have seen that also happen with our federal nutrition programs.
I've meet with food banks that are frustrated that many seniors they would like to help are not eligible for USDA's important nutrition program - the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). That's because seniors can't deduct the cost of their medications when seeking eligibility for food assistance. We have people who are literally deciding between their food and their medicine. In a nation as great as ours, this is outrageous!
As Senator Sarbanes has pointed out, the current programs and services that assist the elderly in meeting their needs are spread across numerous federal agencies, making it difficult for seniors to understand and access needed services.
For instance, the Congressionally established Seniors Commission, found in its 2002 report that Athe most striking characteristic of seniors= housing and health care in this country is the disconnection of one field from another.
Senator Sarbanes is moving us toward a solution. His bill, S. 705, would create an executive level Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors to better coordinate housing programs and related services so that senior citizens can age in place and access needed services.
I support his efforts and look forward to the testimony of the witnesses. Thank you.
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