00:00 - Focus on aging adults is sponsored in part by AARP.

00:06 - Pennsylvania has one of the largest aging populations in the country.

00:10 - Our aging adults are vibrant, active contributors to our society.

00:15 - PCN In partnership with AARP, present

00:18 - Focus on Aging Adults.

00:21 - Welcome to Focus on Aging Adults.

00:24 - I'm Larry Kasper.

00:26 - This program is brought to you in partnership between PCN

00:29 - and the AARP of Pennsylvania.

00:32 - Today, we're talking about Governor Shapiro's new state

00:35 - budget proposal and how it could affect seniors.

00:39 - Our guests are the state secretary of Aging, Jason Kavulich,

00:44 - and the state director of AARP, Pennsylvania Bill Johnston Walsh.

00:49 - Welcome to our program. Thank you. Thank you.

00:52 - Bill, we're going to start with you

00:53 - before we dig into the new state budget proposal.

00:56 - Just how big is Pennsylvania's senior population at this point?

01:00 - It is very big.

01:01 - Basically, we have about 3.4 million older Pennsylvanians in the commonwealth.

01:06 - We're the fifth largest in the country with that number

01:10 - and a really a number that I always talk about

01:13 - and I know the secretary always talks about is right now one in four

01:16 - individuals are over the age of 60 in 2030.

01:21 - So I have to say, that's in five years.

01:23 - That's only five years. That's all that's around the corner.

01:25 - That'll be one in three will be over the age of 60.

01:29 - So that means in 2030 we will have more individuals

01:32 - over the age of 60 than we do over under the age of 20 in the Commonwealth.

01:37 - So we have to make sure that we are prepared

01:41 - to be able to support that that growing population,

01:46 - whether it be in their community, whether it be

01:47 - through a state budget local, whether it be through our aging, our way.

01:52 - We need to be able to be there to be able to make sure that they age in place

01:57 - in their homes and communities that they want to, that they're healthy

02:00 - and that they can they can function, you know,

02:03 - on their own as as they grow older.

02:06 - And briefly, let's talk about the factors that are growing our senior

02:10 - population secretary.

02:11 - Well, we are the fastest growing population in Pennsylvania.

02:14 - I think that's something, too, that the governor

02:16 - and the administration has highlighted fronts from the very first day.

02:20 - So there's been investment since the very first year

02:22 - in older adult services and systems that support older adults

02:25 - and make sure that older adults can live and remain

02:28 - in the communities and in the environment that they choose.

02:30 - So it's been a priority from the administration.

02:33 - And this demographic is when you think about who the area agencies on aging,

02:37 - who the Department of Aging serves, we serve people from 60 to end of life.

02:41 - And that is a big gap.

02:42 - So there are very, very different populations we're serving,

02:45 - but the need is still tremendous, and we continue to advocate

02:49 - for the resources necessary to make sure people can live how they choose.

02:53 - Let's explore the factors that are growing our senior population.

02:57 - And people are living longer, aren't they?

02:59 - Individuals are living longer.

03:01 - People are making better life choices, so their life continues.

03:04 - Health care is is improving.

03:06 - And again, all of those factors have contributed to people

03:10 - being with us in a much longer for a much longer time.

03:13 - And I think the other piece of that, too, is that financially,

03:16 - when you retire, Pennsylvania's a good place to be able to do that.

03:20 - You know,

03:20 - there's no tax on your Social Security state tax on your Social Security here.

03:25 - So we do have what we see is that we have a lot of those snowbirds.

03:29 - They go down South Florida and the Carolinas and Georgia.

03:33 - But as they age down there and they're not as active,

03:36 - they come back and they're coming back because it's what they know.

03:40 - It's where they grew up.

03:41 - And also their families are back here and their families are going to be

03:45 - the ones going to be taking care of them or helping to to help them

03:48 - in their community. So. So. So, yes, So.

03:51 - So, yes, they're living longer.

03:52 - They're healthier, but they move away.

03:54 - But they always come back.

03:56 - I think it's a great place to live.

03:57 - And the cost of living

03:58 - and cost of living in many of our communities is is lower for them.

04:03 - So you see, especially in like a community that I'm from in the Northeast,

04:06 - we do have people from New York and New Jersey living in our community

04:08 - because it's

04:09 - it's more affordable for them to retire and move back into Pennsylvania.

04:13 - Now, we're about to explore the details of the governor's new budget proposal.

04:18 - And before we do that, let's talk about area agencies on aging.

04:22 - That's got to be an important component here.

04:24 - And I want our viewers to thoroughly understand what that network of offices is.

04:31 - Doctor, we

04:32 - have 52 area agencies on aging and in the Commonwealth representing

04:35 - all 67 counties.

04:37 - The area agencies on aging really are our front door to aging services

04:41 - everywhere.

04:42 - So whatever your need over the age of 60 or a grandparent

04:46 - raising a grandchild 55 and older come to to an area agency on aging.

04:50 - You will get direction, you will get help, you will get support.

04:53 - We do everything from transportation in those offices to

04:57 - to meal delivery services area agencies on aging, help with personal

05:00 - care, adult day services, senior centers, you name it.

05:05 - Their hand is in it,

05:06 - whether it be a housing concern, whether it be help getting your farmer's

05:08 - market voucher, whether it be help doing your property tax and rent rebate.

05:12 - An area agency on aging is there to serve you.

05:14 - And they do some incredibly important work in protective services

05:18 - with this increase in need and protective services in that space.

05:21 - Unfortunately, we have seen financial exploitation

05:24 - grow to be our number one report of need in the state.

05:28 - Out outpacing self neglect, which has traditionally

05:31 - been the highest report of need that we receive.

05:34 - So this needs not seeing the doctor knowing how to take care of yourself or

05:37 - choosing differently how to live your very remaining years of your life.

05:41 - You know, everyone still has self wills, has the right to to choose how they

05:45 - they want to age.

05:47 - But these individuals who have been exploited, these individuals

05:49 - who not just by family members but by outside, outside

05:52 - sources, have had their resources taken from them, exploited from them.

05:57 - It is it's a huge challenge in Pennsylvania.

05:59 - Billions of dollars are lost every year.

06:01 - We know this is a growing concern.

06:03 - All of this work happens in the Agency on Aging.

06:06 - All of this happens in the communities all across,

06:08 - and it happens with our partners.

06:10 - We can't do the work alone, but we do need to stand up that system.

06:14 - We do need to invest.

06:15 - That's why the governor has asked for $20 million

06:18 - to support area agencies on aging, to make an investment in stabilizing them,

06:23 - to make an investment

06:24 - and growing their services so that we can meet the demands

06:27 - of the fastest growing population in Pennsylvania.

06:29 - Now, is that the total funding or does that represent an increase to 20 million?

06:33 - The 20 million represents an increase to our Penn care.

06:36 - Our Penn care line item is the lifeblood of what an area agency on aging does.

06:39 - It's their most flexible funding line item that allows them

06:42 - to serve their community in the unique way that their community needs to be served.

06:46 - And I just want to take a step back for a second.

06:48 - I think, you know,

06:49 - a lot of people in the Commonwealth don't know what an area agency is.

06:54 - They are on the front line.

06:55 - As Secretary Phillips said.

06:57 - But I think the secretary

06:58 - and this administration has have done a better job of letting people know

07:02 - that the area agency is there and why they're there and how they can help.

07:06 - And what programs that they have.

07:08 - I think what happens is, you know, someone takes a fall in their home,

07:13 - they go into a hospital and next thing they know, it's like, okay,

07:16 - what do we do to do we want to go back to our home?

07:19 - Can we go back to our home? Do we have to go into a facility?

07:21 - That's where one piece of the puzzle of what the Triple A's do.

07:25 - They can do assessments, they can come out.

