Speak Up to Help Those in Need During Tough Times

With an uncertain economy and difficulties with state reimbursements, there’s no question we’re facing some difficult times. I’m confident we will not only survive but thrive in the future. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to predict when true relief will come.


Sadly, delays with state payments for social services are impacting some of our neediest citizens, the elderly. These are some of the people we talk with every day here at Health Alliance Medicare, and we are well acquainted with many of our members and the challenges they face.

Some of the programs in jeopardy include transportation services, elder abuse programs and home-delivered meals. Amy Marchant is CEO of CRIS Senior Services in Vermilion County. She’s making difficult changes to the home-delivered meals program and predicts additional cutbacks.

“Although we are attempting to maintain services, we must consolidate our congregate meal sites and provide frozen meals instead of hot meals to some of our home-delivered meal customers,” she said. “I consider the regular visit to deliver food as important, if not more important, than the meal itself for some of our seniors. For now we are able to conduct weekly telephone wellness checks.”

Some smaller senior centers in Illinois communities that serve Health Alliance Medicare members are in jeopardy of closing. Without a consistent flow of funding, these not-for-profit entities could be gone, as would the expertise, compassion and experience of their staff. The services they provide help seniors stay in their homes with dignity. I can’t imagine what the outcome would be if these valuable resources were eliminated.

Helping seniors stay in their homes helps communities. Their wisdom and experience enriches us all. Without a network of support, many could fall through the cracks, causing us to lose a valuable part of our communities. That would be a sad legacy to leave.

I know I am not the brightest candle on the cake, and I have no solution for the funding problem. I am not, however, shy about making sure the people important to me and my community know how I feel about this potential catastrophe. You can do the same.

Most of us realize we are fortunate to have a safe, warm home, plenty of food, and compassionate family and friends. With this knowledge we also recognize we have a duty to those less fortunate. I think the phrase “noblesse oblige” best describes our collective situation. My grandfather’s translation? With privilege comes obligation.