LiveOn NY Statement on Government Shutdown and Resources for Advocates

New York, NY – As of October 3, the federal government is still shut down. While the majority of funding for older adult services has already been disbursed, federal funding will be drastically impacted if the shutdown extends for a month. LiveOn NY issued the following statement on the shutdown:

“Decisions being made in our capital are jeopardizing older New Yorkers’ health and safety – from access to healthcare and food to the programs that keep them in their homes,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director at LiveOn NY. “It is unacceptable that, as always, older adults, workers, and marginalized communities are the ones having to bear the weight of funding fights. Congress must prioritize a budget that fully funds critical older adult services and gives Americans the support they need to age in their communities.”

Here’s what older New Yorkers and advocates need to know about key federally-funded programs:

• Area Agencies on Aging: AAAs throughout the state will not be affected by the shutdown until after December.

• Direct Benefits for Older Adults: The shutdown will not affect the payment of cash assistance, unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.

• Social Security offices will not be able to provide benefit letters or earning statements during the shutdown.

• SNAP: The October allotment will not be affected, but future allotments may be. 92% of USDA staff will be furloughed, which will likely affect New York State’s cost burden. People should continue to apply for benefits and recipients should continue to recertify. More info here.

• Hospital at Home Program: The Medicare-sponsored HAH telehealth program is directly affected: hospitals have been forced to discharge patients due to the shutdown, leaving many seniors without telehealth services.

• WIC: The program will continue, but may be affected later in the year.

As the forecast of federal budget cuts remains unclear, LiveOn NY’s Age Strong campaign is redoubling its advocacy for New Yorkers at the state and city level, calling for bold investments in affordable housing, food and nutrition, and community infrastructure to allow New Yorkers to age in dignity.

LiveOn NY will continue to monitor the situation to keep providers and advocates informed as details emerge.

LiveOn NY and Cornell Weill Researchers Put Seniors In Focus During Climate Week

Advocates Partner To Center Older Adults, Who Are Overwhelmingly The Most Vulnerable Population To Climate Change

On September 26, LiveOn NY, a leading advocate for older adults in New York, joined researchers from the Cornell Initiative for Research on Climate and Aging (CIRCA) for a virtual roundtable discussion during Climate Week examining the often-overlooked risks that older adults face due to climate change. The webinar took place as part of the New York Climate and Aging Action Network (NY-CAAN), a collaboration between LiveOn NY, the New York Academy of Medicine, and CIRCA. 

“We are aging more than ever, and so it’s more important than ever to include older people in climate discussions,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director at LiveOn NY. “The goal of NY-CAAN is to create evidence-based, common-sense policy and infrastructure solutions to protect us all as we get older.”

The panel explored how older adults face uniquely higher risks of negative health outcomes, financial strain and negative mental health impacts. It went on to discuss how the majority of natural disaster-related casualties and injuries are suffered by older adults, reinforcing the importance of centering older voices when identifying potential solutions.

“Climate change poses unique risks for older adults: we get more vulnerable to heat as we age, and disasters can interrupt critical care services,” said Karl Pillemer, Co-Director at the Cornell Initiative for Research on Climate and Aging. “This led to over 50% of deaths during Hurricane Sandy being older adults, underscoring the need for senior-focused policy solutions to address the climate crisis.” 

NY-CAAN outlined multiple priorities over the next year of its partnership:

• Identifying policy recommendations for senior-focused solutions to the climate crisis

• A climate summit to ensure that the community most vulnerable to climate change has a voice in the discussion

• Coalition-building across sectors, including aging advocates, academics, elected officials and community partners, as part of LiveOn NY’s Age Strong initiative

• Provide advocates with political power-mapping to make advocacy more effective

More information on LiveOn NY can be found at our website: www.liveon-ny.org/. The webinar can be found here.

If you would like more information, please contact Frank Shintaro McMullin, Communications Specialist at LiveOn NY, at fmcmullin@liveon-ny.org or at (408) 620-0694.

LiveOn NY Delivers Petition Signatures of 8000+ New Yorkers Calling for Investments in Aging Services

8,000 CONCERNED NEW YORKERS CALL ON ERIC ADAMS TO INVEST $622 MILLION FOR AGING SERVICES IN CITY BUDGET

NEW YORK, NY — Today, LiveOn NY was joined by advocacy groups and seniors across New York to hand-deliver a petition to Mayor Eric Adams calling on the Mayor to invest $622 million for aging services in the city budget. The petition, which earned almost 8,000 signatures in less than a week, calls for renewed investments in the city’s network of Older Adult Centers, as well as an expanded social safety net for seniors and dedicated funds to ensure seniors have access to food.  