07:27 - They can say, you know what? You can come back into your home.

07:30 - But you have to you have to modify it a little bit.

07:32 - Those are those are the simple things.

07:33 - People are in stress when this happens, when there's an emergency at hand, that

07:37 - that changes everyone's everything.

07:38 - And the triplets are there on the front line being able to help individuals.

07:42 - And I think, like I said,

07:44 - not many people know that until they come into this crisis.

07:48 - And I think this administration with the secretary

07:51 - have been getting the word out there to say, hey, your agencies are here

07:54 - and this is what they do,

07:56 - and you can rely on them to make sure that they're going to help you

07:59 - and help your family while they're in the community.

08:01 - Now, let's do a quick review on the area agencies on aging funding.

08:06 - In other words, let's look back a year and to my understanding

08:09 - is that the funding for these agencies was flat last year.

08:12 - Is that right?

08:13 - That is correct. The Secretary

08:14 - And what were the consequences of not having a raise last year?

08:17 - Well, we're coming off of 2 to 1 in the area.

08:20 - Agency's on aging.

08:21 - We're flat funded into the ARPA dollars that we had from the.

08:25 - Did you say ARPA? Yes. Tell me about that.

08:27 - Those are those are the federal dollars that were allocated specifically

08:31 - to the Department of Aging to really help with the COVID crisis and the pandemic,

08:36 - just to, you know, prop up services for older adults to make sure

08:39 - that they had the services that they needed

08:41 - because we knew the pandemic hit older adults

08:43 - harder than other segments of the population.

08:45 - So while there was, you know, the state and other state

08:49 - entities received funding in this manner, the Department of Aging had specific

08:53 - dollars carved out for them

08:55 - that that represented a significant amount of resources in the hands of our air

08:58 - agencies on aging.

08:59 - And when that funding expired, you know, we

09:02 - when we saw the agencies on aging reset to pre-COVID funding

09:06 - and those dollars were flat funded last year.

09:09 - And the impact on that is we've seen seniors have

09:12 - senior centers have to close.

09:14 - We've seen reduction in meal programs.

09:16 - We've seen reduction in other senior programs.

09:18 - We've seen a reduction in other aging services

09:22 - because we're just trying to keep as many people served as possible.

09:25 - But those resources are not going as far.

09:28 - And I think the other thing to keep in mind, too, is that Secretary Coolidge

09:32 - and his team at the Department

09:33 - of Aging, this because of the funding from the federal funding going away

09:38 - and being flat funded, there would have been a lot worse.

09:42 - There would have been more closings.

09:43 - There have been more people on waiting lists,

09:45 - but they were able to move some dollars around to be able to help the Triple

09:48 - A's on the front line so that they're able to keep these programs going.

09:52 - But that's not going to be able to happen again.

09:54 - You know, they moved a lot of their dollars around

09:58 - and try to support it as much as possible, but they're going to need these dollars.

10:02 - You know, if you if you talk to the the Triple A's, they're going to need

10:07 - a lot more than that, the 20 million that is out there.

10:11 - But I think this is a great beginning point to make sure that they're able

10:15 - to continue to keep their doors open so senior centers don't close

10:19 - so Meals on Wheels can get out there so people can come out

10:22 - and be able to get the services that they need at the local level.

10:25 - If the governor's budget proposal goes through and of course, I want to emphasize

10:29 - it is merely a proposal at this point, just what kind of tangible benefits

10:33 - will people, people who could benefit from these services notice?

10:37 - Well, first of all, you'll see a reduction in waiting list.

10:40 - Second of all,

10:41 - you'll see a stabilization of things like senior centers and other aging programs.

10:44 - I'll talk about a minute just about the waiting list,

10:47 - how long they are typically, you know, what kind of services they're expecting.

10:52 - So, you know, you can be on a waiting list for a number of services or you can be

10:56 - on a waiting list for all services depending on your service area.

10:59 - So you might need meals and in-home assistance.

11:02 - And the area Agency on Aging has only the funding to do meals.

11:06 - So you're waiting for in-home assistance.

11:07 - You're on a waitlist for those or you can be at an area agency on aging

11:11 - that's struggling even further.

11:12 - And you're waiting for you know, you're waiting for

11:15 - meals, in-home services and maybe adult day services.

11:20 - Okay.

11:20 - So there are a variety of scenarios because it is such a person

11:25 - centered system.

11:27 - So we can't say everyone's waiting for meals.

11:29 - You can't say everyone's

11:29 - waiting for in-home services or everyone's waiting for an adult day.

11:32 - It's a person centered center system.

11:34 - But the bottom line is, if the resources aren't there,

11:37 - the care plans can't go into place.

11:39 - And there are 52 area agencies, as we said earlier.

11:42 - So, you know, there may be a longer waiting list in some of the Triple

11:47 - A's than others as the secretary just said.

11:50 - It could be.

11:50 - It could be because, you know,

11:52 - there's more people waiting for meals, you know, in Montgomery County.

11:56 - But in Allegheny County, it could be home services

11:58 - that they're waiting for, type deal, home health services.

12:01 - So, again, it doesn't you know, you can't give just one big look

12:06 - because each county, each triple A while, 52, are having it moving

12:11 - their dollars around in different ways, again, to make up the shortfall.

12:15 - Has there been any specific ways I'm going to adopt that bill?

12:19 - We're not talking about the auto club.

12:21 - We're talking about the area agencies on aging.

12:24 - Correct. And there are 52 of them.

12:26 - Has anyone ever gone into the chopping

12:29 - block and just been threatened and it was just on the edge.

12:32 - How close have some of those offices come to closing?

12:36 - I don't you know, they haven't come close to closing,

12:40 - but they have had to make really hard decisions

12:42 - that impact communities in sometimes pretty negative ways.

12:46 - So you see, you know, a whole region lose several senior centers.

12:50 - And by the Older Americans Act, we're only required to have one senior

12:54 - center per triple A,

12:56 - But in all of our 52 service areas, there's multiple because as you can see,

13:00 - we have we have we have triple days that serve more than one county.

13:04 - So, you know, you have union Snyder County, you have Bradford Sullivan,

13:07 - Susquehanna and Tioga County. They're they're parts of a joinder.

13:10 - So it's really hard to decide what one county with the senior center being.

13:14 - So we have resources.

13:16 - We have you know we started the year off with 485

13:19 - senior centers that did numbers that dipping down below 450 now.

13:23 - So we are

13:24 - we are seeing this significant change, but it impacts communities tremendously,

13:28 - especially our rural communities and many of our rural communities.

13:32 - These are the lifelines.

13:33 - This is where people go

13:34 - not just for socialization, but for connectivity to services

13:37 - and to get answers to some of the really hard questions that they have.

13:41 - And they're really a vital part of life.

13:43 - That's exactly right.

13:44 - And I just want to just emphasize the rural piece of it.

13:47 - Yes, There there

13:48 - are, you know, needs in suburban areas, especially in urban areas of the state.

13:52 - But the rural areas, as the secretary just said, you know, you have you had one

13:57 - in the northern tier, northeastern tier of of of the commonwealth.

14:02 - That's a lot of land.

14:03 - That's a lot of area for one area agency on aging to be covering and making sure

14:09 - that they're hitting all the pockets and the needs of those individuals.

14:12 - And it's tough whether you're talking about transportation,

14:15 - whether you're talking about meals, where there's a lot of real estate up,

14:17 - there's a lot of real estate.

14:18 - And that's just one example of of the rest of the state as well.

14:22 - Jason, would you explain to me the relationship

14:25 - between your department and the area agencies on aging?

14:29 - I know that there's some connection, there's some oversight, right?

14:32 - Well, there's a lot of oversight.

14:33 - We are we are the state unit on aging.

14:37 - We are responsible for all older Americans services.

