$30 billion in benefits are unclaimed each year - this is who's missing out

By Jessica Hall

Lack of awareness, education and fear are among the biggest barriers

Older adults who qualify for food assistance programs and other public benefits leave $30 billion in such aid unclaimed each year due, in part, to lack of awareness and fear about complicated applications, according to the National Council on Aging.

"Today in America, we have over 8 million older adults living in poverty - two million more than the year before," said Josh Hodges, NCOA's chief customer officer. "Clearly, Social Security and Medicare are not enough to ensure every older American can make ends meet."

The percentage of adults age 65 and older living in poverty increased to 14.1% in 2022, up from 10.7% in 2021, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau Data.

Low-income older adults also could potentially receive hundreds of dollars more through programs that help them save on utilities, home internet and phone service, taxes, and other expenses.

More than 17 million older adults aged 65 or older - or roughly one in three - fit the definition of "economically insecure," with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, according to the Census Bureau. In 2024, the federal poverty level is $15,060, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"Income at these levels is not enough to afford any type of emergency. Many people are one emergency away from catastrophe," said Jessica Johnston, senior director of the NCOA's Center for Benefits Access.

"People are making dangerous decisions - splitting medications in half to make them last longer. Food is also medicine and the type of food you put in your body over the long-term has an impact. Social isolation also plays a role, as well. It all begins to snowball from there," Johnston said.

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The NCOA found there are four major barriers to benefits program participation: a lack of awareness of programs, an assumption that application processes are complicated, not knowing how or where to apply and believing that other people need more help than they do.

"People may be generally aware of benefits but don't think it's for them or worry that it may be so complicated that it might not be worth the time and effort - that's it's too minimal an amount of money," Johnston said.

Other hurdles to getting benefits include language barriers and general financial literacy, Johnston said.

"There is something to be said around financial literacy and budgeting and planning. But you can't budget your way out of poverty," Johnston said.

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There are a variety of public and private benefits programs that can help people pay for items such as food, prescriptions, utilities or health care - but many times they go unused.

For example, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program was created to help alleviate food insecurity among low-income Americans. The average monthly benefit for an older adult living alone in fiscal year 2020, the most recent data available, was $105 a month, according to the Department of Agriculture.

In 2021, 5.5 million older Americans faced the threat of hunger, representing 7.1% of adults age 60 and older in the U.S., according to Feeding America. However, nearly 60% of seniors who qualify for SNAP do not enroll, according to 2024 data published by the Food Research & Action Center. That's an estimated 4.2 million people who are missing out on food assistance, NCOA said.

Meanwhile, Medicare's Extra Help program can help lower out-of-pocket costs for the medications. The Social Security Administration estimated the annual value of Extra Help at $5,900 a year. The NCOA's research on the take-up rates of this program found that roughly two million people who are eligible don't sign up. This results in $11.8 billion yearly in missed benefits, NCOA said.

The four Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) can help alleviate out of pocket costs for older adults in need. At a minimum, the MSPs pay for a person's monthly Part B premium, which is $174.70 per month in 2024, or $2,096.40 a year.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found that about 1.25 million people receiving Extra Help also qualify to receive, but are not enrolled in, an MSP. Additional estimates from NCOA and MACPAC point to as many as two to three million people missing out on this assistance. That totals $3.96 billion to $5.94 billion in forfeited benefits, the NCOA found.

In addition to health and food benefits, low-income older adults also could potentially receive hundreds of dollars more through programs that help them save on utilities, home internet and phone service, taxes, and other expenses, the NCOA said.

Even if all the benefits were fully utilized, it would not wipe out senior poverty because the problem is so big, Johnston said.

"It's not going to solve all the problems," Johnston said. "We'd still see people fall through the cracks."

-Jessica Hall

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04-12-24 1236ET

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