Nearly half of older Americans can’t afford basic needs

I worked hard my whole ca­reer and retired feeling secure. Then I lost every last dime in a scam. I was left with $1,300 a month in Social Security benefits to live on in an area where monthly expenses run about $3,700.

I’m a smart woman, but scams against older Ameri­cans are increasing in number and sophistication. Whether through scams, strained sav­ings, or costs of living going up, half of older Americans — that’s 27 million households — can’t afford their basic needs.

And suddenly I became one of them. The experience has taught me a lot about the value of a strong social safety net — and why we’ll need to protect it from the coming administra­tion.

I was ashamed and fright­ened after what happened, but I scraped myself up off the floor and tried to make the best of it.

I’d worked with aging people earlier in my career, so I was familiar with at least some of the groups who could help. I reached out to a local nonprofit and they came through with flying colors, connecting me to life-saving federal assistance programs.

I was assigned a casework­er, who guided me through applying for public programs like the Medical Savings Plan (MSP), the Supplemen­tal Nutrition Assistance Pro­gram (SNAP), subsidized hous­ing, Medicare Part D, and Med­icaid.

It’s hard to describe my relief at getting this help.

Before receiving the MSP, I’d been paying for medications and health insurance — which cost about $200 — out of my monthly Social Security check. With MSP, that cost is covered. I also found an apartment I liked through subsidized hous­ing, and I have more money for groceries through SNAP. Now it’s easier to afford other neces­sities, like hearing aid batter­ies and my asthma inhaler.

But I’m worried about the incoming administration’s plans to cut programs like these, which have helped me so much. They’re proposing slashing funding and imposing overly burdensome work and reporting requirements. Stud­ies show that requirements like these can cause millions of otherwise eligible people to lose critical assistance.

President-elect Trump has also indicated that he favors in­creased privatization of Medi­care, which would result in higher costs and less care. And his tax promises are projected to move up the insolvency date of Social Security.

All told, the federal budget cuts the incoming Republican majority in Congress has put forward would slash health care, food, and housing by tril­lions over the next 10 years, re­sulting in at least a 50 percent reduction in these services. And they plan to divert those investments in us into more tax cuts for the nation’s very wealthiest.

I want lawmakers of each party to know how important these social investments are for seniors and families. Older Americans — who’ve worked hard all our lives — shouldn’t be pushed out onto the streets, forced to go without sufficient food or health care due to un­fortunate circumstances.

We have the tax dollars — the question is whether we have the political will to invest in seniors, workers, and fami­lies, or only for tax cuts for the very rich. If we do the latter, that’s the real scam.

Sherlea Dony is a retired Ameri­can Sign Language interpreter, consultant on access services for students who are deaf and hard of hearing, and copy editor cur­rently living in Rochester, New York. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.