14:39 - 19% of our dollars come from the federal government

14:43 - to administer Older Americans Act services.

14:46 - In Pennsylvania, we

14:47 - are blessed with a lottery system that gives us 81% of their dollars.

14:51 - That really helps us keep programing

14:53 - really robust, programing happening in Pennsylvania.

14:56 - We're blessed.

14:56 - We truly are fortunate that, you know, others

14:59 - had the foresight to create the lottery to benefit older Pennsylvanians.

15:03 - So we have oversight over our 52 area entities on aging,

15:06 - and they have a contractual agreement with the department

15:09 - to provide services in their selected service areas.

15:12 - And so by that contract, we have oversight.

15:15 - We have oversight over protective services.

15:17 - We have oversight over the services they do under Older Americans Act.

15:21 - We have oversight of what they do

15:22 - and what services that we have that are lottery funded.

15:26 - We monitor them routinely.

15:28 - We monitor them for the quality of their work

15:30 - and that their responsibility to follow rules and regulation.

15:34 - And we monitor the fiscal activity as well.

15:36 - And how frequently are you in

15:38 - touch with the three A's as far as oversight is concerned?

15:41 - Daily. There's there's is that right?

15:42 - Our department, you know, we're not big.

15:44 - The Department of Aging is in touch with them

15:46 - every day in some way, shape or form.

15:48 - Yes, because we are we are

15:50 - we are a small department, but we cover a very big scope of work.

15:54 - So whether it be a protective services issue, a transportation challenge,

15:58 - a waitlist issue, a financial issue with reporting and data

16:02 - or a, you know, an older adult that's unsatisfied with the service,

16:05 - there is some activity at all times

16:07 - in the Department of Aging happening with one of the area agencies on aging,

16:11 - or we have a workgroup that's devoted to the improvement

16:13 - of our work meeting, or we have a workgroup that discusses

16:16 - the difficulties it is to attract and hire new workers meeting

16:20 - or we have a workgroup like we do with AARP looking at laws

16:23 - and legislation that are coming down that we're all advocating for

16:27 - that will make the lives of older adults better.

16:29 - And we're all working together to implement aging our way, pay

16:32 - our ten year multisector plan to make the lives of older Pennsylvanians

16:35 - better to do what they told us to do in our listening sessions

16:39 - and to really lift up our system.

16:42 - Let's talk about something else that's included in the governor's

16:44 - budget proposal, and that would be funding for direct care workers.

16:48 - Bill, get us started on that.

16:49 - Just what is a direct care worker?

16:52 - The direct care worker, someone who helps

16:55 - either an elderly person or somebody with a disability.

16:59 - It could be either in their home or could be in a facility,

17:02 - a nursing home, assisted living facility, something like that.

17:06 - And then these individuals take care of their daily needs.

17:09 - You know, they help them from possibly either cooking for them

17:14 - or, you know, cleaning them, giving them their medicines.

17:18 - It's a whole host of things that they do.

17:20 - One of the issues that's been happening over the last couple of years

17:23 - or maybe even the decade is that

17:26 - the there's not it's hard work.

17:29 - Let's just put that right out there and you're going in and you're taking care

17:33 - of someone on your shift so you can be there for 8 hours or longer.

17:38 - And you're basically doing this for very little pay.

17:43 - You're doing this for, you know, not not many benefits to go along with it.

17:48 - And I think you're also,

17:50 - you know, if you can make more out of McDonald's than you can, you know,

17:53 - serving fries and a burger, then doing this,

17:56 - there's more people going to be able to go to another industry

17:59 - in order to take care of your own family,

18:01 - Take care of your own family, your own needs.

18:03 - So they're going to be able to do that.

18:05 - What we're saying at HP is that we need to be able to raise those dollars.

18:10 - We need to get those, you know, hourly wages up.

18:14 - We need to be able to train people better to get them

18:17 - into this into the system so that they know what they do.

18:21 - You know, have some development needs for them.

18:24 - So if, you know, a direct care worker was become a nurse one day,

18:29 - what what line of, you know, training do you need to be able to do that?

18:33 - And how can we be supportive not just as a group

18:36 - but as as a commonwealth and as a country on that front?

18:39 - And I just think that, you know, in this in this budget,

18:43 - there are dollars that will be going towards that, being able

18:47 - to help that and get get the well, it raises wages, for instance.

18:52 - Yeah.

18:52 - And it keeps people it keeps people in a need.

18:55 - We're seeing that, as I mentioned, the numbers, you know,

18:58 - we're going to have one in three in just five years.

19:01 - Some of those individuals will need care in their home.

19:04 - They will need care in a facility.

19:06 - And if we don't have the dollars to go along with it,

19:10 - we will not be able to meet the needs of an older Pennsylvanian in their family.

19:15 - And what about training for these people?

19:16 - Bill, you want to make sure

19:18 - whatever money is spent on them is is accountable and wisely spent.

19:22 - Sure.

19:22 - I mean, obviously, if you're if someone's going to be coming in

19:25 - and taking care of one of your loved ones, whether, as I said,

19:28 - whether it's in a nursing home or in their own home,

19:31 - you want to make sure they're trained.

19:32 - You want to make sure that they know what what the needs are of that individual.

19:36 - You know, how do you lift them if they fall properly?

19:39 - How do you make sure that

19:40 - you're giving them the right food that you know for their dietary needs?

19:44 - Those are the kind of things, you know, that you're looking for

19:46 - in training an individual and I think it should be done.

19:50 - It's it's something that is that is definitely needed

19:53 - about how many Pennsylvania seniors need these services that you're talking

19:57 - about them.

19:59 - And Jason, I don't I don't know that answer.

20:00 - You know, it's a really hard number to predict because you're talking

20:04 - about two different systems, Department of Human Services, Department of Aging.

20:07 - I see.

20:07 - So we to it.

20:09 - But, you know, nearly a million older adults benefit from the system

20:13 - that we have at the Department of Aging every year.

20:15 - So nearly a million of our, you know, nearly 3.4 million

20:19 - older adults benefit from our system.

20:20 - Many of those, in fact, when I was an area agency and aging director, my largest

20:25 - my largest portion of my budget went to do direct care work.

20:29 - So personal care, in-home services that that was the biggest portion of my budget.

20:33 - So that, you know, using that as a cut away of what happens in an area

20:37 - agency on aging, knowing that that's how important this work is out there.

20:41 - It's the hours that keep people in their home.

20:43 - And it's our obligation not just to pay those and train

20:46 - those individuals well, but to make sure those individuals are safe.

20:49 - You think about this, You're an older adult,

20:51 - your children live out of state and there's a person

20:54 - coming into your house to help give you a bath.

20:56 - They're going to see you in your most vulnerable moment.

20:58 - Okay.

20:59 - And then you want to know they're safe.

21:01 - You want to know they're reliable.

21:02 - You want to know they're trained

21:03 - and you want to know that they're invested in care.

21:06 - And that's what

21:07 - this that's what this budget will do will help us restore that workforce.

21:11 - Now, direct care workers need some time off, too.

21:13 - Is there anything in the budget

21:14 - that would improve time, offer them because they need a respite, too?

21:19 - I don't know if there's anything in the budget for that.

21:20 - I know there's $21 million specifically for this piece.

21:23 - Yeah, I know that one of the key issues is affordable health insurance,

21:29 - and I know that that that is also being played into this 21 million.

21:33 - And I think it's going to roughly help 80 508,500

21:37 - direct care workers be able to afford their health care. So.

21:41 - So there's pieces like that, the time off.

21:44 - I'm not sure about that aspect of it.

21:46 - I Jason, review a point you made a while ago

21:49 - about the lottery being important to seniors services here in Pennsylvania.

21:54 - And that makes me think of I'm trying to make a transition into a skill game.

