By Sheila Brogan, LSW, ACSW, Ridgewood, NJ
Sheila Brogran is a geriatric social worker and early leader in NJ’s age-friendly movement. See below for her recent letter to NJ State Leaders:
As a geriatric social worker practicing for over 40 years in Bergen County and co-chair of Age Friendly Ridgewood, I welcome the opportunity to provide you and your administration with feedback and ideas on how substantial improvements can be made on serving and giving assistance to older adults in our great state. Since 2021, when New Jersey declared itself an Age Friendly state and issued its Age Friendly Blueprint in 2024, little has been accomplished, and more work needs to be done. There needs to be systemic changes to policies, procedures, and application processes and funding to support the necessary work to truly be an Age Friendly state. The state must do its part and also help with funding age friendly efforts in municipalities beyond the one-time grant awards. The grants, funded for one year, are insufficient to allow municipalities to build age friendly initiatives and sustain these efforts. It seems wasteful to start a program that cannot be funded locally by municipalities with their skyrocketing health insurance costs and other expenses hit hard by inflation.
Areas for improvement are as follows:
HOUSING
A consistent refrain from older adults, heard by those of us working with this population, is the need for affordable housing. Affordability is key, whether it is the older adult who would like to age in place in their own home or downsize to a smaller home, an ADU, townhouse, or an apartment. New Jersey needs to look at its housing stock and diversify it. Older adults make up between 20 and 25 percent of the population living in Ridgewood and the surrounding municipalities in northern New Jersey. These well-established suburbs, incorporated over 100 years ago, primarily consist of a central business district surrounded by neighborhoods of single-family homes.
Currently, there are apartment buildings being constructed throughout New Jersey, many only set aside 15% of the units as affordable and the online application process, wait lists, and management companies running lotteries make the application process cumbersome and contrary to being an age-friendly state. There are barriers in the application process for older adults who are not technology savvy and have no internet connectivity (again an affordability issue). Although applicants are given the option to call the management companies, they are told that their calls may not be returned in a timely manner. Not a good scenario for someone desperate for affordable housing.
The waiting lists for low-income senior housing range from 2 to 5 years and Section 8 assistance is nearly impossible to obtain. Last year, New Jersey opened a lottery for the State Rental Assistance Program. Each time the state opens the SRAP program for applications the number of applicants far exceeds those selected in the lottery for the wait list. Obviously, the demand is there, particularly for older adults who are greatly disadvantaged by the online application process put in place by the state.
Progress in Trenton on legislation to amend land use ordinances to allow for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) has been stalled for several years. There is some action being taken now, but it may well die in committee again this session. This has happened over several legislative sessions. In reality, our state’s love of home rule creates barriers based on biases and the wish to maintain the status quo.
Property taxes are high and often result in older adults experiencing high-cost burden. Few alternatives exist for older adults to downsize within their communities and ADUs would allow for downsizing or as one might call it “right sizing” into a livable space that is affordable and accessible.
Allowing ADUs to be attached to or separate from single-family dwellings creates opportunities for flexible designs that will fit with the existing homes in the surrounding area. New Jersey might look to California and their ADU legislation. An informational brochure from the city of Carlsbad, California states, “ADUs are an essential component of the state’s housing supply and provide an alternative option to traditional market-rate home construction. ADUs can be integrated into existing or proposed homes in a variety of ways, including converting a portion of an existing house, adding to the existing house, converting an existing garage, storage area, studio or other accessory building, or constructing a new detached structure.”
Development of ADUs offer many benefits, a few of which are reflected below:
- Low cost to build
- Provides income to tax burdened homeowners
- Environmentally friendly with a low–carbon foot print
- Allows for the needs of changing households accommodating single/aging parents, college age children, adult children returning from college and starting new jobs, and first home families needing affordable housing
The legislation as drafted does permit municipalities to opt out of the allowance for ADUs. I understand that New Jersey values “home rule” and with 564 municipalities there is concern for a one size fits all approach. However, New Jersey’s commitment to developing affordable housing options throughout the state should inform legislation that would allow for ADUs and encourage municipalities to pass ordinances favorable to ADU construction.
A high percentage of older adults wishing to age in place in their own homes are often “house burdened” spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. It goes without saying that New Jersey has a property tax problem where schools and municipalities rely on property taxes, a regressive tax, to fund services. As school and municipal employee contracts and health benefit premiums increase so do the property taxes. In towns where there is high income wealth and low state aid, an older adult is even at greater risk of not being able to stay in the community as property tax increases outpace their fixed incomes. Last year and this year, older adults were given the opportunity to complete the PAS-1 applications for ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and Stay NJ. This is a hopeful improvement, but because the tax relief programs are subject to the annual state budget allocations there is always uncertainty looming for those most in need of property tax relief.
It is easy to suggest downsizing this benefit, but it would be to the detriment of older adult homeowners. I understand lowering the income eligibility for Stay NJ to $250,000 a year, but not the capped amount of $6,500 for tax relief. With property values increasing and lack of alternative affordable housing, the capped relief amount should not be lowered.
TRANSPORTATION
Busy highways and high traffic volume make driving in New Jersey hazardous for many older adults. Because transportation options are limited and often unaffordable, older adults self-restrict their driving radius. They often only drive to nearby stores, choose doctors in their town, and refrain from driving in the dark. Access link is not age-friendly with waiting times of 30+ minutes at pickup. Most transportation services offered by counties are limited to medical appointments or grocery shopping once a week. The county transportation services only serve their specific county and should your doctor be down the street in the next county, you are out of luck for a ride.
