WBFO Older Adults News Desk

It’s been more than two years since Erie County passed Ruthie’s Law, yet none of the nursing homes that have failed to comply during that time have been penalized.

On Thursday, the Erie County Legislature finally got to directly ask the county’s Department of Senior Services why that is.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo hinted he would try to limit local Medicaid spending during his State of the State Address earlier this month, saying county governments were all too eager to spend more because the state was paying for any increases. On Tuesday, Cuomo revealed how he intends to deter overspending: a 3% Medicaid spending cap.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered his tenth State of the State address Wednesday in Albany. WBFO reporters took in-depth look at what the governor and others are saying about some key challenges the state faces at the start of a new decade.

Issues impacting older adults — including lowering prescription drug prices, tax relief for caregivers and large Medicaid cuts — will be some of the major issues during New York state’s 2020 legislative session. 

Staying healthy is one of our greatest personal challenges. We're bombarded with marketing for medications and dietary supplements. And it can be very confusing, especially for the elderly. WBFO's older adults news desk reached out to Dr. Jerrold Winter for some context. He's a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University at Buffalo and the author of several books on drugs and supplements.

Meals on Wheels provides older adults with nutritious meals and some socialization all year around, but those services are especially crucial during the holiday season and winter months when seniors living alone may feel particularly isolated and lonely. Here WBFO gives a behind-the-scenes look at Meals on Wheels deliveries during the holidays.

Fewer kids in the United States are clowning around, and that leaves a lot of the work of child's play to older adults in Buffalo and beyond.

Of the 21 clowns depicted on their website, the Buffalo Clown Alley features only 2 that clearly are not older adults. At 88 years old, Lorraine Bauer is far more typical.

Thomas Hayduk wasn’t sure what he was going to do upon being released from the hospital.

Following a serious car accident in 2016, the 72-year-old Buffalo resident could no longer drive and was, as he puts it, in need of socialization.

Now a car comes right to Hayduk’s home and drives him to places like the local community center for low-impact pool exercises. He also gets taken out for coffee, lunch and movies with other older adults.

“It’s been golden,” he said. 

Hayduk is one of approximately 200 Buffalo seniors enrolled in Canopy of Neighbors. The nonprofit deploys volunteers to drive older adults to doctor’s appointments, the grocery store and even social outings with other adults enrolled in the program. Volunteers may even help put away groceries or fix the television.

A 95-year-old Olean man who served in World War II has received France's highest honor for military and civil merits. A representative of the French government presented Charles "Charlie" Brown with the Légion d'Honneur during a ceremony Friday afternoon in Olean.

Anyone who’s ever watched television has probably heard this: Ask your doctor if taking this medication is right for you.

The University at Buffalo wants older adults to start asking their doctors if stopping certain medications is right for them.

Williamsville residents say turning the Blocher Homes assisted living facility into mixed-income housing will not only displace 50 seniors, but also congest traffic, eliminate green space and decline property values. 

Dr. Bruce Troen doesn’t want to just increase senior citizens’ life spans. He also wants to increase what he calls their “health spans.”

“It’s not about the years in your life, but it’s really the life in your years,” he said.

Troen and the University at Buffalo’s Center for Successful Aging will be in a better position to do just that thanks to a recent five-year, $750,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging. UB will match the funds for a total of $1.5 million.

Maryanne Portugues, 69, knows all too well about scams targeting older adults.

“The first time I ever got a call was years ago telling me that my Social Security benefits were going to stop,” she told WBFO. “After I started thinking and realized what I was getting upset over, (I thought), they don’t do this.”

Portugues and others at the Belle Senior Center on Buffalo’s West Side received a free seminar on how to protect themselves from scams Thursday. It was part of AT&T’s “Digital You and Cyber Aware” public education campaign, in collaboration with state Sen. Tim Kennedy and the Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York.

Mary Ann Basile, 72, cast her ballot at the Harlem Road Community Center in Amherst Friday afternoon, four days before Election Day. 

“I just thought it would be more convenient to come today than on Tuesday,” she said. “It’s too crowded on Tuesday. It’s nice to be able to come at your own convenience.”

Basile and other senior citizens took advantage of the convenience of New York state’s early voting more than any other age group in Erie County.

Older refugees in Buffalo face challenges that younger refugees circumvent. Although services are prolific for this community, they are not always as accessible due to certain barriers. Those barriers make it sometimes impossible for them to utilize the available resources.

Republicans in the Erie County Legislature want answers about Ruthie’s Law.

The Republican minority caucus sent a letter to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz on Tuesday, demanding he explain why nursing homes aren’t following the law and what his administration is doing to enforce it.

Ruthie’s Law was meant to hold nursing homes more accountable. Proposed by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and passed by the county Legislature just a few months later in July 2017, it mandates facilities report abuse-related incidents to the county twice a year, and submit proof they’re disclosing their ratings to prospective clients.

Now, more than two years after it was signed into law, it’s difficult to say what, if any, impact it’s had.

With many Buffalo seniors worried about the impact of the new property re-assessment program on their taxes, the Common Council is moving to cover the entire city with a new tax break.