How Administrative Burdens Are Preventing Access to Critical Income Supports for Older Adults: The Case of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Table 1.

Abstract

While Social Security provides an income floor, economic insecurity is still a common experience for many older Americans. Approximately 10% of older adults fall below the poverty line, though poverty rates that take into better account the costs of medical care actually place it closer to 15% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). Moreover, subgroups face even higher poverty rates. The poverty rate for sin- gle older adults is three times as high as for married older adults (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). Given that many older adults remain so economically vulnerable, it is striking that economic resources to which they could tap are being left on the table. One excellent example of this phenomenon is food stamps, officially titled the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides benefits worth ~10% of total income. Only about one third of older adults eligible for the program actually receive ben- efits as compared to upwards of 80–90% for other eligible groups (Ganong & Liebman, 2013; Haider, Jacknowitz, & Schoeni, 2003; Wolkwitz & Leftin, 2008; Wu, 2009). One of the explanations for this differential is the administra- tive burdens involved—from difficulties learning of the program to the complex paperwork and documentation needed to apply—in both gaining access to and maintain- ing eligibility for the program. These burdens fall dispro- portionately on older adults given their much higher levels of health and cognitive impairment issues. Thus, a rela- tively simple way to improve income resources among the poorest older adults is to reduce the administrative burdens in the Supplemental Nutritional Food Assistance Program that may prove particularly problematic for older adults. The magnitude of the gap in take-up for SNAP for older adults as compared to other groups, the relatively straight- forward ways it can be addressed, and the resulting poten- tial for improvements in income security, makes access to food stamps a potentially important topic to include as a part of the White House Conference on Aging. What