LGBTI Aging & Caregiving

National Coalition for LGBT Health
www.lgbthealth.net

By 2020, 53.2 million Americans will be 65 or older. At least 3 million will be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

As we grow older we face financial, personal and cultural barriers when accessing affordable housing, health care and social services. We will likely enter a world of services that are not comfortable with LGBT people. This may be particularly true in rural areas.

These barriers are further increased by the social isolation and ageism within the LGBT community itself.

We do not have the same family support systems. Many of us tend to be estranged from our biological families. Many older LGBT people live alone and rely on a fragile social network of friends for caregiving needs. Developing innovative support networks is critical for the aging LGBT person.

Uninformed or unsupportive caregivers to the LGBT community can effectively disrespect the elders' gender identity and/or sexual orientation, forcing them to live with an inappropriate gender identity or expression and disallowing coupling with preferred partners.

Legal and policy frameworks deny LGBT people access to financial resources, including inheritance rights given by formal marriage and community support networks.

• Social Security does not pay survivor benefits to the same-sex life partner of someone who dies. This may cost LGBT elders $124 million a year in disallowed benefits.
• Unmarried partners in life-long relationships are not eligible for Social Security spousal benefits, which could allow them to earn half their spouse's Social Security benefit if it is larger than their own.
• There are no Medicaid regulations that protect the assets and homes of same-sex partners when the one partner enters a nursing home or long-term care facility.
• Tax laws and other regulations of 401(k)s and pensions discriminate against same-sex partners. This may cost the surviving partner in a same-sex relationship tens of thousands of dollars a year.
• The most basic rights such as hospital visitation or the right to live in the same nursing home or long term care facility are regularly denied to same-sex partners.
• Couples where one partner is transgender face not only the above losses but may face the invalidation of their identity, marriage, or inheritance rights when their partner becomes ill or dies.

As a function of stigma and ageism, older LGBT people are not only underserved, they are also understudied. In addition to changes in hurtful policies, a research agenda is urgently needed.

Helpful Websites:
www.asaging.org/lgain.html
www.gaylesbianretiring.org
www.sageusa.org
www.thetaskforce.org