Al Morey, president of the Harford County Chapter #436 of the AARP, along with Senator Jacobs, listen to a discussion about important legislative issues during the first Senior Summit held in July at Vitali's Restaurant.
Senior Summit creates forum for discussion of legislative priorities
From Prime Times of Harford County, August 1999, by Pamela Mones, editor.
In an effort to draw attention to issues important to seniors, and at the request of State Senator Nancy Jacobs (R-34th), the AARP Community Council of Harford County, with support from the Harford County Office on Aging, organized a Senior Summit as a forum to share concerns and priorities with legislators at local, state, and federal levels. Senator Jacobs, along with key members of various committees of the AARP, addressed the group on various topics.
"It's a good way for elected officials to have a resource when things come up [in the legislature] that affect seniors so we can learn what [seniors] think of things," said Senator Nancy Jacobs in opening remarks during the first Senior Summit on July 15 at Vitali's Restaurant in Edgewood, Maryland. "I'd like to thank Barbara and Bill Jackson and Kenneth Moseley for their assistance in making arrangements for the forum, and Carol Lienhard of the Harford County Office on Aging for sharing her knowledge...," she said.
The AARP - American Association of Retired Persons - which touts itself as "the nation's leading organization for people age 50 or older," has taken an active role in lobbying government in behalf of its members, and, through local chapters and its community councils, has identified a range of issues that it hopes will garner the support of legislators. Among the significant issues identified for discussion at the summit were: accessible and affordable health care, independent living, economic security, reliable transportation, and caregiver support.
"It's an opportunity for legislators to become more informed," said Ken Moseley, a community specialist volunteer with the AARP community council who hopes that this will be the forerunner of future educational initiatives. "I hope this Senior Summit will be a model for the rest of the state. It's important to get ideas across to our delegates."
Barbara Jackson, AARP Harford County Community Council coordinator, gave an overview of the role of the community council, stating that her goal of bringing together a group to discuss legislative issues had been realized with this event.
"The community council plans for the future... and helps identify senior problems in the community, and through community advocacy gets to know concerns [of seniors]," said Ms. Jackson, who then introduced her husband Bill, District 5 Community Council coordinator, who led the discussion on the council's proposed legislative initiative for the upcoming general assembly. The achievement of this goal, she said, resulted from a brainstorming session in June that culminated in organizing the Senior Summit.
"[The summit] is a unique way to get together to learn about the issues," said Senator Jacobs, citing the impact seniors will have in affecting the course of events over the next 20 years. "There are more than 80,000 seniors over the age of 60 in Maryland... and it's projected to increase by 23 percent in the next 20 years... with a staggering rise [in the number of seniors over age 60] of 116 percent in Harford County over the next 20 years," said Senator Jacobs.
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During the course of the three-hour morning session, local, state, and federal officials listened and offered support to the group, inviting seniors to contact them as the debate and discussion on specific issues unfolded. Much of the attention of attendees was that involving health care for seniors - from Medicare coverage and the problems associated with the recent decision among many health maintenance organizations to terminage coverage in many Maryland counties to paying for prescription drugs and qualifying for public programs to help reduce the financial burden on seniors.
Carol Lienhard, director of the Harford County Office on Aging, requested support from government officials in raising the income eligibility level for people seeking financial help to allow middle income people to participate in the programs.
"For people at or below the poverty level, the pharmacy assistance program makes it easier to create stability because they are eligible for many funded programs," said Mrs. Lienhard. "But the average middle income individual - and many retirees fall here - can care for themselves and pay their bills, until they get sick. But when they get sick, they lack the ability to pay for their medications and have to make the difficult decision about what they can afford to pay for. We need to help folks in the middle income [bracket] as well," she said.
Medication, which Mrs. Lienhard said "drives everything", can help keep a person independent and alleviate additional burdens on seniors who might otherwise cope if they had some financial help when it comes to prescription drugs. And with drug costs being as much as $300 to $400 a day for some seniors to cover, the strain can pose potentially devastating consequences for not only the seniors directly but for the economic pictue of the state.
But for any of the proposed mandates to become reality, the group consensus was that seniors must get involved with the process - from contacting government representatives to actually helping to write the regulations and getting bills introduced into the legislature.
"When the regulations get written, they have to be made more readable and user-friendly," said Del. James, inviting seniors and leaders active in the Senior Summit to participate in the process and keep the information flowing to the appropriate people in Annapolis and Washington, D.C., and that means everything from prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries to developing tax-exempt and tax-credit incentives to help seniors remain independent, and a bill that would increase the tax deductibility of buying long-term care insurance.
"People want to remain self-sufficient," said Mrs. Lienhard. "We need to look at ways we can best do that."
In closing remarks, Senator Jacobs said, "Our challenge is to continue the energy and enthusiasm... and produce tangible results. I know that the Harford County Delegation and Senators to the Maryland General Assembly will be working on these issues as we prepare for the 2000 legislative session...."
For more information on the Senior Summit, call Barbara Jackson at 410-879-9758, or the Harford County Office on Aging at 410-638-3025.
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