Reducing poverty among older adults

Approximately 6 percent of elderly adults have insufficient resources to meet their basic needs. While this rate is similar to other age groups, elderly poverty is particularly troubling because their financial lives are often intertwined with their health, and deterioration in either can create significant burdens for the social safety net and younger generations. This policy brief will outline the problem of poverty among older adults and why action is needed. It will suggest potential policy recommendations for reducing elderly poverty by making changes to current social insurance programs, focusing on Supplemental Security Income and Medicare, alongside Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, housing, and Social Security reforms. Our policy recommendations include:

• Broadly expand SSI benefits
• Improve and simplify the SSI program
• Update the SSI-Social Security interaction
• Increase participation in SSI and SNAP
• Lower Medicare premiums for low-income beneficiaries
• Reduce cost-sharing in Medicare
• Increase housing vouchers and options for older adults and disabled individuals