Maine people believe in justice and in righting wrongs. So, it is not surprising that the Maine Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted unanimously on May 11 to advance L.D. 1522, An Act to Provide Economic Justice to Historically Disadvantaged Older Citizens by Amending the Laws Governing the Medicare Savings Program.

One way to deliver economic justice to older Mainers is to increase eligibility for the Medicare Savings Program, which offers help to older people with lower incomes for some or all of their Medicare premiums, deductibles, copayments and coinsurance. L.D. 1522 would remove the current asset test in determining eligibility for the Medicare Savings Program. It also would implement income eligibility requirements that use data identified for singles and couples in the Elder Economic Security Standard Index, developed by the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

By increasing eligibility for the Medicare Savings Program, we can alleviate some of the anxiety that older Mainers on fixed incomes are feeling about aging with dignity in their community. When my fellow legislators and I speak with older constituents, we too often hear from people who are worried about the affordability of aging in their own homes, the exorbitant price of their medication, the rising costs of heat and electricity and how they no longer have disposable income to buy gifts for their grandchildren.

Unfortunately, many older Mainers find themselves in this difficult position as a result of experiencing decades of economic injustice. For example, only 50 years ago, women in Maine and across this country could not hold a mortgage, own a bank account or have a credit card in their own name. It makes sense that women over 60 are nearly two times more likely than men to live at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and about 12% of women over 80 in Maine live in poverty compared to 6% of men.

Nationally, older women of color are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty as older white women. Data from 2018 shows that Black or African American Mainers are more than three times as likely to experience poverty as white Mainers. Nationally, more than a third of older LGBTQ+ people live at 200% of the FPL as compared to 26% of older straight people. These statistics are a result of the intentional exclusion of women, people of color, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ people from the workforce, housing, finance and education in the early and middle parts of the last century.

Mainers who have experienced a lifetime of economic injustice are less likely to have enough income to meet their basic needs later in life. And while we have made real progress over the last 40 years toward building a state that values the work of all people, gives everyone an equal shot at an education and does not discriminate in housing or other public services, it is clear that too many older Mainers are still struggling.

The passage of L.D. 1522 would provide us with the opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of lower-income older Mainers by putting meaningful dollars back into their pockets. This bill will not solve every challenge for older Mainers, but it creates a more equitable solution and delivers overdue justice to many of our older community members who have experienced a lifetime of economic inequities.