THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, November 2, 1919 13 Boris Smolar's BETH YEHUDAH SCHOOLS `Between You . . . and Me' Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, JTA I, (Copyright 1679, JTA, Inc.) JEWISH AGING: A new look at the problems of Jewish aged in this country and Canada is now being taken by the Council of Jewish Federations. The continuing in- crease in the Jewish aging population — particularly of those over 75 years old — is creating new challenges for the organized Jewish communities. They will be discussed at the CJF General Assembly Nov. 14-18 in Montreal. . The great majority of those older than 75 seek admis- sion into homes for the aged administered by Jewish com- munal agencies. However, only a very small percentage are accepted. The number ofJewish community nursing homes throughout the country is comparatively very small — about 100 — and their bed complement is very limited. A candidate applying for admission must quality under Medicaid regulations and must wait many months until a bed becomes available — usually after the death of a resi- dent. The death rate is comparatively low because of the special care. A vastly expanded network of homecare services will be required in the 1980s in finding life-serving alternatives for the growing multitude of oldstersfor whom no place can be provided in nursing institutions. Increased supportive social and health services will also be needed for the 65-75 category living outside of institutions. Small Jewish com- munities which have no community institutions for the aged will face the problem of maintaining nursing home care for _the growing number of needy elderly in other forms. THE CHALLENGES: The rapidly aging Jewish population in the U.S. is older than any other religious, racial or ethnic group in the country. More than 13 percent of the Jewish population is over 65 years old, compared with the general community norm of 10 percent. In Canada, the Jewish community of Montreal is now plan- ning care and service for 15 percent of its 125,000 Jews. In New York, the average age of elderly Jews assisted by JASA, an affiliate of the Federation of Jewish Philan- thropies, is 79. Two-thirds are women and single. With the American Jewish community having reached a plateau in its birthrate, it is anticipated that in the 1980s one of every six Jews will, by the end of the decade, be over 65. The jump will be about 40 percent over today's propor- tion of Jews over 65. This calls for new planning perspec- tives to meet the changing needs. In 1974, the median age of Jewish residents in homes for the aged in the U.S. was 83, with 66 percent being over 80 years of age. In housing projects for elderly Jews, the median age was 75. The proportion of aged over 75 is much higher today. The burden on the organized Jewish com- munities is, of course, also much heavier because of the mounting inflation. MEDICAID AID "BOSS": The most difficult prob- lem is the placing of aged in nursing homes. This is because the actual decision of accepting an applicant into a nursing home — including Jewish communal homes — lies practi- cally in the hands of Medicaid, and not with the communal agencies supervising the institutions. Medicaid regulations provide that an elderly person seeking admission into a nursing institution financed by Medicaid must turn over all income, savings, pension and other property to Medicaid, and also that the spouse must carry this responsibility. The justification for this policy is that Medicaid covers the full cost of maintenance of the applicant when admitted, so that the aged resident is no longer in need of funds of his own for the rest of his life. Benefitting from this Medicaid system are the poorest of the poor whose income comes mostly from Social Security and who may have insignificant savings. Such elderly Jews are willingly exchanging their small assets for permanent care in a nursing home. Not so the elderly who may have larger savings accumulated from better years. Any elderly person who does not want to yield his financial possessions to Medicaid, including joint accounts and part of the pos- sessions of the spouse, can only be accepted as an individual paying his own maintenance, which now exceeds $20,000 a year. The Medicaid arrangement — which is a joint program of the federal government and the individual states — therefore enables only the very poor, or the very rich who can afford to pay for themselves, to enter an institution for elderly people. INHUMAN SITUATIONS: The Medicaid system has resulted in brutal situations in many middle-class Jewish families. Anxious to avoid the handing over of their estates to Medicaid, some elderly JeWish couples are undergoing divorces after many years of happy married life. This in- human procedure complies with the Medicaid regulations which provide that after two years of divorced life, an aged person can be accepted into a nursing home without the spouse sharing responsibility to Medicaid. The spouse thus retains the savings and other assets. 65TH .ANNIVERSARY DINNER MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO DANIEL A. LAVEN To be held at THE FAIRLANE MANOR 1 9000 Hubbard Drive, Dearborn (across from the Fairlane Town Center) SUNDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 18, 1979 Guest Speaker CO-CHAIRMEN . r I. William Sherr Cocktails at 6:00 p.m. Dinner at 7:00 p.m. David B. Holtzman The Honorable Chaim Herzog (Former Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations) For Reservations, Please Call: 551-6150 FOUNDERS Marvin Berlin Harold Be7 -os Max Biber A. Howard Bloch Ivan Bloch Stuart Bloch Borman's, Inc. Jack J. Carmen Ernest L. Citron Irwin I. Cohn Dr. Arnold Eisenman Dr. Elmer Ellias Louis H. Golden Nathan I. Goldin Dr. Joseph Goodstein Samuel Hechtman George Hill David B. Holtzman Arnold Joseff Mrs. Morris Karbal The Laven Family Lopatin, Miller & Bindes (in memory of Esther Hecker) Abe Malzberg Sol & Anna Nusbaum Family Foundation Irving I. Palman Jack Peltz Alvin Reifman Martin L. Abel Norman Adelsberg Norman Cottler Henry Dorfman Reubin Dubrinsky Alan Feldman Kenneth Fischer Sidney Fischer Dr. Phillip Friedman Martin Goldman William-Goodman Louis Haas Peter Heiman David Hermelin SPONSORS Honigman Foundation (in memory of Sarah Honigman) Dr. Joseph M. Jacobson Alex Joseph Frank W. Kerr Company Eugene Kraus Sol Lessman Mrs. Marlene Mandell Midwest Clayman Co., Inc. Paul Newman Dr. Lloyd J. Paul David Pollack Julius Roteoberg Mrs. Gertrude Reifman Alex Saltsman Mrs. Emma Schaver Robert A. Schwartz I. William Sherr The Stewart Family (in memory of Dorothy Stewart) Max Stollman Philip Stollman Mr. & Mrs. Marvin M. Tamaroff Mrs. Morris Yassky Samuel Zack Dr. Arnold Zuroff Joseph Roth (in memory or William Roth) Solomon Rothenberg Jack Shenkman Alvin Spector Joseph Stewart Lawrence J. Traison Mel Wallace Harold Warren Irving Weiss Paul Zuckerman Guardians . . . Mr. and Mrs. Norman Allan