Old and Poor: America’s Forgotten

While the Census Bureau’s official poverty measure shows 9 percent of seniors nationally live in poverty, the share climbs to about one in seven seniors (15 percent) under the Bureau’s alternative Supplemental Poverty Measure, which takes into account out-of-pocket health expenses and geographic differences in the cost of living. Produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Old and Poor: America’s Forgotten provides a portrait of seniors who are living in poverty, in both urban and rural areas across the United States.

This video shows the difficult challenges that low-income seniors face in making ends meet; every day, they juggle the costs of health care, safe housing, transportation and food. Featuring first-hand interviews with low-income seniors living in Baltimore, rural West Virginia, and Los Angeles, the video provides context for ongoing discussions about policy changes to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Watch and share this video to learn more about seniors living in poverty and the challenges they face. Additional research and analysis on seniors and their financial resources can be found at kff.org/medicare.

To download the full video, right-click here and select “Save as…”. This video is also available on YouTube. 

Abridged Version

The video below debuted at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on March 5, 2014: Income Security and the Elderly: Securing Gains Made in the War on Poverty, as part of testimony by Foundation Senior Vice President Tricia Neuman, director of the Foundation’s Program on Medicare Policy.

To download this abridged version, right-click here and select “Save as…”. This short video is also available on YouTube.