Each and every day 10,000 Americans reach the age of 65, according to the Congressional Record.
Not only are we an aging population, but many of those people who are becoming 65 and older are dealing with issues of poverty.
This is something I notice first hand living in Rush County, Kansas.
When I lived in McCracken, a small town of 180 people, most of whom are over 65, I would come in to La Crosse and pick up food baskets and commodity items and take them to elderly residents all across town…
I did it in many cases because, no one else would or could do it at the time. Don’t ask me where their family was, I have no idea.
So I seen poverty issues that the elderly have experienced “first hand”. I also see it in Charlotte, N.C.
Incredibly enough, 20 percent of the seniors in America are living on average incomes of $7,500 per year—$7,500 per year average income for the bottom 20 percent of seniors in this country.
I’m not sure how they make it in some cases.
More and more seniors in the United States are literally going hungry and I can tell you this is happening in Charlotte, N.C. as we speak!
Today, there are almost 1 million seniors who go hungry in America and many more who face the threat of hunger.
It’s a serious problem!
That should not be happening in the United States of America.
It damn sure should not be happening here in North Carolina, but it is.
This is an issue you will not hear many local or state politicians talk about here in North Carolina. I guess they just do not know about it, or maybe they do not want to know? But you rarely hear any of them talk about it.
What America is supposed to be about is that when we age, we can live out our remaining years with security and dignity, not trying to find food in order to stay alive.
Yet this is the predicament I see, time and time again.
I talked with some physicians in Kansas recently, who tell me one of the reasons some seniors end up in the hospital or end up in the emergency room, is because they are malnourished.
Sometimes, literally, because of poor nourishment, they fall down,
break their hips – which costs Medicare and Medicaid a ton of money.
It would be so much cheaper to just feed these folks!
I understand many seniors are too proud and do not want to seek assistance in terms of food stamps. Others are embarrassed by it or ashamed of what others might think of them if they do use food stamps.
In terms of finances seniors are having a hard time.
For example, everybody knows that, seniors spend a higher percentage of their income on prescription drugs, than younger people. Ask any pharmacist and they will tell you who the vast majority of their customers are.
For obvious reasons they also spend more money on health care.
In cold weather states, like New York or Chicago seniors spend their money on keeping warm…
In some cases they spend 1/3rd of their income on utility bills. They do this at the same time the cost of prescription drugs and health care has been going up and up with no end in sight.
Robert Tilford
Charlotte, N.C.