21:58 - So that's what legislators are talking about.

22:00 - That's the debate lately.

22:02 - Skill games that resemble slot machines, you can find them in pizza joints,

22:06 - social clubs, convenience stores, and they tell me

22:09 - that there are about 70,000 out there.

22:12 - And I wonder there are concerns that skill games

22:15 - may have an effect on lottery sales because some establishments

22:19 - will have your skill game and they'll sell you a lottery ticket too.

22:23 - I think.

22:24 - I wonder if there's a competition there.

22:26 - Well, I think with all forms of gambling there is some form of competition

22:28 - and I think this budget proposes a way to level the playing field

22:32 - to make sure that the lottery stays competitive with other systems.

22:35 - I think that's what the intent is here.

22:37 - And, you know, fortunately, in regulating skilled games, there is a carve out

22:41 - for for the Department of Aging, for all aging services.

22:44 - There's a portion of that carve out

22:45 - goes to support the lottery fund and help stabilize our lottery fund.

22:49 - So that's an important, very important component to regulating the skill games.

22:53 - That regulation helps keep the lottery fund

22:56 - so safe and continue to help us provide services for older Pennsylvanians

23:00 - while we're living through the time of the greatest expansion will ever see.

23:03 - And as of right now, skill games are there.

23:05 - You know, you just mentioned the 70,000 skill games.

23:08 - They're out there. They're not being regulated.

23:10 - They're not being taxed there.

23:12 - They're completely outside the law.

23:14 - So I don't know if they're completely

23:17 - them except the manufacture you got to make.

23:19 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

23:20 - So so they are not on the same level

23:23 - playing field as other games of chance.

23:26 - Slot machines, for instance, are taxed at roughly 52%.

23:29 - And the governor's proposing a similar rate for skill games.

23:34 - Yes, he is.

23:35 - Yeah, it's, Yeah it is.

23:37 - Tax rate is about 52%. You are correct.

23:40 - And who would take care of regulating these games?

23:46 - I'm assuming it would be the lottery,

23:47 - but I don't think it's going to be the state game.

23:49 - I thought it could be.

23:50 - The Gaming Control Board.

23:51 - Is that That's not the same, is it?

23:53 - I'm sorry. Yes. The state.

23:54 - The game commission is for hunters. Yeah,

23:57 - you are correct.

23:59 - Well, how about this gentleman?

24:00 - There's a concern out there and some legislators

24:02 - are voicing his concern that if the tax rate go too high,

24:06 - it won't pay for an establishment that even offers skill games.

24:10 - So you got to know how to hit the sweet spot here.

24:15 - You know that we can go back and forth with that debate.

24:17 - We can.

24:18 - But but have we seen casinos suffer from this?

24:21 - So, I mean, there's different there are different arguments.

24:23 - There's different logic.

24:23 - But, you know, people like it.

24:26 - They're going to keep doing it.

24:27 - You know, I have visited that establishment this weekend and,

24:30 - you know, people were using it.

24:31 - And but right next to them was a lottery machine.

24:32 - You know.

24:33 - So, you know,

24:34 - we want to make sure that playing field level,

24:35 - we want to make sure the lottery stays competitive.

24:38 - The lottery was established, you know, for Pennsylvanians to benefit,

24:41 - older Pennsylvanians to make sure that we have the resources to do

24:44 - the property tax and rent rebate program, to do important programs like PACE,

24:48 - our Pharmaceutical Assistance Program, to support area agencies on aging.

24:52 - And in this time that we're seeing, you know, the older Americans

24:55 - act potentially, you know, suffer some setbacks and federal

24:59 - funding becoming, you know, less into to our system,

25:03 - We will need the lottery fund for older adults more now than ever.

25:06 - And we've had casinos for quite a few years now

25:10 - in operating in Pennsylvania.

25:12 - And there hasn't been the revenue has continued to go up across the board.

25:17 - There hasn't been any dips in that time and there hasn't been any dips

25:21 - in in New Jersey or Delaware or any other surrounding states

25:24 - that also have casinos when it comes to their lottery as well.

25:27 - So I don't think that's an issue.

25:29 - I think that's an argument that the other side is utilizing right now.

25:32 - I think the bottom line here is that the more money

25:35 - that is going to be coming in for the programs that are going

25:38 - to be impacting older Pennsylvanians and all Pennsylvanians,

25:41 - because this is this with the skill game it's not going to just go towards.

25:44 - All depends.

25:44 - I mean, as the secretary said, just a specific amount is going to be going

25:48 - towards towards older Pennsylvanians.

25:50 - But again, more dollars coming in, especially from

25:53 - we don't know what's happening across the board,

25:56 - not just within the state, but also at the federal level.

25:58 - Now, earlier in the program,

26:00 - we talked about the the basic value of awareness programs.

26:04 - People can take advantage of a program when they don't know about it.

26:07 - And I thought of that just a minute ago.

26:10 - Jason, when you mentioned Pace,

26:12 - and that probably leads to a discussion of pace and that as well.

26:15 - So briefly, just take that opportunity to tell our viewers

26:18 - who don't know about it yet, but they will want to know at some point

26:21 - what pace is about.

26:22 - Well, that's our pharmaceutical

26:23 - assistance program, and it really helps those that fall between the

26:26 - in the Gap area to make sure that they have lifesaving

26:29 - drugs, you know, to make sure that we have a resource for them.

26:33 - So we can call the PACE hotline.

26:34 - You know, out of all the numbers that I have in front of me,

26:38 - the PACE hotline isn't one of them.

26:40 - So so we you can call the PACE hotline,

26:44 - we can walk you through the process, we can get you signed up.

26:47 - If you qualify, we can help get your medication right away.

26:50 - We work with pharmacies all over the state to make sure that we have what you need.

26:55 - We can get you connected to what you need.

26:57 - And in some of these rural communities, we see their local pharmacies

27:00 - closing and pace will help you get connected to that.

27:03 - Pace helps with a number of things, just like our senior nutrition boxes

27:07 - that come from the Department of Agriculture.

27:09 - You can call the PACE hotline.

27:10 - They will help get you signed up for that.

27:12 - So we have we have programs like PACE and other programs

27:16 - that really are on this pace net, and that's some an expansion of pace,

27:20 - maybe different eligibility, different eligibility, different criteria.

27:24 - But I said all it is is one phone call to the PACE hotline

27:27 - will walk you through and get you where you are qualified

27:30 - and if we can't qualify you for a service, will help walk you to somewhere

27:33 - that can.

27:34 - And this is one of those services made possible by the PA lottery.

27:37 - Absolutely. Yes, exactly.

27:38 - And it's interesting, You've got, you know, AARP, we have 1.8

27:41 - million members and we do get a lot of calls in from our members.

27:45 - I can tell you that the PACE hotline and the pace system is the most seamless one.

27:51 - There's never I've never heard any complaints the whole time I've been in.

27:55 - I've been, you know, for almost 20 years now with AARP

27:57 - and not one complaint has come in with that.

27:59 - So it's run smoothly.

28:01 - And the benefits, you know, keep people in their homes.

28:04 - It's another another piece of the puzzle,

28:06 - piece of the pie that keeps people in their homes as long as possible.

28:09 - And it's a very well-run program.

28:13 - Let's talk about public transit or mass transit

28:16 - within the context of the governor's budget proposal.

28:18 - But first, let's consider this.

28:20 - Given the growing are growing senior population,

28:24 - how has reliance on public transit changed and in recent years?

28:30 - Well, I

28:31 - think many older adults, it really depends on the service area you live in.

28:34 - I mean, how we how you utilize, how you access transportation.

28:38 - You know, we have partners in southwestern PA that it's a real struggle

28:41 - because there's not good public transportation, are rural, are rural.

