Seniors Update 2015: These are tough times for many seniors in Vermont and throughout the country. Poverty among seniors is rising, and with today’s high prices for food, housing, and prescription drugs, millions of seniors are one bad break away from an economic crisis. The good news is that for the last 80 years, Social Security has provided retirement security for our nation’s seniors. And for the past 50 years, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act have provided critical health care and long-term services and supports that seniors need and deserve.

Single Payer: Many Americans receive the best health care in the world, including state-of-the-art screenings, cutting edge treatments and life-saving drugs. At the same time, millions of Americans have little or no access to even the most basic health care services. While the U.S. spends nearly twice as much on health care as any other country in the world, our health outcomes are worse than other high-income countries. This report highlights elements of high performing single-payer health care systems that are easier to access, navigate and afford than health care in the United States.

Is Poverty a Death Sentence? For the first time in our nation’s history, children born in some parts of the country are expected to live shorter lives than their parents’ generation. This report highlights research on the devastating long-term effects of poverty on health and life expectancy.

Dental Crisis: Many people in the U.S. have access to the best oral health care in the world, yet millions are unable to get even the basic dental care they need. This report highlights the shortage of dental providers, insufficient dental insurance coverage, and costs of untreated oral health problems and offers potential solutions for increasing access to affordable dental services.

Senior Hunger: No senior citizen should go hungry in the U.S. Unfortunately, hunger among the nation’s senior population is a growing crisis—hunger rates have more than doubled for poor older adults in recent years. This report finds that while Older Americans Act meals programs are critical to alleviating senior hunger, these programs do not have the funding to meet the growing need across the country.

Primary Care: Nearly 57 million people in the U.S. – one in five Americans – live in areas where they do not have adequate access to primary health care due to a shortage of providers in their communities. 52,000 primary care physicians will be needed by 2025. This report highlights several reasons why the primary care shortage is growing and presents several policy solutions to address this crisis.

Generic Drug Prices Skyrocket:  Sharp increases in prices for many generic drugs were examined at a Senate hearing where three pharmaceutical companies refused to testify. Generic drugs, copies of drugs no longer protected by patents, historically have cost much less than brand-name prescription medicines. During that period, nearly 10 percent of all generic drugs more than doubled in price, according to the analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Read more »