Alas, it\u2019s a lousy time to be a senior in Missouri.\u00a0 Besides the Circuit Breaker, other special help for our older neighbors is under attack in Jefferson City and Washington.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at Grandma Jane, a hypothetical but friendly women in her 70\u2019s living with a bunch of health problems. She has a modest but cute apartment in an area suburb.\u00a0 She worked a bit after raising her kids but her Social Security payment, like many widows, is based on the survivor formula on her late husband\u2019s account.\u00a0She gets $900 a month, $10,800 per year.\u00a0That\u2019s a bit above average for surviving spouses <\/a>, yet, not enough for her to sit pretty.\u00a0That\u2019s not a surprise since the Poverty Level for a single person is $12,060 a year or $1,005 a month.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, she qualifies for several programs\u2026<\/p>\n

$ 500 Missouri Circuit Breaker<\/strong>\u00a0 a tax credit to lower-income seniors to help offset property taxes<\/p>\n

$ 1,200 Missouri Rx Program<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 help paying for her many prescriptions beyond Medicare\u2019s coverage<\/p>\n

$ 1,716 Qualified Medicare Beneficiary<\/strong> (QMB)\u00a0 Medicaid payment towards her share of Medicare<\/p>\n

$ 2,160\u00a0 Food Stamps<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 $180 per month, or, around $1.94 per meal<\/p>\n

$250\u00a0 Heating Assistance Grant<\/strong>\u00a0 a state pass-through of a federal allocation to Missouri<\/p>\n

Wow!\u00a0 Grandma Jane gets $ 5,826<\/strong> in special help each year!\u00a0 This targeted aid gives her a standard of living of about $16,600.\u00a0Not golden toilet living like Donald Trump, but a lot better than Social Security alone.<\/p>\n

Uh-oh!<\/p>\n

Remember, in 2017 the Circuit Breaker for renters got SEALed [by Missouri Governor and former Navy Seal Eric Greitens].\u00a0The legislature also cut back on the Missouri Rx program, meaning that $100 a month will become $50 or $0.\u00a0Proposed federal cuts to Medicaid (MO HealthNet) will target that QMB.<\/p>\n

And, the Trump administration and friends plan to trim food stamps by 25%, and, give states a 10% to 25% co-pay\u2026Maybe Grandma Jane will get $20 or $50 a month when the dust clears.<\/p>\n

That heating grant?\u00a0 Trump has targeted the Low-Income Heat Assistance Program (LiHEAP) for complete elimination.<\/p>\n

In other words, a series of trims and cuts which don\u2019t sound that big each on their own wind up taking $3,000 a year or<\/em> more<\/em> out of Grandma Jane\u2019s standard of living.\u00a0Poverty\u2019s sting grows sharper.<\/p>\n

Of course, we\u2019re told these inefficient and wasteful programs must<\/u> be slashed.\u00a0 Missouri and America must \u201cpay for\u201d tax cuts for wealthy \u2018job creators.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sorry grandma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alas, it\u2019s a lousy time to be a senior in Missouri.\u00a0 Besides the Circuit Breaker, other special help for our older neighbors is under<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":646,"featured_media":37421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[998,119,1815],"tags":[120,1927,2489],"yoast_head":"\n