28:44 - Triple A's, they they stop they struggle to shared ride.

28:49 - There's continued pressure on shared ride that's

28:51 - you know those small busses that you see taking up taking individuals

28:55 - to medical appointments, grocery stores and other appointments that are necessary.

28:58 - Dialysis, you know, to keep them safe, keep them in their homes.

29:02 - There's pressure on all of these systems.

29:03 - It's an urban and a rural problem.

29:06 - Equally, the resources need IT resources

29:09 - that we need in public transportation across the board.

29:12 - And, you know, for older adults who rely on services, especially shared ride,

29:17 - it's a critically important subject.

29:19 - When we did the outreach for aging our way,

29:21 - we did all the stakeholder engagement.

29:23 - The third highest returned comment was on public transportation.

29:29 - And if you remember, the governor

29:31 - proposed an increase for public transit just last year.

29:35 - And what became of that anyway?

29:37 - I'm not sure legislators followed through on that,

29:41 - but it's something that we're still

29:45 - the legislators are still looking at, the governor still is.

29:47 - It's still a priority for the governor. Yes.

29:49 - And I think it's a priority for for the House and Senate as well.

29:53 - It's just the funding aspect of it, I think, is the sticking point

29:56 - at this moment in time.

29:57 - So I think everyone across the board sees it as is is secretary,

30:02 - which just said, you know, when we did Aging My Way P.A.

30:06 - and had all of these all of these

30:10 - meetings across the commonwealth, across Pennsylvania,

30:14 - the third largest was always, you know, transportation.

30:17 - And the legislators know that they know that there's

30:21 - a concern, especially the rural, the rural legislators.

30:24 - They know there's there's an issue and concern there.

30:26 - I think one of the things

30:27 - that came out of the multisector plan and the aging our way

30:30 - is that there's this other ways to look at this as well.

30:33 - You know, people do need to get to different places.

30:35 - So, you know, you look at maybe Uber, you look at some other other things,

30:40 - like volunteer is starting a volunteer corps of of individuals

30:43 - helping people around or working with with religious organizations.

30:48 - There are there are definitely different ways of doing this.

30:50 - I think when it comes back to

30:53 - Pennsylvania

30:53 - and our government here, everyone sees it as an issue.

30:57 - It's basically how are we going to fix it to make sure

31:00 - it's equitable across the Commonwealth?

31:02 - And then also how are we going to get the funds

31:04 - to make sure that it's going to be done in the right way?

31:07 - And I think everyone from our House and Senate, as well as the governor.

31:11 - SHAPIRO, think that it's an important issue.

31:13 - And, you know, just to take a step back,

31:15 - when you talk about the Penn care line item earlier on,

31:18 - all of our 52 agencies engaging in that line item in their Penn care funding,

31:22 - they use dollars and other dollars that they receive on the federal side

31:26 - to support transportation initiatives in their own community.

31:29 - So as we talk about this struggle from from from a higher level

31:33 - down on the ground, it's happening too, and the resources continue to shrink.

31:38 - Those demands are still on the system.

31:40 - Now. I think since we began our show,

31:43 - we've invoked aging our way, the governor's plan at least three times.

31:46 - So that's my trigger.

31:47 - To ask you fellows more about what exactly is in that plan, What brought it about?

31:52 - Well, it's the governor's executive order

31:55 - that helped us create aging a way our way.

31:58 - But it is our Commonwealth's plan.

31:59 - It's all of our plan for the next ten years, how we will help

32:03 - and make sure older adults get to age in Pennsylvania

32:06 - the way they choose with the dignity that they what they deserve

32:10 - and the services they should have.

32:11 - So it is it is innovative in that we bring all state agencies, over

32:16 - 30 state agencies and commissions came together to help build this plan.

32:20 - We had stakeholders, especially AARP, who helped us, framework the plan itself

32:25 - and who helped us make sure that, one, we got the input needed from older

32:29 - Pennsylvanians everywhere. We had over 20,000

32:33 - points of input into this plan,

32:35 - hearing from caregivers, hearing from care receivers, hearing from people

32:39 - that want a better system so that they can age in their communities,

32:42 - housing, transportation, direct services.

32:44 - The conversation that we had here today, they were the primary concerns

32:49 - of older Pennsylvanians all over the state and every one of the 67 counties.

32:53 - There's over 160 tactics and aging our way to address anything

32:59 - from transportation and housing to, you know, public accessibility in parks.

33:04 - You know, Dcnr secretary done tremendous partner the work that they do in D.C.

33:09 - and are helps make age friendly parks all across Pennsylvania.

33:13 - Older adults consume our state parks system at a higher rate than most

33:16 - most of us, which is great grandfathers and grandmothers

33:20 - taking their grandkids there

33:21 - in the summertime while their children work, people fishing every day.

33:25 - You see that happening at state parks Secretary Sager and the work

33:29 - that he is doing to make Main Street better all across Pennsylvania.

33:32 - Every time you improve Main Street,

33:35 - you put better lighting and you put better sidewalks and it's

33:38 - more accessible for older Pennsylvanians as well as other Pennsylvanians.

33:41 - So the work we're doing across the state and the cross collaboration

33:45 - really highlights the needs of older adults

33:47 - and the plan brings out the best of it. This is funding.

33:49 - This is stuff that's already happening.

33:51 - We're just connecting the dots.

33:53 - And I think and I think that the plan itself, the way

33:56 - it was set up by the secretary and the executive order from the governor

33:59 - was really it wasn't about what is the state going to do,

34:02 - you know, for this this population over the next ten years?

34:06 - It's what are local communities, what are mayors going to do?

34:09 - What are individuals, what are nonprofits like AARP going to be doing?

34:12 - How are we going to be helping out with the education, with with the training,

34:16 - with getting the word out on all these programs, working with it.

34:20 - So so even though even though it was Secretary Kavulich and his team,

34:23 - when I say his team, he also, as he just mentioned,

34:27 - with all the secretaries across across government here, as well as legislators,

34:31 - had input into this and being able to get their constituents,

34:35 - you know to get the word in for them as well.

34:37 - And I think the other great point about this is that it's not a once

34:41 - and done, you know, secretary said over and over again this is a living document.

34:46 - We will be looking at this over the next ten years.

34:49 - It's not like it's set in stone.

34:50 - Things are going to change. We're going to add things.

34:52 - We might take things out, but but we will.

34:54 - We will refine it as we go along.

34:58 - So I think it's one of the best things that we've had

35:01 - in a long time when it comes to to older Pennsylvanians.

35:04 - And that and really that the map to say where are we going to go in the future.

35:09 - Jason, you said the Aging our Way pay

35:11 - program endeavors to look out ten years

35:15 - now it's been in existence at least a year at this point, I figure.

35:18 - So what kind of a progress report, what's been accomplished in the last year or so?

35:22 - And I'm sorry, I don't mean to correct you, but it's not a program, okay?

35:25 - It is our plan. So there is a difference.

35:28 - PACE is a program, Protective Services, the program.

35:31 - This is our plan.

35:32 - And by our plan I mean all of us at this table,

35:35 - you know, we we are looking to this is our roadmap, our mission,

35:38 - and how we're going to make Pennsylvania better.

35:41 - And like I said, you know, the 160 tactics

35:45 - and what we are going to do with our sister agencies

35:48 - and our stakeholders will transform the state.

35:51 - We're asking for an investment this year.

35:53 - You know, again, we were lucky last year to receive an investment

35:56 - 2.95 million to help build out a caregiver toolkit.

35:59 - We talked about the importance of caregivers in the direct care workforce.

36:03 - This helps those that are the unpaid caregivers that are out there,

36:06 - the unsung heroes that work a part time job on top of their full time job,

36:10 - taking care of a loved one caregiver toolkit

36:13 - that we're building with our stakeholders, with the right kind of input,

36:16 - with the right kind of refinement that we'll go live in this spring,

36:20 - early this spring, early summer, I should say.

