ARLINGTON, Va., April 12,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Council on
Aging (NCOA), the national voice for every person's right
to age well, is joining hundreds of partners nationwide to
celebrate Boost Your Budget Week from April 12-16, 2021. The outreach campaign connects
struggling older adults to billions in federal, state, and local
benefits to help them age with health and financial
security.
Billions of dollars that can help older adults pay for food,
medicine, utilities and more are just a click away.
"Before the pandemic, many older adults, especially women and
people of color, had to cut the amount of food on their tables and
the medicine in their cupboards just to keep a roof over their
heads," said NCOA President and CEO Ramsey Alwin. "The pandemic has made things even
worse. This is not acceptable in the richest country in the world.
Boost Your Budget Week is a coordinated effort with our local
partners to help vulnerable older adults find the resources they
need. We believe aging well is something every American
deserves—regardless of gender, color, sexuality, income, or zip
code."
The campaign drives older adults and caregivers to use NCOA's
free online screening tool available in both English and
Spanish—BenefitsCheckUp.org and BuscaBeneficios.org. Visitors
enter basic information and receive a personalized report of
programs they may be eligible for to help pay for food, medicine,
utilities, and other daily needs. The tool screens for more than
2,500 benefits, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), the Medicare Low-Income
Subsidy, Medicare Savings Programs, and tax relief. Since 2001, 9.4
million people have used BenefitsCheckUp® to find over
$39.5 billion in benefits.
NCOA is partnering with 17 organizations nationwide to implement
the campaign in rural and urban communities serving Black, Latino,
Asian, and LGBTQ older adults. These local agencies are part of
NCOA's national network of Benefits Enrollment Centers, funded
through the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL).
"Every year billions of dollars in benefits go unclaimed because
eligible older adults do not apply—mostly because they are unaware
that these benefits exist and that they qualify for them,"
said Josh Hodges, NCOA Chief
Customer Officer. "Every person has the right to age in their
community with dignity and economic security—and having access to
benefits can make all the difference, even more so during a global
pandemic."
To start a free benefits screening,
visit www.ncoa.org/Boost.
This project was supported, in part, by grant
#90MINC0002-01-01from the U.S. Administration on Community Living
(ACL), Department of Health and Human Services, Washington DC 20201. Points of view or
opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official
Administration for Community Living policy.
About NCOA
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is the national voice for
every person's right to age well. We believe that how we age should
not be determined by gender, color, sexuality, income, or zip code.
Working with thousands of national and local partners, we provide
resources, tools, best practices, and advocacy to ensure every
person can age with health and financial security. Founded in 1950,
we are the oldest national organization focused on older adults.
Learn more at www.ncoa.org and @NCOAging.
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SOURCE National Council on Aging