Routt County has an aging population. One in five people in Routt County is over the age of 60. There are 5,085 seniors in Routt County, and 1,039 of these live at 185% of poverty level. The American Rescue Plan includes crucial funding that will help our seniors

What’s in it for seniors?

• ACA changes. For a 64-year-old person, with income of $58,000 (2020), the monthly health insurance payment would drop from $1,075 to $412. A 60-year-old with a $55,000 income would see premiums drop between 50% to 80% (Kaiser Family Foundation).

• About 185 union pension plans are close to collapse; the rescue plan will rescue these plans. This covers about 10.7 million active and retired workers; many are middle class and work in fields like construction.

• The bill offers aid to millions of caregivers. This will allow more seniors to live in their homes instead of nursing homes.

• Expansion of senior nutrition programs to banish the specter of senior hunger. Five million low-income adults age 60-plus rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Many older adults need more than the current average $121 per month SNAP benefit.

• The law invests $276 million per year in the Elder Justice Act over two years. This supports programs to combat elder abuse, promotes elder justice research and innovation, enhances Adult Protective Services and provides protections for residents of long-term care facilities.

Some worry that our country can’t afford this bill. But let’s remember that the last administration’s tax cuts cost $1.9 trillion, and 83% of the tax cuts went to the top 1% of the wealthy. We were promised this tax cut would pay for itself by creating a robust economy. That didn’t happen. The wealthy kept their money and bought more stocks; corporations did the same. Economic growth for everyday Americans was terribly slow.

We can afford this with President Joe Biden’s plan to get a portion of those tax cuts back. Supporting our seniors is the decent thing to do. Please contact Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Rep. Lauren Boebert to give them your support for the ARP.

Hummer Marchand

Steamboat Springs