36:23 - It will be something that's practical.

36:25 - It will be accessible. It can be accessible.

36:28 - If you have English as a second language, it can be accessible for anyone

36:31 - and be able to put to work immediately helping you take care of your loved one.

36:34 - And like you said earlier, a lot of times this happens in crisis

36:37 - where we're looking to do this year with with aging our way

36:41 - is to build a system of navigators to improve the

36:44 - the Aging and Disability Resource Center that we have in Pennsylvania

36:47 - that has not seen investment in a number of years at HRC

36:51 - is what we can off of to build navigators what older adults asked us for.

36:55 - They want navigators to help us navigate those hard health systems

36:58 - and help us get to the services

37:00 - that they need to just give them direction on what they should do.

37:04 - Know.

37:04 - When you look at primary

37:05 - and what we have to do just to get someone to Medicaid, Part B or Medicare Part B,

37:09 - you know, it's a challenge for a lot of older adults.

37:12 - You know, and we want to make sure that it's easy for them.

37:15 - It's one number.

37:16 - It helps them get to where they have to be

37:18 - and it make sure that they get the services that they deserve.

37:21 - That's the investment we're asking this year.

37:23 - Yeah, And I think just going back to the to the caregiving, you know, toolkit

37:28 - that that the department is putting out, I just think that just over 2 million

37:32 - caregivers in Pennsylvania and there's really

37:36 - no one stop shopping like this to be able to say, you know,

37:39 - I'm a I'm a current caregiver and I need you know, I need some resources.

37:43 - You know, can you point me in the right direction?

37:45 - That's what this is going to do.

37:46 - If you're if you're a new caregiver, it can do a self-assessment possibly.

37:51 - You know, to be able to say,

37:52 - hey, you know, I'm a new one here, here, you know, you feed some information in

37:56 - and you'd be able to say, well, here's here's a one page document for you.

37:59 - These are things that you maybe need to start off with.

38:02 - I mean, it's going to be a great, great tool to be able to use.

38:06 - Can I add one more thing, please?

38:07 - Do I just want to add one thing that makes aging our way.

38:11 - Also different is how it how it's being steered.

38:13 - We have a steering committee,

38:14 - The Long-Term Care Council, that existed before we built this plan,

38:17 - but the department

38:18 - wanted to make sure, one, we were held accountable by stakeholders,

38:22 - that we're really making sure that the plan happens.

38:24 - AARP has a seat on that council and others, people from the community,

38:28 - people from the disabilities community, legal Services, other Cabinet members

38:32 - are part of this Council.

38:33 - Members of the legislature,

38:34 - you know, are part of this council appointed by the governor.

38:37 - And this council guides the work of aging our way,

38:40 - helps keep the plan moving forward,

38:42 - helps us make the adjustments that Bill just said will happen.

38:45 - So we have a really different way of approaching this.

38:49 - It's a stakeholder driven process with stakeholder input and guidance

38:52 - the whole way for the next ten years to make aging better in Pennsylvania.

38:57 - Now, Bill and Jason, both of

38:59 - you have mentioned several times a talk, so I'm going to turn that back to you.

39:02 - Bill.

39:03 - That sounds like a tangible thing.

39:04 - I can absolutely visualize it.

39:06 - So if I open that toolkit, just what's in it, try to tell me in simple terms

39:10 - what it still be.

39:11 - It's still being built and it's really under Jason as a great team secretary,

39:16 - which has a great team to that's working on it right now.

39:21 - It will be it's going to be online.

39:24 - It will be something that's going to be accessible that way.

39:27 - And and there will be different sections of it that that will be able to help.

39:30 - And it's going to be very interactive.

39:32 - It's going to be, again, giving you the support that you need as a

39:36 - as a current caregiver or a new caregiver to just coming that you you know,

39:40 - you're just you're under stress.

39:42 - You don't know what's happening.

39:43 - You know, your mother just fell.

39:45 - You know, now you have to deal with her on a regular basis.

39:47 - What do I do?

39:48 - How do I how do I navigate this?

39:50 - That's what this toolkit is going to be able to do.

39:52 - You know, think of it this way.

39:54 - Here's the one quick practical thing that you can get.

39:56 - I'm taking care of my dad.

39:58 - All of a sudden, You know, people in my my age group,

40:01 - that that's a life change that sometimes happens on a long weekend.

40:06 - I'm taking my take care of my dad.

40:08 - All of a sudden I have what is the first thing we do?

40:11 - Go for a resource online.

40:12 - We go on our phone, we go looking.

40:14 - You can get to the caregiver tool kit.

40:16 - It can give you tips immediately.

40:18 - You're like, Is your house safe?

40:20 - Do you know what to do to make sure your father doesn't fall?

40:23 - Practical things you can do to make sure, one, that nothing bad happens

40:26 - when he's making the transition into living with you, too.

40:30 - What is your what are your first steps?

40:31 - Who should you call first? What you what can you do?

40:34 - Do you have an emergency plan?

40:35 - If you he has to go to the hospital. What's his medication like?

40:38 - All of these things that you think about after the fact,

40:42 - but you don't think about in the moment helping guiding

40:44 - someone who's just entering that point of crisis like you described,

40:48 - get to where they need to be

40:50 - so they can do it safely without stress, but also letting them know

40:53 - there's a lot of people like you out there and we are here to help you.

40:56 - There's peer support, there's agencies like I hear some of your problems

40:59 - might not be that unique, which is great news

41:01 - when people can share that experience correctly. Right.

41:04 - And and I think to that to be able to have something like this is is a one

41:08 - stop shopping

41:09 - because as of right now, yes, some of this information is out there.

41:12 - I'm not saying it's not, but you'll have to go to several places

41:15 - and hopefully find the right number

41:17 - that you need or the right resource that you need.

41:19 - What this toolkit does and what the department is doing

41:22 - is they're pulling it all in one place

41:24 - and they're making it interactive and making it easy for people to find.

41:28 - And one of the things that we're going to be doing after

41:30 - the fact is once it's up and running, we are going to be educating people.

41:34 - We're going to make sure that that people know that this is out there

41:37 - to all the 2 million, you know, caregivers in their families.

41:42 - So older adults told us loud and clear, we want a reliable source

41:46 - of information on. Okay.

41:48 - And it's really it's not true anymore that older adults aren't tech savvy

41:52 - and that our connected be their phones or their tablets and other devices.

41:56 - Right.

41:56 - So while there is a population of individuals that choose

42:00 - not to, there are so many that are they wanted something that was reliable.

42:04 - They wanted something that is safe and that is what built it's on.

42:07 - You know,

42:07 - not everybody wants to go to a government platform,

42:09 - but there's still a lot of older adults that do our platform.

42:13 - It's safe, it's reliable.

42:14 - It gathers the information that the connectivity in a very practical way

42:18 - that is very user friendly, that can get their needs met really quickly.

42:23 - Now, there are plenty of seniors in Pennsylvania

42:25 - that are enjoying the benefits of the property tax rebate program.

42:29 - I wonder if there's anything

42:30 - in the new budget proposal that would affect that or even expand it?

42:34 - Well, I, I don't know if there's anything in there, but

42:38 - the governor, with his leadership

42:41 - and and with with the legislature, you know,

42:45 - the House and Senate have expanded it several times now.

42:48 - And I know that that they're all very proud of that fact, you know,

42:52 - because what it's doing is it's helping people stay in their homes longer.

42:57 - You know, we all know that utility costs are going up.

43:01 - We know that that, you know, property taxes in some areas are still going up.

43:05 - We know that that people have to be able to afford their food or their drug use or,

43:11 - you know, with the prescription drug use, you know, those types of things.

