State reverses cuts to senior benefit program
- Chilkat Valley News
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
Spokesperson for governor says he didn’t know about decrease in benefits announced by Dept. of Health set to take effect Feb. 1
By Will Steinfeld
Chilkat Valley News
The state is reversing cuts to a benefit program for low-income seniors, governor’s office spokesperson Jeff Turner said this week.
The program in question, the Senior Benefits Program, is run by the Alaska Department of Health and pays a set amount per month to low-income seniors. This year, that amount has been between $125 and $250 depending on a person’s income. The program served 13,978 Alaska residents in 2024, according to the Department of Health’s budget.
Last month, the Department of Health began notifying program participants that starting Feb. 1, those amounts would be decreasing. A newsletter sent out by the department said funds put into the program by the state legislature were insufficient to fund the program for the entire year.
But now, the governor’s office said it has reversed the Department of Health’s decision and would be refunding seniors the amount that was cut.
In an email Wednesday, Turner said the governor did not know about the cuts and reversed the decision as soon as he had learned of it.
“A supplemental payment of $49 will be made this month to any senior who received less than the full amount,” Turner wrote. “The health department underestimated the number of new enrollees for Senior Benefits for this fiscal year, which in turn created a gap in funding.”
Turner said the governor’s office submitted a budget amendment Tuesday to fully fund the program through the end of the fiscal year in June. It’s not yet a done deal, and the amendment will have to be approved by the legislature in Juneau.
The possible reversal will be welcomed by local program participants like Linda Wilmot, who was interviewed about the cuts before the governor’s reversal was made public.
For Wilmot, who lives on a fixed income, the cut means further tightening her monthly budget, even if the money is approved and returned by the legislature. One measure, she said, would be trying to save by clearing out and giving up the storage unit she rents in town.
That poses a number of challenges. Wilmot said her costs were rising across the board — things like rent and internet — all while other sources of income, like the state’s Adult Public Assistance, have been decreasing. With less margin for error, changes to her budget have had compounding effects.
For instance, she rented the storage unit after a rent increase forced her to downsize to a smaller apartment. And she doesn’t know how she’ll clear out her storage unit after she decided not to fix or insure her van.
“I’m barely surviving as it is,” Wilmot said. “You go to the Salvation Army for canned goods; I haven’t been able to replace my cell phone so I cut that off; I cut off my car insurance after I got a flat tire and electrical problems on my van. You just have to do without some luxuries.”
Fellow senior Dave Kohlstaedt expressed frustration about the lack of funding for the program.
“It’s ridiculous — they cut for the most vulnerable people, the people who need it the most, but a few years ago the legislators voted themselves a 67% raise?” Kohlstaedt said, referring to a 2023 law that increased the salary for state legislators from $50,400 to $84,000, and the governor from $145,000 to $176,000. “They can afford that?”
Kohlstaedt is currently in the process of re-enrolling in the Senior Benefits Program, he said.
The budget amendment to add funding to the program was heard in the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday, and will continue to move through the legislative process in the coming weeks.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
