LGBT elders sound off at town hall meeting

The LGBT Aging Project and five local elder service agencies held a town hall meeting Oct. 30 at Boston's Emmanuel Church to assess the needs of LGBT seniors, at which the approximately 30 elders on hand at the town hall expressed concerns about healthcare, housing, transportation, and a whole host of issues.

Chief among their complaints was that when many of them have picked up the phone to call organizations charged with providing them assistance -- from elder services organizations to state and federal agencies like MassHealth and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to health insurance companies -- they have been unable to reach another human being on the line. Several of the elders who spoke described being trapped in voicemail hell or leaving messages that were never returned. They said many of the agencies they have turned to for support have been inaccessible.

When Lisa Krinsky, director of the LGBT Aging Project, asked if any of the attendees had ever accessed services through their local elder service agency, only a handful of hands went up. Camille Bourque, a Somerville resident, complained that his efforts to reach staff at Somerville Cambridge Elder Services - one of the sponsors of the town hall - had been unsuccessful.

"If you want to ask them a question you can never get an answer," said Bourque, his voice clearly filled with anger and frustration. "You just get voicemail boxes, and they never call you back."

A staff member from Somerville Cambridge Elder Services pledged to investigate Bourque's complaint.

Bourque said he had had similar difficulties trying to reach staff at MassHealth and Blue Cross Blue Shield, and his comments elicited knowing nods from others in the room.

Chuck Lovering, another Somerville resident, said he recently had problems trying to reach someone at HUD by phone.

"They're not at their desks. ... You can call five or six times, they're never at their desks, they never call you back," said Lovering.

The town hall meeting, one of two held last week - the second was held Nov. 1 in Jamaica Plain - is the first effort by local elder service providers to incorporate the needs of LGBT seniors into their elder needs assessment reports. The crowd at Emmanuel Church was mostly male, and the meeting took place during the Aging Project's weekly Caf? Emmanuel LGBT elders lunch. The second meeting was held at the Aging Project's monthly Out to Brunch women's brunch.

Kathy Siemionko, director of planning for the Watertown-based elder service agency Springwell, said each local elder service agency must submit a needs assessment to both the federal and state government next year, and agencies prepare those assessments by holding town hall meetings with different communities of elders that they serve. This year the LGBT Aging Project teamed up with Springwell, Somerville Cambridge Elder Services, the Boston Elderly Commission, the Sharon-based HessCo Elder Services, and the Burlington-based Minuteman Senior Services to hold town hall meetings to incorporate the voices of LGBT elders into those assessments.

Beyond difficulties connecting with staff at agencies men at the Caf? Emmanuel meeting expressed concerns about a range of other issues, some of them LGBT-specific and others more general to the elder community as a whole. Sam Goldfarb, a member of the older gay men's group Boston Primetimers, said for the past five years one of the greatest challenges he has faced is the lack of Medicare coverage for medication. He said his Medicare coverage, which is supplemented by AARP, only provides enough funding to pay for six months' worth of his medication for every calendar year.

"I go into the donut hole after six months, so there are six months I have to pay for the prescription program on my own," said Goldfarb.

Al Cortese, a Boston resident, said that healthcare costs are particularly steep for middle-class seniors who spent their lives paying into programs like Social Security.

"They treat seniors like dogs. ... If you're on Medicare or Social Security and you've worked all your life you're penalized," said Cortese. "We're the ones that worked all our lives and paid into Social Security. ... If you need eye glasses or dentures you should be able to get it."

Cortese said when he has tried to get medical expenses covered through Medicare he has been told that they would only be covered if he were receiving Medicaid.

One of the providers on hand recommended that seniors contact counselors with the SHINE (Serving the Health Information Needs of Elders) Program, a state-funded network of counselors who help seniors navigate the state's health insurance bureaucracy. Lawrence Johnson, a Sharon man who last year was honored by the state's Elder Affairs office as one of 17 caregivers of the year, said that in his experience the counselors at the SHINE Program were ill-equipped to help LGBT elders. In 2001 Johnson retired from his job and has been caring for his partner, Alexandre Rheume, who has Parkinson's Disease.

"I would say the SHINE Program needs more training to deal with the LGBT community," said Johnson. He said when Rheume was going into a nursing home the state tried to take possession of all of the couple's jointly held property, since the couple was not married and not recognized under Medicaid. The counselors he spoke with from the SHINE Program did not understand the specific issues facing LGBT couples.

A New Bedford man agreed, saying, "The two ladies who run SHINE at my center are excellent, but they just don't have any understanding of LGBT issues." The man declined to provide his name to Bay Windows.

Krinsky said that the LGBT Aging Project, which trains elder service agencies on LGBT issues, had not yet trained the SHINE Program counselors. She added that beginning on Oct. 31 the MassHealth Equality Act, passed this summer, went into effect, and the state now grants equivalent Medicaid benefits to heterosexual and same-sex couples.

The New Bedford man said that another of his primary concerns is paying for the upkeep and maintenance of his home.

"One of the concerns us seniors have is the high cost of repairs of their house," said the man. He said he also felt there should be senior discounts for home and flood insurance to make it more affordable for seniors to stay in their homes.

Several audience members expressed concerns about lack of transportation options for elders who cannot easily access public transportation. One mentioned that his partner was recently turned down by the MBTA in his application to use the MBTA's disabled transit program, The Ride. Bourque said that several residents in his building use The Ride but that the service requires too much advance notice to serve many seniors' needs.

"Let's say it's an emergency. ... You have to call them three days in advance," said Bourque. "It's really not a good service."

Siemionko said for seniors The Ride is their only option, making it particularly difficult for those whose applications to use The Ride are turned down.

"As financial pressures on the T have grown they're making it harder to qualify for The Ride. ... Unfortunately for some people it's the only option they have because they can't afford to pay for a cab," said Siemionko.