43:14 - We are we and again, those are all things

43:17 - that are going to put pressure on someone to be able to do that.

43:21 - So you have to pay all those things.

43:22 - And then you also possibly are paying for a mortgage or for your rent

43:26 - for an apartment.

43:27 - This program now that is expanded are helping more people across

43:31 - the commonwealth.

43:32 - And, you know, this year it's now $46,520 is the new cap.

43:38 - That's 1500 dollars more than last year.

43:40 - So we're reaching more people every year.

43:43 - We don't have those numbers.

43:44 - How many we'll reach this year, but we know it's going to be more.

43:47 - Now, I

43:48 - understand the this program has had some different names over the years

43:52 - and I think currently they're calling it the whole Homes Repair program,

43:56 - which is about making necessary repairs to your homes.

44:00 - That was proposed last year, proposed back in 2025

44:03 - have you've been keeping track of that?

44:04 - And certainly that would be good news for seniors

44:07 - if they could get those repairs done?

44:08 - Yeah, I can tell you from our standpoint, we've been we're very happy to see that

44:12 - this is back in the proposed budget.

44:13 - This this is something, again,

44:16 - that people are saying that the repairs to their homes,

44:19 - you know, they've been in their homes,

44:20 - they've raised their families, in their homes.

44:22 - Their homes are aging.

44:23 - They need repairs or you need to modify homes.

44:26 - You know, maybe you can't go upstairs anymore

44:28 - or you need a lift or you have to put another bathroom in downstairs.

44:31 - You know, there are things that need to be done when you're modifying.

44:34 - And I think it's about $50 million to create this program,

44:38 - which is going to go a long way to help individuals stay their homes longer.

44:44 - And it was proposed in the last budget and it wasn't kept in.

44:49 - It's something that AARP is going to be looking at

44:51 - and making sure that we have conversations with

44:54 - with our colleagues in the House and Senate here to let them know

44:57 - how important this program is to the individual

45:00 - and their families to be able to stay their homes

45:02 - in communities as long as possible.

45:03 - From what you're saying, Bill, it sounds like this program could go well

45:07 - beyond the necessary report to fixing the roof.

45:09 - You noted a bunch of other things that might not strike

45:12 - some people as necessary, for example, some kind of modification

45:17 - to the home or the bathroom, for that matter.

45:19 - Yeah, there's constantly.

45:21 - And if they're covered, then that's great news for the seniors.

45:23 - It is. Well, you know, we had our housing.

45:26 - So the administration is hosting

45:27 - a number of housing roundtables all across the state yesterday.

45:30 - Ironically, was the the housing roundtable that focus on aging here in the capital.

45:35 - So stakeholders gathered from all over the Commonwealth

45:38 - to really talk about the needs. And this program did come up.

45:40 - And this program,

45:41 - one thing that we really don't sell enough that Bill and his team have been selling

45:45 - is this program benefits older Pennsylvanians more than any group.

45:49 - It really does.

45:50 - This is another one of those aging our way wins because it's happening

45:53 - in a different department, but it's benefiting older Pennsylvanians

45:57 - and it helps with those critical modifications.

45:59 - It helps you get a ramp,

46:00 - it helps you get that front room, that front porch repaired.

46:03 - It does do the roof.

46:04 - It does, too, and helps make some of the modifications.

46:07 - All of the housing stock, most of the housing stock

46:09 - we have in Pennsylvania,

46:10 - I should say not all was built before the Second World War.

46:13 - We have old housing stock.

46:14 - We have many old communities that that really have some challenges

46:18 - expanding, you know, doorways and things like that are structural issues

46:21 - in some of these places.

46:22 - So we look at technology, we look at different ways we can do it

46:26 - and make sure someone can stay in their home.

46:28 - This program helps us get that across the finish line.

46:30 - And combined with other programs like the programs we offer, you know,

46:33 - we offer home modification programs, we offer ways we can help older adults

46:37 - through our caregiver program, through our options program.

46:40 - Combined with that, we can really make sure that we guarantee

46:43 - an older adult stays in their home with just a few simple changes

46:46 - and keep them out of a higher, more expensive level of care.

46:50 - When the governor

46:51 - made his speech about the budget last week,

46:54 - he spent a considerable time talking about neurological disease research.

47:00 - And it occurred to me that the Alzheimer's

47:02 - disease office within your department is still a relatively new thing.

47:06 - And I wonder how it's doing.

47:08 - It's brand new.

47:08 - So, you know, thanks to the work of Senator

47:12 - Rosemary Brown and it is a bipartisan effort,

47:14 - we had Act 11 that created the Alzheimer's office

47:18 - in the Alzheimer's dementia and brain related disorder office

47:21 - in the Department of Aging, again, relying on a committee

47:25 - assembled by the governors to help guide work to make sure that stakeholders

47:29 - like the Alzheimer's Association, the Jewish Health Care Foundation,

47:33 - AARP and others have a voice, have an input.

47:36 - The legislature has an input on how we're doing that work.

47:38 - So we have a new director, Megan Abbott.

47:41 - She is new to the role long time experience in state government

47:44 - and nonprofit experience.

47:46 - So she brings a wealth of knowledge to to to our our department.

47:50 - She's building out her team right now.

47:52 - We've worked with the Alzheimer's Association and advancing states

47:55 - to look at other states and how they've modeled their offices,

47:59 - making sure we pull that information in to build our job descriptions.

48:02 - We're in the process of hiring the staff now,

48:04 - but while we're doing that, too, we have some really projects going on.

48:08 - We're looking at doing community education all across the state,

48:11 - talking about doing education work with federally qualified health centers

48:15 - to make sure primary care physicians can do early detection work,

48:18 - looking at ways we can make age and dementia

48:21 - friendly communities real across Pennsylvania,

48:23 - some really powerful work is happening in a very short period of time.

48:27 - We're really proud of the work that my team is doing, but even more so,

48:30 - we're appreciative of the 1.9 million that we were.

48:34 - We were appropriated to build a division and to get services and dollars

48:38 - into the hands of the community and stakeholder partners

48:41 - that are really going to transform this space.

48:43 - We know it's impacting rural pay in a much different way, a much harder way,

48:47 - and we want to make sure we're doing our due diligence

48:49 - to get to those communities and give them the support they need.

48:51 - Here's an issue that's not necessarily budget related, but it's a topic that

48:57 - we should talk about, even though you can find it

49:00 - unpleasant, the whole idea of financial exploitation of seniors.

49:04 - And I understand that it's up, it's more frequent and I wonder what's happening.

49:09 - What have you heard from your your members, Bill?

49:12 - I bet they're in touch about that. Yeah.

49:14 - With AARP,

49:16 - one of the major things that we do, so we do advocacy, education and outreach,

49:19 - and one of our major education pieces is on scams

49:24 - and frauds and people being, you know, taken advantage of.

49:28 - And what we're seeing more and more is that people are going

49:31 - and getting, you know, financially, you know,

49:35 - going into the banks and taking out money and sending it to these individuals

49:39 - and losing losing their retirements, losing a portion of their retirement.

49:42 - And it's it's just sad to see.

49:46 - So what we've what we've been doing is making sure that that the education

49:51 - is there, that we let people know like what you should be doing across the board.

49:55 - And then and then what we've been doing is working with the administration,

49:59 - with with the House and Senate here in Pennsylvania

50:02 - to say it's important that we do have some training,

50:05 - you know, for financial institutions to be able to spot these types of scams.

50:09 - I know they do that ad hoc right now.

50:11 - It's not really across the board.

50:13 - It's something that we would like to see more of and a training that

50:17 - that people go through the front lines, the tellers,

50:21 - so that they can spot it themselves and make sure and give them

50:25 - and give them the the ability to be able to say,

50:28 - no, you know, let let's take some time before you take these dollars out

50:32 - to think about that or whatever or maybe contact the family or or different things.

