Hometownsource.com

By Josh LaFolette

As the proportion of Americans over the age of 65 continues to grow, meeting the needs of seniors will be a key challenge for legislators in the coming years. 

At a listening session hosted Tuesday morning at Owatonna Public Utilities, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar's office assembled a wealth of perspectives from around southern Minnesota to discuss the challenges faced by seniors in the region. Attendees included representatives from a wide range of nonprofits serving seniors.  

Outreach Director Chuck Ackman said Klobuchar makes a point of holding an event in every Minnesota county every year. When she is not available, Klobuchar's staff host listening sessions on her behalf, bringing constituents' feedback to her desk to shape legislative priorities. 

The Owatonna session was the first of seven to nine stops the senator's office will be making in the coming weeks to hear from local experts and constituents on specific issues. 

While the senator herself was not able to attend, she addressed attendees in a video message, commending them for being part of the discussing and fulfilling their civic duty. 

"I’ve gotten my best ideas for legislation over the years by hearing directly from all of you," she said.

Klobuchar stressed her longstanding commitment to lowering prescription drug prices, pointing to her role in introducing legislation that capped insulin prices, helping many seniors save money. 

In addition to drug prices, Klobuchar cited the rise of AI scams as one of her key concerns, noting how seniors in particular have been impacted. She shared a story from someone who works in her office, whose family was targeted by a scam in which criminals used AI to impersonate their son's voice. 

Outreach Director Allie Glass asked attendees to share their foremost concerns, receiving a wide range of answers. 

Cami Peterson-Devries, of St. Francis Health Services in Morris, expressed concern over federal staffing regulations for nursing homes that were introduced last year, which required homes to have a registered nurse available on site 24 hours a day. Peterson-Devries, whose organization serves over 1,300 seniors in primarily rural areas, said everyone wants good staffing levels at nursing homes, but regulations don't take into account what's feasible for rural facilities to provide. 

Starla Inman, Southeast Minnesota Area Agency on Aging, said there's a critical lack of services for rural seniors, which puts a significant strain on organizations trying to help them stay in their homes. Part of her agency's work is helping seniors navigate a complicated 'patchwork' of services in an effort to keep them out of nursing homes. Inman said without adequate support at home, more seniors will end up in nursing homes, draining their finances and burdening an industry that's already struggling. 

Glass asked the group if the seniors they work with have shown a strong interest in staying home, to which she received a resounding 'yes.'

Edna Ringhofer, executive director of Healthy Seniors of Steele County, said access to transportation poses a significant barrier to seniors trying to stay in their homes. She listed isolation as another major problem, with many seniors only interacting with a volunteer from Meals on Wheels or her organization on most days. She noted many cases in which a senior's closest family caregiver is located in another state. 

Melissa Almer, who oversees senior and caregiver advocacy for Steele and Dodge County at SEMCAC, shared a story of a client who lives on less than $900 a month, and is faced with a monthly $400 lot fee in a trailer park. With many seniors' incomes and housing expenses fixed, she said senior advocates need to find ways to help them save money wherever they can, particularly groceries.

Dom Korbel, executive director of Community Pathways of Steele County, chimed in on the topic of food support. He noted there's no such thing as a "car repair shelf" or a "medical expenses shelf," leaving food shelves as the only lifeline for seniors in poverty.

"Any decrease in income will fall on the emergency food system, because we are that one safety net that does exist," said Korbel.

His organization has seen a significant increase in seniors accessing its food shelf over the past three years. Last year, Community Pathways served around 1,000 seniors a month. 

Korbel was one of several attendees who discussed the impact of scams on seniors, reporting that one couple relied on Community Pathways for two months to make up the income they lost when they were scammed by someone impersonating their pastor. 

According to Ringhofer, she's heard stories of scammers targeting people in the community by impersonating someone's grandchildren, and even a doctor's office.

"They’ve gotten really creative," she said.

Erin Parrish, of AARP, said isolation creates vulnerabilities that scammers can exploit. She noted older adults are not necessarily more likely to be targeted by scammers, but have more to lose because they're more reliant on savings and may not be able to reenter the workforce. Parrish said she's currently working with a client who had to take out a mortgage on a condo he'd already paid off after a scammer impersonating a Geek Squad employee drained his finances. 

On a positive note, Peterson-Devries said the challenges of the pandemic have subsided, noting how hard it was for many seniors to go without seeing their loved ones for extended periods of time.