NPR’s ‘Marketplace’ interviews Kaye for report on unclaimed aid for seniors
Len Kaye, director of the University of Maine Center on Aging and professor in the UMaine School of Social Work, spoke with National Public Radio’s “Marketplace” for the report, “Billions in aid for low-income seniors go unclaimed.” The number of seniors living in poverty has increased during the last few years, and today more than 4.5 million people live on less than $12,000 a year, according to the report. Meanwhile, a lot of benefits seniors could tap to help pay for health care and housing aren’t being used, the report states, partly because many seniors don’t realize how much they’re eligible to receive. Kaye said older people in rural areas may forgo benefits for other reasons, too. “What you find are folks who are extremely proud; they have a stiff upper lip mentality, which results in them resisting asking for help,” he said. “They take pride in their ability to manage on their own.”