AARP Hearing Center
Background
Federal and state programs help many older people with low incomes. These programs provide access to vital services like income support and health care. They also offer energy assistance, as well as disability and nutrition assistance. But many eligible people do not take part in the programs.
One explanation for low participation rates is the cumbersome application processes. For example, some programs require in-person interviews. This can be a burden for people with inflexible work schedules or limited transportation options. In some cases, applicants are required to fill out the same information on multiple forms for different assistance programs. Additionally, application forms may be longer and more complicated than necessary.
Efforts are being made to make application processes easier. One example is the Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP) for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. It is a U.S. Department of Agriculture demonstration project. The aim is to simplify applications and reduce processing burdens for households with members age 60 or older (and sometimes households with members who have disabilities) that have no earned income. States with ESAP may choose from a menu of policy options, including streamlined application forms, waived recertification interviews, and extended certification periods.
Strict asset limits in public-benefit programs also overly restrict participation. People with low monthly incomes may be denied benefits if their assets, though meager, still exceed the limit. For instance, assets must be valued at less than $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The SSI asset limits were set decades ago and have not been adjusted to reflect changes in the economy. Similar situations exist in other low-income assistance programs.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are expected to play a considerable role in the administration of low-income assistance programs. In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shared its plan for promoting the responsible use of AI tools by state, local, tribal, and territorial governments in the administration of public benefits. HHS recommends the use of such tools to improve program effectiveness and efficiency and to enhance benefits access, fairness, and customer experience. However, HHS also acknowledges the risks of AI tools, including their potential to exacerbate bias, reduce benefits inappropriately, and provide incorrect information (see also Artificial Intelligence).
Older adults released from the criminal justice system: In 2022, there were 1.2 million adults in U.S. prisons, which consists of state and federal prisons. They were disproportionately Black and Latino. Older adults are one of the fastest growing demographics in U.S. prisons. The share of the U.S. prison population aged 55 or older rose from 3% in 1991 to 15% in 2021. This was due to an increase in arrests of older adults, as well as the aging of individuals serving lengthy sentences. Consequently, more individuals are exiting incarceration later in life.
Incarceration contributes to poor economic outcomes and decreased longevity for people from communities of color, particularly Black men. The aging-services community has increasingly recognized the need to address the significant challenges for older prisoners, their families, and their communities when they are released. These challenges include accessing employment, housing, and health care.
LOW-INCOME ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: GENERAL: Policy
LOW-INCOME ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: GENERAL: Policy
Improving coordination
Policymakers should streamline and coordinate application and recertification procedures among different public-benefit programs. Recipients of assistance from one program should be informed about and automatically enrolled in all programs for which they qualify.
A qualified third party should be required to evaluate AI tools used to improve coordination amongst programs, determine eligibility, or decide benefit amounts for reliability, accuracy, and fairness before their deployment and routinely thereafter. The results of these evaluations should be made public without revealing personal or proprietary information (see also Artificial Intelligence).
Small and arbitrary differences in eligibility criteria should be eliminated. A single application form and access point for applicants should be created. Program staff should be trained in the availability of other resources available to applicants.
Older Medicaid beneficiaries not residing in institutional settings should be automatically enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if they meet the criteria.
As states modernize their computer systems, they should integrate government benefit programs. Information should be shared across benefit program databases while ensuring data privacy and security.
Eligible beneficiaries should be automatically recertified to prevent loss of benefits. This should be done using data from other government benefit programs when feasible.
Simplifying and improving the application process
Materials regarding public-benefit programs should be shortened and simplified. These include program descriptions and notices, instructions, and application forms.
Materials should be accessible, including being available in large type and in multiple languages. All applications should be written at a fourth-grade level of literacy. Legal concepts, such as the Privacy Act’s requirements or definitions of fraud, should be written in plain language.
Applicants with impairments should receive accommodations. Program staff should serve clients with understanding and sensitivity. One-on-one assistance should be provided, and advocate programs established.
Agencies should permit telephone and online applications for those who need them. Innovative approaches to recertification interviews should be considered to ease the burden on applicants, and federal waivers should be sought as needed.
Supplemental Security Income and other Social Security Administration determinations, reviews, and hearing processes should be adequately funded and staffed. They should be handled in a timely manner.
Program outreach
Outreach to older adults should be an integral component of low-income assistance programs. It should include targeted outreach to underserved communities, such as rural areas.
Evidence-based outreach strategies should be implemented.
Transforming service delivery
Policymakers should explore new, more consumer-centered systems for providing low-income assistance.
Income and asset limits
Asset limits for public-benefit programs should be increased to ensure that they do not discourage saving. These limits should then be indexed to keep up with inflation. At minimum, an appropriate amount of accumulations in retirement accounts and other savings should be excluded from asset limits.
Job-training stipends should be excluded from the income used to calculate eligibility for public-benefit programs.
Benefits for lawfully present non-citizen residents
Congress and state legislatures should ensure that all lawfully present non-citizen residents who qualify for essential low-income benefits have access to them. Such benefits include Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, health care, and critical nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Congress should restore SSI eligibility to all immigrants with documented status, and the federal government should take effective measures to implement the affidavit of support.
Older adults who are released from the criminal-justice system
Policymakers and the private sector should ensure that reintegration programs for people released from the criminal justice system address the employment, housing, health and other social needs of older adults.
Reintegration programs should help older adults who are released from the criminal justice system:
- obtain education, training, and counseling to develop individualized employment and reentry plans;
- reestablish credit to be able to obtain mainstream financial services;
- secure affordable and appropriate housing; and
- access health and other benefits to which they are entitled.
Equity
Access to government benefit programs should be fair and equitable. Policymakers should evaluate whether programs create disparities in access and develop policies and programs that deliver resources and benefits fairly.