Opinion: The Country is Still Anxious About Affordability. For Older Adults, This is Nothing New.

“The city can minimize emergency housing and long-term care costs by investing in organizations that help older adults access the benefits they’re entitled to.”

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Rising prices for groceries, housing, and health care have made life harder for all New Yorkers. For older adults in particular, however, rising costs pose acute risks to their well-being .There are nearly 1.1 million older adults over the age of 65 in New York City.  Many struggle to maintain their independence, connections, and place in the communities they’ve known for decades.

It’s an uphill battle. A third of older adults in New York City are on waitlists for affordable housing and elder poverty in the city has risen by an alarming 37 percent in the past decade. Programs like the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and Medicaid can provide relief, but these benefits often go underutilized. Many eligible older adults are unaware that they qualify, and the processes for accessing them can be overwhelming without help. The crisis is so severe that we have heard from some older adults that they skip meals or delay medical care to make ends meet.

Aging isn’t easy and poverty or near poverty makes it worse. Chronic health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease are significantly more prevalent among older adult living at or below the poverty threshold. Economic hardship also leads to increased social isolation among the aging, with devastating consequences for their mental health and happiness. There is more the city can do to alleviate this crisis, and it starts by committing serious investment to community services that already engage older adults.

Aging service providers have become indispensable for many. We provide nutritional support, build local partnerships with businesses to promote senior discounts on goods and services, and provide financial case management. At Encore Community Services, our case management has been especially impactful, assisting clients in navigating benefits, managing bills, and ultimately staying in the neighborhoods they call home. Case managers also serve as social and emotional outlets, and a connection point to community resources that help them combat isolation and promote better health. 

One of our clients receives only $900 a month from Social Security. While she awaits placement in affordable housing, she faces the reality of paying for rent, food, and utilities on this fixed income. When she needed to apply for Medicaid, a program that could ease her health care burden, she faced a process known as “spend down,” which required her to substantially reduce and exhaust her savings to qualify. Fortunately, Encore’s case managers helped her navigate these requirements, ensuring she could access Medicaid. 

Another client was paying out-of-pocket for home care—a steep expense. Working with a case manager, she learned she could access Medicaid for home care, reducing her financial burden. Having a case manager made the difference between depleting her resources and maintaining a secure future for her and many older adults. This type of guidance is invaluable.

Our clients often face multiple financial stressors, from health care expenses to the rising costs of necessities. Case management helps ensure these older adults receive the benefits they’re eligible for while assisting them in budgeting and managing their finances. It’s a service that extends beyond application assistance; it is a proactive approach to maintaining independence and avoiding costly institutional care.

The barriers to affordability for New York’s older adults are systemic. Eligibility for programs like SCRIE, which freezes rent for low-to-moderate-income older adults, is poorly promoted, leaving many in the dark. A report from the Center for an Urban Future shows that a modest investment in outreach could help more eligible older adults connect to the program. At Encore, we work directly with older adults to demystify these processes. However, many older adults will continue to fall through the cracks without expanded funding and support for case management services.

The city should consider streamlining applications for public benefits for older adults and providing funding to allow more organizations like Encore to reach older adults who aren’t currently served. Doing so can help improve older adults’ connections to community, improve their mental health and happiness, and positively alter their overall health and longevity. 

Expanding case management services that help people safely stay in their homes and communities isn’t just effective; it’s cost-efficient. A study from Stanford Medicine shows that proactive connection to supportive services can save billions of dollars for our healthcare system and decrease emergency room visits. The city can minimize emergency housing and long-term care costs by investing in organizations that help older adults access the benefits they’re entitled to. Older adults who remain stable in their homes have fewer health crises, rely less on emergency assistance, and live with greater dignity.

Case management also supports social well-being, which is tied to physical health and reduced health care costs. Older adults who remain engaged in their communities experience lower hospitalization rates and better overall health. Encore’s case management isn’t just financial—it’s also emotional, reinforcing a support network that empowers older adults to remain active and connected.

Unfortunately, there simply aren’t enough case managers to go around. At Encore, case managers regularly manage more than 70 cases simultaneously and we’re only able to serve 1,000 older New Yorkers at any given time, despite having more than 200,000 residents in our area who are eligible for some form of case assistance. Even just reaching all of the older adults would require significant resources, as most are, by definition, disconnected from the normal referral channels. 

Affordability challenges in New York won’t be solved overnight, but we can make important progress in FY 2026. Older adults in New York deserve a real solution to their affordability challenges. More investment in dedicated case management services should be one of them. 

Jeremy Kaplan is the executive director of Encore Community Services, an aging services agency that provides meals, care, and case management services for older adults on Manhattan’s West Side.

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