Metropolis Council Candidate Vows to Save Seniors From Hospitalization and Preserve Taxpayer Dollars

Feb. 9, 2021 By Michael Dorgan

A nearby applicant for metropolis council is vowing to introduce laws that would spend for basic safety modifications to be mounted at the homes of small-money seniors.

Aleda Gagarin, who is working as a progressive to represent District 29, ideas to get in touch with on the metropolis to allocate $50 million to fork out for the renovations that would consist of ramps for wheelchair accessibility, seize bars for bathrooms and no-slip showers.

If elected, she would also push to quickly enroll seniors in the Senior Citizen Lease Improve Exemption plan that would stabilize their lease.

Gagarin–who seeks the seat that handles Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Rego Park and Woodhaven–said that the protection modifications would reduce the possibility of seniors finding wounded from falls inside of their households that can guide to hospitalizations. She claimed minimal-revenue seniors are at particular hazard because they can not find the money for to fork out for these types of basic safety actions.

“Our elders ought to have to be cared for so that they can age in location, here in their communities, wherever they have laid their roots and designed so substantially for us,” Gagarin explained.

Falls are the foremost result in of hospitalizations among seniors and expense the metropolis close to $722 million annually in hospital bills, Gagarin explained, citing Section of Overall health and Psychological Hygiene data.

Protection modifications, Gagarin reported, would help you save taxpayer funds in the lengthy expression by minimizing the selection of seniors requiring healthcare facility procedure.

She stated the protection modifications would also preserve the city on nursing dwelling costs because numerous injured seniors end up heading into very long-expression care facilities for assistance during their restoration.

“This is a quite efficient and price-productive way that the city can aid our elders age in their house and in dignity,” Gagarin said.

Gagarin reported the money would be administered by way of the city’s Residence Restore Assistance for Seniors program that pays for residence improvement work like plumbing and repairs for seniors of very low or reasonable-money.

She reported the system would be modeled on Washington DC’s Safe and sound At House program that provides grants of up to $10,000 to seniors and people today with disabilities for home security modifications.

Gagarin explained that seniors whose Spot Median Profits is at 80 per cent or less would be qualified for a grant below her proposal.

“It would be this kind of a small public value in comparison to a clinic go to or nursing house expenses,” Gagarin reported.

Gagarin also states that she wants to shield seniors from lease hikes.

As part of her campaign system, Gagarin would call for the automatic enrollment of seniors in the Senior Citizen Lease Maximize Exemption software.

The plan freezes hire for seniors but Gagarin said that around half of eligible seniors are not signed up, citing a report by the Metropolis Comptroller.

She mentioned that a lot of seniors are unaware of the application or uncertain of how to utilize. Computerized enrollment would be certain that the application is not underutilized and seniors can reside affordably, she extra.

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