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We must do better for senior citizens
By Smitty Pignatelli
By now we are all aware that our fiscal situation here in Massachusetts is less than rosy. We face endless bad news about job losses, services being cut and budgets getting slashed.
Our economic outlook is as bad as I have ever seen it in my lifetime, but how we react to this, and how we go about treating the groups most vulnerable to these cuts will define us as a Commonwealth in the coming years. We cannot forget our commitment to senior citizens who need our help during these tough times or forget that they deserve all we can do to help them. During this recession, the senior population has been hit especially hard, and they face enormous obstacles because of the rising costs of heating oil and gasoline, prescription medication and health care, and cuts in local transportation.
While the fiscal outlook for the Commonwealth in 2010 is equally bleak, we must do all we can to lessen the blow for senior citizens. One way we can do this is by strongly advocating for in-home care and thus avoid the potentially high cost of nursing homes. I have always been a strong supporter of enhanced in-home care, because I believe it allows seniors to maintain the best quality of life they can while also lessening the fiscal impact on them and their families. It makes more sense, economically, for seniors to stay at home and have a nurse or case manager oversee their in-home care than it is for them to be in a nursing home. They are also much happier being in their own homes, where they are most comfortable, which in turn contributes greatly to their quality of life.
Here in the Berkshires seniors face many challenges. For the seniors who drive, they have to cope with the incredibly high cost of gasoline, which seems to be inching back up to $3 per-gallon. Because of these many challenges, it is becoming more difficult for seniors to stay in their homes. The coming year or two won’t be easy, but if we work together and fight to protect seniors’ rights, we can get through these tough times knowing that better times are right around the corner.
Many of you grew up during the Great Depression and out of that you became the Greatest Generation. You still are the Greatest and we in Government need to remember that as we move forward during these difficult fiscal times that we all must face together.
Smitty Pignatelli is State Representative of the Fourth Berkshire District. He can be reached at: 617-722-2582 or 637-0631 and by email at Rep.Smitty@Hou.State.MA.US.