SEE ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEOS HERE

“In the face of devastating federal cuts to Medicaid and social programs, Mayor Eric Adams must use this year’s budget to deliver critical funding for our city’s aging services,” said Kevin Kiprovski, LiveOn NY Director of Public Policy. “Seniors are facing impossibly high costs, from medicine to groceries — and it’s only getting worse. As the federal government moves to take millions of dollars in healthcare funding away, potentially devastating the over 57 percent of New Yorkers who rely on Medicaid, Mayor Adams must stand up for New York’s older adults. Over 7,000 of us have called on Mayor Adams to invest $622 million in making the lives of our seniors easier; now, it’s on him to listen.”

“New York City’s older adult services are essential for the health, independence, and well-being of hundreds of thousands of older adults,” said Beth Finkel, State Director of AARP New York. “More than 5,000 petitions make one thing clear: New Yorkers are demanding action. From expanded home-delivered meals to adequate case management and safe, modern Older Adult Centers, this $622 million investment is about ensuring our city meets the needs of a rapidly growing aging population. The Mayor must act now to build a city where every New Yorker can age with dignity.”

“Every New Yorker deserves to age with stability and dignity in their community. Investments in aging services are essential. It’s critical for Mayor Adams to invest in and expand older adult centers and case management services and address food insecurity,” said Susan Stamler, Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses. “UNH is proud to stand with older adults, including those from the settlement house network in the AgeStrong NYC campaign as we fight for these vital investments.”

Aging Experts Host Virtual Press Conference on the Impacts of the Skinny Budget

WASHINGTON, DC—On Tuesday, LiveOn NY, an advocacy organization for New York’s 4 million older adults, hosted a virtual press briefing to discuss the impacts of the federal “skinny” budget on older adult care and services. LiveOn NY Executive Director, Allison Nickerson, was joined by Eldra Drew, Participant of Lafayette Estates NORC Program at Neighborhood SHOPP in the Bronx and Jeremy Kaplan, the Executive Director, Encore Community Services.

“The federal skinny budget threatens all ways of life for Americans — but there is no question that it will disproportionately impact older adults, ripping away the services that their lives depend on. This isn’t just bad policy—it’s un-American. We are witnessing the dismantling of the very systems that working New Yorkers have paid into and relied on for decades. Older adults across New York State deserve more than abandonment,” said Allison Nickerson, LiveOn NY Executive Director. “LiveOn NY calls on all New York City, State, and Congressional leaders to fight back and defend the programs that are lifelines for older adults and families nationwide. Silence is not an option when lives, livelihoods, and dignity are at stake.”

“I’ve been with this center since I retired in 2010. The devastating budget cuts threaten the future of our neighborhood and the Lafayette Estates NORC Program, which provides critical services for us older adults and essential activities that support seniors' mental, emotional, and physical well-being. The vital staff support case management, advocacy, and care — this is the community environment that helps prevent isolation and promotes dignity, engagement, and independence for us older Americans,” said Eldra Drew, Participant of Lafayette Estates NORC Program at Neighborhood SHOPP in the Bronx.

“At one of our older adult centers, we have a case worker who works with an older man. He lives alone — he’s 80 years old, has macular degeneration, and is legally blind. He tells us this particular caseworker is his only social connection and is his only advocate,” said Jeremy Kaplan, Executive Director, Encore Community Services. “We have an active membership of 1000 older adults and two caseworkers for that membership, and those caseworkers are not funded by the city to make a living wage themselves. These issues — this problem that I’m laying out exist before the conversation about any federal cuts. These centers are already underfunded; we are only funded currently to give one meal a day, five days a week. Who knows what the ripple effect will be with how these cuts will impact people on the ground.”

FACT SHEET

Aging is already unaffordable. With skyrocketing housing costs and out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, long-term care gaps, and inadequate food assistance, older New Yorkers are already stretched to the breaking point. Federal cuts will only make this worse. If enacted, the federal budget would:

1. Cut Seniors’ Health Care Through Medicaid, through deep cuts to home and community-based care.

2. Cut Food Assistance Through SNAP, relied upon by thousands of older New Yorkers to make ends meet and afford food.

3. Reduce Access to Their Social Security Benefits through deep cuts in staffing, leaving older New Yorkers to wait for hours on call lines just to be disconnected.

4. Slashing the HUD budget and dismantling Section 202 affordable housing for seniors, handing it to state block grants with no guarantees or accountability.

5. Eliminate LIHEAP, leaving thousands of older New Yorkers without heating and cooling assistance during extreme weather.

6. Zero out the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, cutting off critical support for senior centers, NORCs, and housing.

7. Eliminate Title V Senior Employment, cutting off a vital re-entry path to the workforce for low-income older New Yorkers.

8. Abolish AmeriCorps Seniors, ending programs that reduce isolation and support community engagement.

9. Jeopardize Alzheimer’s Research, which will have unprecedented consequences for the millions of families who will face this devastating disease in the future.