Keeping seniors financially secure

Older adults living on fixed incomes have been disproportionately burdened by the recent effects of inflation. This year’s Social Security and Supplemental Security Income cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 5.9% was the biggest in 40 years, but it only blunted inflation’s effects. When you’ve got bills to pay right now, it’s small comfort that the 2023 COLA is expected to be even larger when it’s announced in October.

Older adults who want to reach out for assistance often don’t know what help is available, or how to apply — and that’s where the Dutchess County Office for the Aging (OFA) can help. Here’s a quick rundown of just some of what’s out there, provided with assistance from the New York State Office for the Aging.

Find out about the services mentioned below, and more, by contacting the OFA at 845-486-2555 or ofa@dutchessny.gov, or looking us up online at www.dutchessny.gov/aging.

Home-delivered meals

You may need meals for a short time because you were recently discharged from a hospital and can’t make meals until you recover. Or you may need meals for a longer time because you can’t do many of the things you did for yourself before.

For older New Yorkers who can’t prepare meals for themselves, home-delivered meals provide healthy, nutritious, balanced meals to a participant’s residence up to five days a week.

Up-to-date information about wellness and healthy eating habits is provided to those who receive meals. Registered dietitians offer private nutrition counseling to older people with questions about diabetes, weight loss or gain and healthy eating.

Save yourself money, learn insurance options

You’ve seen the ads and gotten piles of mail, all of it claiming that their company’s health insurance option is the right one for you. They can’t all be right… right? Understanding your insurance options is key to saving money, but where to begin?

Try the OFA’s Health Insurance Information Counseling Assistance Program (HIICAP). Our trained volunteer HIICAP counselors are available to answer questions about Medicare, Medicare Advantage programs (managed care), Medicare prescription drug coverage, Medigap and other health and long-term care insurance issues.

You can contact the OFA for an appointment with a HIICAP counselor, or you can sign up for one of our in-person “Medicare 101” presentations in Poughkeepsie or Rhinebeck.

As we get closer to Medicare’s annual open enrollment period (Oct. 15 through Dec. 7), we’ll add more Medicare 101 classes throughout the County. You can find an up-to-date calendar of OFA activities at www.dutchessny.gov/aging.

Golden Living is prepared by Dutchess County OFA Director Todd N. Tancredi, who can be reached at 845-486-2555, ofa@dutchessny.gov or via the OFA website at www.dutchessny.gov/aging.