New York Magazine Intelligencer, No One Should Be Surprised That America Abandoned the Elderly to Die, (July 9, 2020)

In the U.S., seniors are often an afterthought. Though elderly Americans receive Social Security and Medicare benefits that lift millions above the federal poverty line, other, more precise measures of economic hardship suggest that senior insecurity is higher in the U.S. than in many other wealthy countries. One survey found that half of all seniors who live alone lacked the means to cover basic expenses; among two-senior households, nearly a quarter reported the same. Many of those low-income seniors continue to work, or enter poorly regulated care facilities that can pose unique dangers to their health. “This is a group who is already living on the edge,” explained Kevin Prindiville, executive director of Justice in Aging. “Because they have low incomes. They have limited work opportunities. They have limited social support in their community. And then you add to that this virus, which is particularly dangerous for them. It just exacerbates all the challenges that they were living with before.”