Questioning New York State Budget Priorities

by Contributor | February 17, 2024 11:08 am

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul recently submitted her proposed budget for the coming year (2024-25), and to say that it is insulting and insufficient for aging services would be a gross understatement.

Every year, New York State reports that it “will be a tough budget year” to prepare everyone for little to no significant increases in the budget funding. This year, however, it seems that the Governor has forgotten about the 4.6 million older adults that live in this great state and the 4.1 million caregivers that provide essential services to them.

Here are some statistics that demonstrate the lack of priority for our seniors:

• There are approximately 20 million people currently living in New York State and, of that number, almost 9 million – nearly half – are either over age 60 or a caregiver of someone over age 60 or disabled.
• The proposed New York State budget for the coming year is $229 billion, while the entire New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) budget is approximately $200 million.
• That means that the entire NYSOFA budget is less than one-tenth of one percent of the overall state budget for the year!

To put this in perspective, think about the fact that older New Yorkers pay $72 billion in state and local taxes every year and yet they only receive 0.08% of state funding for vital services.

In addition, there are over 18,000 older adults currently on waitlists for aging services in this state – and that number grows every day there is not sufficient funding to provide services such as home-delivered meals, comprehensive case management, personal care and transportation, among others.

These services help older adults to stay in their homes as they age and avoid costly skilled nursing or assisted-living homes. While some people may need that level of service, many can be maintained in their own home with far less expensive, community-based services provided by NYSOFA’s Area Agencies on Aging – if they are sufficiently funded.

Increasing support for NYSOFA’s services makes sense for many reasons. Economically, these community-based services are the right choice because they can be provided for pennies-on-the-dollar versus costly out-of-home care in skilled nursing or assisted living facilities. For example, expenses for individuals using NYSOFA’s community-based services average less than $10,000 per year, while the state pays about $140,000 every year in Medicaid costs for individuals placed in a facility.

Assemblyman Ron Kim, who leads the New York State Assembly Committee on Aging, recently stated, “For every dollar invested into NYSOFA programs, New York State saves nearly eight dollars in Medicaid spending on the backend.” This statement makes it seem obvious that fully funding these programs would be the logical conclusion.

The Governor has indicated that there is no additional funding available for aging services. You might ask yourself, “If the Governor isn’t increasing funding for aging services, what are her budget priorities?”

Although I completely understand prioritizing increases for education and health care, the Governor’s budget also allocated funding for the following:

• $100 million for the New York State Parks system to celebrate its 100th anniversary and to renovate a bathhouse in Jones Beach on Long Island.
• $100 million to build 10 swimming pools Downstate and provide pop-up pools in other locations.
• $300 million for additional safe swimming and infrastructure at state parks.

There are many other funding allocations I could list that are puzzling, but I believe this makes my point. I enjoy our parks and swimming as much as anyone, but just these three increases are more than double the entire budget for aging services. It seems that the Governor’s priorities are to put these things ahead of the vital care of older adults in our communities.

In response to the Governor’s budget, over 200 organizations throughout the state are pushing the Governor to reassess her priorities and double the state’s budget for aging services. This increase can help meet the need for services for older adults which help them age at home.

If this increase seems excessive to you, let me remind you again that the older adults and their caregivers account for nearly half of the population in New York State and it only continues to grow. Between 2011 and 2021, the number of people aged 65 and older increased by 21%.

I cite these statistics and demographics, not to pit aging services against any other services or another population, but to shed light on the gross inadequacies and shortfalls in the Governor’s proposed budget for the older adults in our communities. I hope that you have found it helpful and illuminating.

As always, if you or a loved one are aged 60 or older and in need of services, please don’t hesitate to contact the Oswego County Office for the Aging at 315-349-3484. We will do our very best to serve you.

Sincerely,

Sara Sunday

Aging Services Administrator

Oswego County Office for Aging missing or outdated ad config

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/questioning-new-york-state-budget-priorities/

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