senior-issues

Pennsylvania’s fracking boom is hurting its oldest residents

BY: - November 12, 2023

Of the nearly 18 million Americans living near oil and gas wells, close to 3 million are 65 and older, many concentrated in Pennsylvania.

COMMENTARY

Commentary: The politics of aging, 2024 edition

BY: - October 26, 2023

Older voters may be set to reassert themselves in 2024 because, in a country which seems hopelessly divided along partisan lines, an issue not necessarily heading the list for squabbling politicians is top of mind of many seniors. That issue? The dramatic increase in the cost of food and other necessities and the resulting impact on those with relatively fixed incomes.

Social Security in ‘a full blown crisis,’: Advocates and recipients say the program needs help

BY: - October 18, 2023

Along with low morale and high turnover among overworked staff, recipients regularly endure long wait times — on the phone and in person — for assistance, daunting paperwork, and confusing instructions, all for some of the most vulnerable beneficiaries of the nation’s largest social service program. 

New Medicare proposal would cover training for family caregivers

BY: - August 26, 2023

Even with extensive caregiving experience, Patti LaFleur was unprepared for the crisis that hit in April 2021, when her mother, Linda LaTurner, fell out of a chair and broke her hip. LaTurner, 71, had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia seven years before. For two years, she’d been living with LaFleur, who managed insulin injections for […]

COMMENTARY
Pennsylvania Capitol Building. May 24, 2022. Harrisburg, Pa. (Photo by Amanda Berg, for the Capital-Star).

Bravo for expanding the property tax/rent rebate program. Now let’s find a better way to fund it.

BY: - August 18, 2023

Gov. Josh Shapiro and members of the General Assembly are taking a victory lap around Pennsylvania touting the expansion of the commonwealth’s Property Tax and Rent Rebate program.  There’s a great deal more to this legislation than the expansion of a popular program for low-to-middle income seniors, however. It speaks to the use of lottery […]

Insulin, arthritis medication costs rose 700% over two decades, report finds

BY: - August 16, 2023

Medications to treat diabetes and arthritis, common conditions for older people on Medicare, have seen major list price increases over the past 20 or so years, according to a new report from AARP, a nationwide nonprofit organization focused on the well-being of Americans aged 50 year or older. According to the AARP, the costs of […]

Shapiro signs expansion of property tax rent and rebate program

BY: - August 4, 2023

Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday signed into law an expansion of the property tax and rent rebate (PTRR) program, which will cover almost 175,000 more senior citizens, and double rebates for many of the nearly 400,000 people who already participate in the program.   Friday marked the first time the program has been expanded since 2006. […]

COMMENTARY
A spiking thermometer against a bright sky and hot sun

Commentary: Pennsylvania should ban utility shutoffs in extreme summer heat

BY: - August 2, 2023

Headlines around the globe this summer have featured the heat and extreme weather impacting the Northern Hemisphere. Fires, floods, and record setting temperatures have stretched from Europe to North America to China as governments and people try to adjust to what appears to be a new normal for our climate. A growing concern as temperatures […]

happy senior couple

We’re older than we used to be, especially in these states | Analysis

BY: - June 28, 2023

As states age, the need for senior-friendly health care and housing grows; Pa. among ranks of oldest states.

COMMENTARY
nurse taking care of older man

The time is right to build a national model for senior care right here in Pa. | Opinion

BY: - May 24, 2023

There is a tremendous opportunity to help all aging services providers and their employees build a comprehensive senior care system.

Pa. House panel moves forward on Gov. Shapiro’s plan to update property tax relief program

BY: - May 23, 2023

‘We’ve been seeing over the years an upsurge in the number of claimants who are pushed out of the program,’ Rep. Maureen Madden said.

Pa. long-term care facilities to share in $14.2M to ease staffing crunch | Wednesday Morning Coffee

BY: - March 29, 2023

The money from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention comes at a pivotal time for the industry.