Wolf's proposed tax will hurt senior care in Pennsylvania

To the Editor:
As the voice for senior care in Pennsylvania, LeadingAge PA and our members, which are all not-for-profit, are concerned about a proposal by the Wolf administration to increase the sales tax for seniors who require services in nursing or residential facilities. This proposal should concern every Pennsylvania family who has a loved one in a senior care setting.

Under this proposal, seniors who require nursing home care will pay as much as $6,000 more per year, while those in assisted living can expect the cost to increase by $3,500. It’s an incredible burden to ask seniors and their families to pay. It also will have an enormous unintended effect on the state because it will drain the life savings of countless seniors and force them on to the state’s overburdened Medicaid rolls.

In any calculation, this is a lose-lose for Pennsylvania seniors and taxpayers.

Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens and the fastest growing segment of the population — its seniors — simply cannot afford this expansion of the sales tax. LeadingAge PA stands ready to work with the administration and the legislature to protect our seniors.

Anne Henry
Vice President of Government Affairs

LeadingAge PA
Mechanicsburg