Advocating for seniors, the South Orange Village Council adopted a resolution this week urging the Village’s Congressional delegation to support federal legislative and budgetary actions to protect and restore essential health care and nutrition benefits for older adults – specifically Medicaid and SNAP benefits.
In its resolution, the Village notes that in July 2025, Congress, through H.R. 1 made significant changes to Medicaid and SNAP eligibility, financing, enrollment and administration, reducing projected federal expenditures for both programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the law will reduce projected federal Medicaid outlays by approximately $1.2 trillion and SNAP outlays by approximately $211 billion through 2035, while changing Medicaid eligibility and enrollment procedures and shifting a greater share of certain SNAP costs to state governments.
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In addition to urging Representative Analilia Mejia and Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim to support actions to restore benefits, the Village also called on Governor Mikie Sherrill and South Orange’s state representatives to “continue efforts to protect older New Jerseyans from disruptions in healthcare and nutrition assistance and to advocate for sufficient federal resources to sustain these programs without imposing unsustainable additional burdens upon state, county, or municipal taxpayers.”
“I think that when you look at seniors in our community and seniors across our nation, they are at risk. Everything is getting pricier – medications are getting pricier, all the changes that the government is making are actually taking a toll on people that have committed their lives to our country,” Councilwoman Summer Jones said at the Village Council’s September 14 meeting. “And it’s really sad when you look at what is happening and how people are struggling to survive after working so hard most of their lives to get by.”
The resolution also notes local statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey that 623 South Orange older adults live alone, 595 live with a disability, 247 are enrolled in Medicaid, 2,157 are enrolled in Medicare, 109 older-adult households receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) benefits, and 81 older residents are military veterans. Beyond seniors, the resolution states, 3,795 residents in South Orange receive public health insurance, including 1,599 residents enrolled in Medicaid, “demonstrating the critical importance of these programs to the health, well-being, and financial security of our community.”
“Medicaid is particularly important to older adults because it provides coverage for services that Medicare may not fully cover, including long-term services and supports and certain home- and community-based services that can make the difference between an older adult remaining safely at home and requiring institutional care,” the resolution states. “SNAP similarly serves as an important protection against food insecurity for lower-income older adults, particularly those living on fixed or limited incomes, and helps ensure access to adequate and nutritious food.”
Mayor Sheena Collum called impending cuts at the federal level “a disgrace” and said they had a direct impact on residents in South Orange, adding she wants seniors to know the Council will continue to advocate on their behalf.
“I think we collectively need to do a lot more to protect our seniors, and this is just one step in raising awareness about it,” she said.
Councilwoman Jennifer Greenberg added that the elderly population is “the largest population in our world, and we’re all heading there, and the governments and small communities really need to support them as best they can. I agree with the sentiment that we need to do more, but at least we’re doing something.”
