Budget cuts endanger Alaska seniors

Alaska seniors have once again become a target in the governor’s proposed budget. These are seniors whose only source of income is Social Security and Senior Benefits, seniors who have health issues and are not able to get a job, seniors with disabilities, and seniors who must make a choice between eating, buying their medicine or paying rent and electricity. The idea that we as Alaskans need to support our seniors is one that is widespread. It is our duty, both as individuals and as a state, to take care of our elderly and ensure that their “golden years” are lived justly. However, for the 11,322 low-income Alaska seniors who rely on the Senior Benefits program, a comfortable and just life is far from reality.

During the last month and a half, the Food Bank of Alaska, in partnership with a handful of other community organizations, has worked closely with several Alaskans who are merely a handful of the 11,322 seniors at risk of losing their benefits. One of those seniors is an elderly woman from Anchorage who received a letter in the mail Wednesday morning that she would not be receiving the $76 she usually receives monthly from the payment program for the next two months due to insufficient funding. She, and nearly 5,000 other seniors who live at or below the federal poverty level in Alaska, are already feeling the effects of a lack of support from the Senior Benefits program.

Out of those that have voiced their concerns regarding the repeal of the program, we have seen an undeniable trend in how funds are used. The Senior Benefits program is not “extra spending money,” but rather critical support for their basic needs, including nutritious food, transportation, medical care and prescriptions. Many seniors have expressed fear that without this program, they will be forced to pick and choose between necessities they need to survive. These seniors also suffer from harsh medical conditions — many have undergone several surgeries or are dealing with diseases such as diabetes and cancer, adding extra financial barriers that prohibit them from reaching financial stability. The last thing these individuals should have to worry about is where their next meal will come from, or how they are going to scrape their pennies together in order to afford the co-pay for their medication.

So how could cuts to the Senior Benefits program affect the aging adults in Alaska?

Seniors require greater consideration toward their health and medical needs that can become compromised when there is not enough food to eat. Food-insecure seniors are at increased risk for chronic health conditions, even when controlling for other factors such as income: they are 60% more likely to experience depression, 53% more likely to report a heart attack, 52% more likely to develop asthma and 40% more likely to report an experience of congestive heart failure.

The Senior Benefits program helps fill the gaps so seniors don’t have to make some of those hard choices: Do I buy my medication, or do I buy food?

Currently, roughly 2,200 seniors in Alaska receive assistance from the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP); however, this is a small fraction of the roughly 11,000 seniors who rely on the Senior Benefits program across the state. In 2012, CSFP, in partnership with the state of Alaska, was able to provide approximately 2,194 low-income seniors with 32 pounds of food apiece per month. CSFP is a federal program that works to improve the health of low-income aging adults at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious foods.

In the past seven years, the need for this program in Alaska has grown by 34%, and the Food Bank of Alaska is now serving 2,942 seniors per month. However, this is only a fraction of the seniors who are still in need of this program. If the Senior Benefits program is cut from the state’s operating budget, the need for this program will nearly double in size -- a caseload that we are not able to account for at the Food Bank. In addition to the proposed cuts to the Senior Benefits program, the Commodities Supplemental Food Program is also one of the programs that are at risk of being cut federally. If the Senior Benefits program gets cut, the Commodities Supplemental Food Program will not be able to bridge the gap for the nutritional needs for all the seniors losing their monthly benefits.

The administration believes that by cutting the Seniors Benefit program that the loss will be made up by the additional funding for the Permanent Fund dividend. However, many seniors across the state do not apply for the Permanent Fund Dividend due to the potential loss of supplemental programs, such as CSFP, SNAP and Senior Benefits, based on their financial eligibility. The reality of this proposed cut is simple — support is being taken away from the most vulnerable citizens of Alaska to accommodate everyone else. These are individuals who are forced to live on a fixed income and are unable to work, many of whom do not have any sort of outside support aside from what they receive through the supplemental programs in place. If this cut is enacted, these seniors will permanently lose a significant amount of their income, in addition to facing current threats to supplemental programs on the national level — and for what? So that all Alaskans can receive a higher PFD? Upon receiving a PFD are all Alaskan citizens forced by the state to give up a percentage of their income? Of course not, so why are we requesting that of our seniors?

At the end of the day, these seniors need more than support from the state. They need support from fellow Alaskans who are willing to speak out in opposition to this unwarranted threat to senior citizens.

Moira Pyhala is the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Food Bank of Alaska. Sandra Mitchell is the Program Manager at the Food Bank.

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