50:36 - It's it's a fine line. I know it's individual rights.

50:39 - You know, we understand that.

50:41 - But we also understand that people are thrown into poverty

50:44 - because they lose their life savings because of a whole host of reasons.

50:50 - Jason, I wonder if financial exploitation comes under

50:53 - could be protected by the Older Adult Protective Services Act.

50:57 - That's a great question because we are in the process of working

51:01 - with the Senate, working with our stakeholders

51:02 - of getting the older adult protective services Act updated.

51:05 - It's been nearly 40 years.

51:07 - It needs an update.

51:08 - The language doesn't reflect financial exploitation.

51:10 - No changes for 40 years, no changes for 48.

51:13 - Nearly 40 years yet.

51:15 - So it needs to reflect the language necessary for financial exploitation.

51:20 - It needs to address it. It doesn't right now in its current state.

51:23 - And I'm very proud to say that the department, stakeholders,

51:27 - the legislature, we're working hard together

51:29 - in a very different way to get this over the finish line this session.

51:32 - So we're we're fully refining the language.

51:35 - We're adding what needs to be ADD.

51:36 - We're looking at some of the areas

51:37 - of constitutionality that have plagued the act for a long time.

51:41 - We're making those corrections.

51:43 - Hopefully this year we'll see success.

51:46 - Now, let's move on, Jason, to the fact that you're going to have

51:49 - a budget hearing.

51:49 - That means you appear in front of these legislators

51:52 - and tell them about the appropriation that you expect or would want.

51:56 - And you're hearing is going to come up in a couple of weeks.

52:00 - And how does the appropriation look like from 20,000 feet considerably

52:05 - higher than the altitude we've been flying at for the last hour or so?

52:09 - Is it is it an improvement overall now over last year

52:13 - at it's close to the same as last year, but again,

52:17 - critical investment, critical investment in 80% of the investment

52:21 - we're asking for goes to the agencies on aging.

52:24 - Right. Which we discussed. Yep.

52:25 - The next piece goes to Aging our Way, which we also discussed

52:28 - building out the navigators that the older adults had asked for.

52:30 - And the final piece goes a small

52:33 - and I shouldn't say small, and investment in the Department of Aging.

52:37 - The Department of Aging hasn't grown.

52:38 - The Department of Aging is serving one of the fastest,

52:41 - if not the fastest growing population of older adults.

52:44 - We're monitoring a system that that does all of the work that we describe today.

52:48 - We haven't grown. We need some resources.

52:51 - Our our systems are systems need critical upgrades.

52:55 - We have to make an investment to make sure that we're able to do the work,

52:57 - to do the reporting, to report back to the federal government

53:01 - the data that's necessary to keep our federal funds coming in.

53:04 - So there are some you know, could you use more staffing?

53:07 - How about that? We reflect this growing number of seniors.

53:10 - We do. We need more.

53:11 - We need staffing, we need infrastructure, and we need to be able to to,

53:15 - you know, meet the demand

53:18 - of the population that we're serving and that that's what we're asking for.

53:21 - That's that's the investment in the critical infrastructure

53:23 - at the department that we're at. We need at this time.

53:26 - And I think and I think the other thing to keep in mind

53:28 - well, two things to keep in mind.

53:29 - One is, if you look at this budget, which is roughly about $51

53:33 - billion budget, this is a small piece.

53:36 - This is what we're asking for, to be able to keep people in their homes,

53:39 - keep people healthy, keep give people dignity,

53:42 - I think is a very small number if you look across the board.

53:46 - The other thing to keep in mind and to let people know is that, you know,

53:50 - when you're talking about this type of funding for the most part,

53:52 - there are some outliers, but for the most part, these are

53:55 - these are dollars that are coming from the lottery fund.

53:57 - These are not taxpayer dollars.

53:59 - These are lottery fund dollars.

54:01 - And I think that's important distinction to make so that people realize that

54:05 - that's the reason why the lottery dollars come in for programs like this

54:09 - for support of the the Department of aging, support of the support

54:14 - of of the programs, whether they be the property property tax,

54:18 - property rent rebate program,

54:22 - the pace and pace net program that we talked about earlier,

54:26 - those these are the important things that are keeping people,

54:30 - in my

54:30 - opinion, alive in the community as long as possible.

54:34 - And it's something that needs to be done.

54:36 - And again, it's lottery dollars, not tax, not taxpayer dollars.

54:41 - Let's talk about reaction to the governor's budget proposal.

54:44 - You know how it is when he makes his proposal.

54:45 - There's always reaction from not just legislators but other entities as well.

54:49 - And the what I have in mind is the health care association.

54:52 - They said that long term care is still in crisis.

54:57 - What's in the governor's proposal that that might appease this association

55:03 - or at least bring us up to date on what's happening with long term care?

55:06 - Well, I don't want to speak on behalf of HCA or any other organization.

55:11 - I'll speak on behalf of AARP.

55:13 - But I do believe that they should be happy with the dollars that are coming for

55:16 - the direct care workers.

55:18 - That is something that has been, you know, an issue or a concern

55:22 - for for the the HCA for quite a while

55:26 - and that the nursing homes are not, you know, institutions.

55:29 - I think that that alone

55:32 - is, you know, is is dollars that will be able to

55:36 - to prop them up to support them, give them, again

55:39 - the direct care worker dollars that they need, possibly raising some of the

55:43 - some of the hourly rate wages, the trainings that they're looking for.

55:46 - As I mentioned earlier, those dollars, you know, will be going across the board.

55:51 - It's not just for older Pennsylvanians and also for people with

55:55 - with disabilities as well that have or care workers.

55:59 - And it's for both in community with health choices

56:02 - as well as within and in facilities.

56:05 - Now, again, the governor's budget proposal is subject to change here.

56:09 - So as Secretary Jason, how do you feel about

56:14 - what do you want to protect the most and what do you hope will come out of this

56:18 - budget when it's finally approved in July?

56:20 - At least that's when the deadline is.

56:22 - What do you really want them to hold on to and not change?

56:25 - Well, you know, selfishly from the Department of Aging,

56:28 - we would like our investment.

56:30 - You know, our investment, we believe is is reasonable, is right, is really there

56:35 - to support older Pennsylvanians responsibly in the best way possible.

56:40 - So we would you know, we would like to see our entire investment.

56:44 - But if I, you know, had to prioritize, you know, I think we would

56:48 - we would have to say we need that.

56:51 - We need the full ask for our area duties on aging.

56:53 - We do.

56:53 - It's a critical juncture in the road

56:56 - that we need to make sure that that system doesn't falter.

56:59 - Okay.

57:00 - We need to see the changes in in our systems.

57:04 - We need to be able to navigate those older adults to where they need to be.

57:07 - So You know, we have to make sure that we keep investing in aging our way.

57:11 - It's really the map that helps us get better.

57:14 - It's really the map that helps us answer

57:16 - and do the things that older adults wanted us to do and need us to do.

57:20 - So there, my, my, my one and two.

57:23 - And, you know, like any good any good leader,

57:28 - you know, we'll make you know, if we had to make a sacrifice,

57:30 - it'll be on our end

57:31 - and we'll figure out what we have to do to make things happen at the department.

57:35 - Our guests have been the state secretary of aging, Jason Kavulich,

57:40 - and the state director of AARP, Pennsylvania Bill Johnston.

57:45 - Ross, thanks to you both.

57:47 - Thank you.

57:48 - That's it for Focus on Aging Adults.

57:51 - I'm Larry Kasper.

57:53 - Thanks for watching.

58:15 - And. Focus on Aging

58:23 - Adults is sponsored in part by AARP.