For the first time in 16 years, there is a chance some residents of long-term care facilities could get their Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increase. Bill H.626, introduced last January by Rep. Sean Garballey, D-23rd Middlesex, would increase the amount of their Social Security benefit residents on MassHealth are allowed to keep. It would go from $72.80, which it has been since 2007, to $100 a month.

When a person who needs financial assistance is admitted to a long-term care facility, usually they are enrolled in MassHealth, which covers a large portion of the cost of their care. MassHealth is what we in Massachusetts call Medicaid. Medicaid is for people with low incomes, or those who need long-term care and who have run out of other resources to cover the cost. (Medicaid is different from Medicare. Medicare health care insurance covers anyone over 65 regardless of their income and some younger people with certain disabilities. It does not pay for long-term care.)

To help pay for their care, long-term care residents enrolled in MassHealth must also pay the facility any Social Security benefits they are receiving except for what’s called a Personal Needs Allowance (PNA.) The PNA is for residents to keep and use at their discretion to cover the cost of any and all personal needs not provided by the facility. This may include everything from haircuts to clothing to shoes to special snacks and food supplements. It includes newspapers, magazines, books, stamps, greeting cards, cigarettes, hobby supplies like knitting needles and yarn, and cellphones.

The amount of the PNA, which is set by the state Legislature, is $72.80 a month — $72.80 to cover everything not provided by the nursing facility. And here is the thing; it has been $72.80 since 2007. In that time, there have been Social Security COLA increases adding up to almost 33%. None of that increase has been passed on to long-term care residents. It has all gone to the long-term care facilities in which they reside.

Stop for a minute and think about the costs increases you’ve seen since 2007 in shoes, clothing, books, newspapers, your favorite cosmetics and snacks, all the other items listed above and more. How is it we have expected long-term care residents to pay for these items out of an allowance that has not increased since 2007? How is it no one thought to pass on to these elders any portion of the COLA increases that the rest of us on Social Security have automatically received?

I believe it’s most likely a matter of out of sight, out of mind. It is easy, because of the way we do long-term care in this country, to forget about people living in long-term care facilities. And for a whole host of reasons, it can be difficult for many living in long-term care to advocate for themselves.

Passing H.626 is a step toward redressing this wrong. It will increase the amount of the PNA to $100. By law, it could (and arguably should) go higher, but catching up with the Social Security COLA increases of the past 16 years is a step in the right direction.

And there is another simple step that needs to be taken to ensure that the needs these elders are not so easily overlooked. Amend H.626 so that future increases to the PNA are tied to future Social Security COLA increases.

As I get older, I find that it is helpful to set up automatic payments for some of my important bills so that I won’t forget them. Amending H.626 to make COLA increases to the PNA automatic is one way to ensure that at least when it comes to their PNA, our neighbors in long-term care are not forgotten.

To support this bill and amendment, please call or email or write to your state representatives. Ask them to support H.626 and to advocate for a COLA amendment. Sen. Paul Mark and Rep. Natalie Blais have agreed to sign on as co-sponsors. Thank them and ask them to support the COLA amendment.

At the moment, the bill is sitting in committee. Contact the chairs of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, Sen. Patricia Jehlen (Patricia.Jehlen@masenate.gov ) and Rep. Thomas Stanley (Thomas.Stanley@mahouse.gov.) Ask them help bring H.626 to a vote and to support the COLA amendment. You can search for your senator and representative using your ZIP code at malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator.

Pam Porter, retired, is a LifePath Inc. volunteer aging in place so far in Heath.