Conference focuses on seniors

April 28--CLEVELAND -- The graying of America and the growing need for more long-term support for seniors was the focus of a daylong conference that brought together advocates for the elderly from across the Midwest in Cleveland on Monday.

The White House is sponsoring a series of regional meetings in advance of its national conference on aging that will take place this summer. The Cleveland meeting is the fourth with the final regional session planned for Boston next month.

Billie Johnson, director of the Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio, was one the 200 invited guests in attendance. Although the Toledo region is ahead of many others in providing affordable housing for seniors, the need is outpacing the supply as Baby Boomers move into the senior population, Ms. Johnson said.

"Our older adult population is expanding. Many of them can't stay in their own homes because their homes are falling down, and we can't repair them enough so you need some kind of congregate setting that is safe, that is rich in services and programs, and has transportation connected to it so they can get to and from their doctors and so that they can have dignity in their older lives," she said.

The number of people older than 60 in Lucas County is expected to increase from nearly 17 percent in 2000 to more than 22 percent by the year 2020, according to U.S. Census projections.

The percentage of seniors in the population is even greater in several other northwest Ohio communities. The senior population is expected to top 27 percent in both Williams and Sandusky counties and be nearly 33 percent in Ottawa County by 2020, according to the Census.

Ms. Johnson said she planned to share her concerns about housing with White House officials in the listening session portion of the meeting as well as the sessions about senior hunger.

In addition, she planned to discuss "the insurance problem that seniors are having in trying to sustain themselves."

The presenters at the meeting, including U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) said the Obama Administration is concentrating on four primary initiatives aimed at helping the elderly.

They are retirement and Social Security, increasing funding to Medicare, long-term care for seniors that involves several Medicaid programs, and lastly, programs aimed at curbing the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable seniors.

Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who was appointed by President Obama to head the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said the average American is spending about 20 years in retirement and this group is carrying a heavier debt load than in the past. His office receives numerous complaints about harassment from debt collectors and from people who are frustrated from the loan terms associated with reverse mortgages, he said.

A reverse mortgage is a complex loan that allow homeowners to convert part of the equity in their homes into cash.

Television programs are flooded with advertisements from companies selling reverse mortgages and seniors are often the target of these commercials that make sweeping generalized claims, he said.

"The risks are downplayed. You need to weigh it more carefully. You just can't assume the person on the other side of the table has your best interest at heart. They are trying to sell a product," Mr. Cordray said.

Many of the presenters at the conference expressed support for the Elder Justice Act, which would provide resources to help states fight abuse and exploitation of the elderly.

Nora Super, executive director of the White House Conference on Aging, said the gathering is a tradition that dates back to the 1960s. The regional conferences provide an opportunity for people to have their voices heard and some of it could lead to policy initiatives.

"What we are trying to collect from people are things that not just the federal government can do, but all of us across the county can do, public private-partnerships to address some of these gaps and concerns that people are raising," Ms. Super said.

Contact Marlene Harris-Taylor at [email protected] or 419-724-6091.

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