Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, is lauded by the AARP for her proposed effort to help older Coloradans in the upcoming legislative session.
The AARP is asking the Colorado legislature to think about old folks when they think about the future. The senior citizens’ lobbying group predicts Colorado will see a 123 percent increase in residents older than 65 by 2030, “while services for older Coloradans remain sorely underfunded,” it says.
AARP sent its legislative requests to the legislature this week for the session that begins Jan. 7. Atop their wish list is medical care and programs that help keep older residents living independently in their homes.
That hope takes form in the request for another $4 million for the Older Coloradans Act. Caregiving and keeping older residents living independently in their homes top the list of AARP priorities. The legislation is expected to be introduced by Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Thorton, and Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa.
“This money will empower Colorado families with services like Meals on Wheels,” Morie Smile, director of AARP Colorado, said in a statement.
AARP also is supporting an effort by Crowder and Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, for a strategic planning group on aging in Colorado to study “the unprecedented demands” on public and private services for older residents and their families, including giving nurses more abilities in medically underserved communities.
A good example would be Lake County, where St. Vincent Hospital in Leadville is , though the nearest emergency room and other vital services medical services for seniors will be 33 miles from Leadville in Frisco. The hospital already has shut down the county’s only nursing home. The closure also means home health programs in Lake County, including delivery of oxygen tanks, will be a local casualty.
The group has a powerful ally in the governor’s chair. John Hickenlooper’s proposed $26.8 billion budget for next year proposes $6.1 million from the state for programs that benefit older residents, including the $4 million increase AARP wants plus $2.1 million to fund a 1.7 percent cost-of-living increase to the state’s Old Age Pension Program.
AARP stated Wednesday afternoon that it would also support increasing the number of state residents enrolled in retirement plans, while opposing legislation that would harm the Colorado’s Public Employees Retirement Association plan.
The group claims to represent 650,000 members in the state.
The Older Colorado Act is the state vehicle for the Older Americans Act, a federal program created in 1965 to assist and care for seniors.
Its programs include Meals on Wheels, caregiver services, counseling, health education programs, transportation for medical services, minor housing repairs, legal aide and some medical assistance. Last year, from the federal government for senior services, including about $10.4 million for Meals on Wheels programs.