If we want our older adults to be able to make safe driving decisions, then New Jersey needs to design transportation programs that are more flexible, available, and user friendly so that giving up a driver’s license does not result in frustration, isolation, and an inability to retain independence.
An extra benefit that is offered through PAAD is a reduction on the car registration fee. This is a plus for PAAD recipients. However, when filing online with the MVC to renew your registration there is not an option to indicate this PAAD benefit and a separate form needs to be filed to receive a refund in the amount allowed as a PAAD recipient. An easy fix would be to redesign the form and allow a check box indicating PAAD eligibility. This would allow the discount to be subtracted at the time of application and alleviate the need for the state to send a refund check, saving time and postage.
PAAD
PAAD and Senior Gold are extremely valuable benefits and I am grateful for the increased income eligibility standards put into place in 2022 and 2024. These programs make a tremendous difference for older adults with limited income. So I ask that greater thought be given to communicating with older adults about how the program works and limitations that can arise.
Please be aware that PAAD pricing is negotiated with certain pharmaceutical companies/distributers. So when one of my PAAD clients went to the pharmacy to pick up her prescription she was charged $114 for the medication rather than $7. When I called PAAD to discuss, I was told that CVS purchased that medication from a company that does not work with PAAD. To be clear, it was not the specific medication, it was the company that CVS used for the purchase. I have now had to tell clients that when using PAAD, do not pay more than $5 or $7 for a prescription without checking with PAAD. Once a client pays for a prescription it is difficult and at times impossible to receive a refund if they overpaid for the prescription. How can we make this a better experience for older adults?
Of great concern are the number of pharmaceutical companies no longer participating in PAAD and the number of medications that are not covered. NJ needs to look at this and go back to the table to negotiate with these companies or use the opioid settlement money to help subsidize PAAD coverage for these uncovered drugs.
Many doctors recommend that older adults take vitamins to supplement nutrition and health needs. Vitamins and supplements are expensive. Adult briefs and pads are also expensive and there are not enough donations at food banks and through Adult Brief Drives to assist clients in need. It would be a worthy endeavor for the state to help subsidize the cost of these over-the-counter products that are unaffordable for the PAAD and Senior Gold eligible clients.
LIHEAP
In Bergen County, the Greater Bergen Community Action Program and in south Jersey, Light Up Your World are slow to process LIHEAP applications. Applications have a processing time of at least 60 days and often it takes much longer. It is rare that anyone answers the phone or an email to get information or to follow up on an application. We are working with older adults who often are best served when someone speaks to them over the phone and answers questions. This year for the 2025-26 heating and cooling LIHEAP grants, applicants are encouraged to file online requiring documents to be scanned and added to the application. Again, an impossible task for an older adult who does not know or use technology. This needs to be looked at with an age-friendly lens. DCA is one of the least Age Friendly Department in Trenton on how it handled water assistance a few years ago, utility assistance now, and SRAP. Recertification applications require proof of citizenship through a social security card. In a recertification, they are asked to prove this proof annually. Why? If I am a citizen when I first apply, why would I not be a citizen at recertification? This makes no sense.
Why in the 21st century would the LIHEAP program require an older adult to prove a medical need for air conditioning? This is just an added step that creates a barrier to access this necessary utility benefit. If someone qualifies for heating assistance, they should automatically qualify for air conditioning assistance. Let’s take the barrier away from getting this benefit in the summer months. Last summer we had multiple heat emergency days where temperatures were in the high nineties with cooling centers only open until 6 PM. Climate change is real and air conditioning assistance is needed and should not be restricted to those with a medical condition.
Medicare Savings Programs
When considering the cost of living — the cost for housing, the cost for food, and the cost for health insurance and car insurance – many seniors rely on their savings to supplement their income. The Medicare Savings Programs, QMB, SLMB, and Q1, asset eligibility standards are extremely low at $9,600 for one person and $14,470 for a couple. These asset eligibility amounts negatively impact low-income older adults who have managed to put some money away for emergency situations. While many people meet the income standards, they do not meet the asset standards. Older adults with under $75,000 in assets should be considered for the Medicare Savings Programs eligibility. These programs should be rethought as low- income seniors would be greatly helped when freed from paying their Medicare Part B premium, which in 2026 is $202.90 a month.
While federal law establishes minimum financial eligibility criteria for MSPs, states have the authority to go beyond these minimums. In recognition of how much individuals struggle with Medicare costs, many states have taken steps to expand access to MSPs by adopting more generous asset and income limits.
- Thirteen states plus the District of Columbia (AL, AZ, CT, DE, DC, LA, ME, MA, MS, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA) have eliminated their asset limits for MSPs. Two additional states have increased their asset limits (CA, MN).
- Eight states plus the District of Columbia (CT, DC, IL, IN, ME, MA, MS, NY, WA) have gone beyond the federal minimum levels set for MSP income eligibility, and two states (IL, MS) have income disregards that are more than the federal minimum.
New Jersey, by adopting more generous standards and following the lead of the states listed above, can improve access to health care, allowing low-income residents to use their Medicare benefits. New Jersey has an opportunity to better assist older adults and make this a livable, affordable, and age-friendly state. Please take this opportunity to make our state a better place to age.