<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(251, 251, 251);" class="">A Senate subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders, held a hearing Tuesday on the “human toll and budget consequences” of senior hunger. Here is an except:</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia;" class=""><br class=""></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia;" class="">Mary Jane Koren, a geriatrician and vice-president of the Commonwealth Fund, noted that seniors often suffer health problems and are put in nursing homes after falling down. Poor nutrition leads to decreased muscle strength, meaning a higher chance of falling—and weaker seniors are more likely to be gravely injured in such a fall. Koren noted that by 2020, the annual cost of medical care for seniors who fall is expected to reach $54.9 billion—many magnitudes more than the approximately $2 billion per year the federal government spends on nutrition assistance for senior citizens.</p><p style="max-width: 100%; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); font-family: Georgia, Palatino, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 39px;" class="">
</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia;" class="">Sen. Paul, however, explicitly rejected this logic. “It’s curious that only in Washington can you spend $2 billion and claim that you’re saving money,” he said. “The idea or notion that spending money in Washington somehow is saving money really flies past most of the taxpayers.” Instead, Paul touted the “nobility of private charity” as opposed to government-funded “transfer programs.” He suggested privatizing Meals on Wheels and other government assistance for hungry seniors.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><font face="Georgia" class="">So, if the Senior Center doesn’t get enough “private </font><span style="font-family: Georgia;" class="">charity,” </span><font face="Georgia" class="">will they let us go through the kitchen garbage</font><span style="font-family: Georgia;" class="">?</span></div></body></html>