shAARP Talk: Observations from AARP

We haven’t talked about the stimulus in awhile but since checks are in the mail starting today, I thought we'd start entertaining the possibilities. New summer clothes? A new set of golf clubs? Some bills?

Share your ideas in the comments section here or if you need inspiration, check out this great website and read what other people are doing. A notable post is from Bill and Jackie Nopar in Phoenix, who are spending their stimulus on their prescription drugs. How about you?

Sorry everyone for the light day yesterday. We were all taking part in AARP's Day of Service. I was lucky enough to spend part of my day yesterday at the National Arboretum in Washington DC mulching in their herb garden. We worked until the early afternoon when the rain and the mud just became too much. It was a really rewarding experience. What about you? Who volunteered yesterday and what did you do?

Bloomberg News: Coverage Of 'Uninsurables' Draws Candidate's Attention

Bloomberg News reports, "Strengthening the safety net for the uninsurables has become part of the presidential candidates' debate over health care." Senator John McCain last week "proposed federal aid to help expand state high-risk plans. His Guaranteed Access Plan, or GAP, is in addition to tax credits he previously promised to make private insurance more affordable." Democratic candidates "would require insurers to cover anyone who applies for a policy as part of their plans to expand U.S. subsidies for health care." AHIP "wants hospitals and other health-care providers, as well as the federal government, to share the burden insurers already bear through assessments that help finance many of the pools, said Mohit Ghose, a spokesman for the insurer group."

BusinessWeek: Disabled Seniors More Likely To Take Inappropriate Drugs

BusinessWeek reports, "Senior citizens with disabilities are twice as likely as their non-disabled counterparts to being taking at least one prescription drug deemed inappropriate for people 65 or older, according to new research" on 2004 data. The research found "that about a quarter of disabled seniors in the United States have taken one of 33 medications regarded as ineffective or posing a high risk of side effects to the elderly. These drugs include Xanax, Demerol, Darvon and Procardia." Only "13 percent of seniors without disabilities used these medications, according to the analysis, published in the latest News and Numbers from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality."

US News And World Report: Even Wealthy Boomers Aren't Immune From Retirement Fears

Emily Brandon writes, "Is a million dollars enough to retire comfortably on? Many baby boomer millionaires don't think so, especially once recession fears come into play. Almost 30 percent of 60-year-old baby boomers with investable assets of $1 million or more say they feel more financial stress now than six months ago, according to a new survey from Bell Investment Advisors and Opinion Research Corp." And millionaires "aren't immune to making irrational investment choices as the media endlessly report a looming recession. Some 23 percent of affluent boomers say they are planning to change their investment strategy in response to a potential recession."

An update from the Champmobile in Florida:

Divided We Fail - Florida staff did a double take when they spotted (pun intended) a cow -- yes, a cow -- as it hopped aboard the Champmobile today in Brooksville, Fla. The unidentified cow, known to promote the consumption of poultry over beef, took a short stroll through the Champmobile at the Older Americans Month Picnic at Oakhill Hospital in Brooksville. Fortunately, beef wasn't on the menu -- or maybe it was...

While Champ was entertaining his guest inside the CM, volunteers and staff were engaging picnic attendees, collecting more than 100 pledges from the 130 picnic goers.

There’s a really neat website called On Day One that gives you the opportunity to tell the next President what to do on his first day in office. People are blogging, commenting, and vloggging about what they’d like to see come January 2009. There are some topics the site already lays out, mostly focused on foreign policy, but a critical health care mass would be a great thing. Check it out.

MarketWatch: Increasing Health Care Costs Force Employers To Focus On Health Care Reforms

In her MarketWatch (5/6) blog, Kristen Gerencher writes that Len Nichols, a health economist at the New America Foundation, described in a conference call "a new study from the foundation" that examined "how high health-care costs are putting U.S. employers at a significant competitive disadvantage compared with the health-care burden shouldered by other industrialized nations. The problem will get worse unless financing for health coverage starts to shift away from the employer-based model, Nichols said." Gerencher adds that "groups of big employers ranging from AARP to Safeway to Wal-Mart with names like Divided We Fail, the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform and Better Health Care Together are calling for comprehensive change, a marked departure from employers' role in the last attempt at national health reform in 1993." To increase competiveness in the global market, "Nichols suggests eliminating or capping the tax exclusion that workers get for their employers' premium contributions and cashing them out by requiring employers to convert premium contributions into higher wages that workers could use to buy insurance on their own. For workers who can't afford it, he also recommends a sliding-scale tax credit."

BusinessWeek: Japanese Auto Makers Target Seniors

BusinessWeek reports that Japanese auto makers "are keen to keep seniors behind the wheel. Although few admit to targeting older customers with specific models, many new technologies or design trends are being developed with older drivers in mind." Toyota has "approached Ryuta Kawashima, a professor at Tohoku University, who chairs a 'mobility and smart aging' study group at the university, to help develop a car of the future. One idea is for the car to recognize how the driver normally drives, such as the way he or she accelerates or holds the steering wheel. If the approach to driving changes significantly, for instance, accelerating for no obvious reason, the car could automatically slow."

CNN/Money: Candidates Using 'Fuzzy Math' During Campaigns

CNN reports, "It's a good thing they're not running for accountant in chief. When it comes to selling their economic proposals as fiscally responsible, all three presidential candidates have managed to do some funny math." Democratic candidates "frequently cite their plans to let the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 expire for high-income taxpayers as a way to pay for their initiatives." That revenue "certainly could go a long way toward paying" for their health care reforms, but not the rest of their proposals. And "some of their other cost-saving measures, such as modernizing the health system and reducing wasteful health spending, are not easily quantifiable." McCain's campaign says his proposed tax cuts "will stimulate economic growth and maintain a healthy level of tax revenue. But studies - including one by Holtz-Eakin in his capacity as Congressional Budget Office director in 2005 - suggest that tax cuts don't pay for themselves over time."

Tonight's primary showed us more of what we have already seen. And what's that? 50 plus voters turning out to vote and economic issues topping voters' concerns. According to the exit polls, North Carolina saw 55 percent of the electorate over 50 and in Indiana, 49 percent were 50+. The economy dominated as the top issue, with 61 percent in North Carolina and 67 percent in Indiana naming it as a top concern.

Hmmm... haven't we heard this before? Seems that across the nation there are two things that are pretty consistent - half the electorate is over 50 and the top issue is clearly the economy. Let's hope the candidates are paying attention.

Another good one from Lindsay:

We’re not the only ones busting boomer myths. Over at Business Week they’re talking about new research that shows how tech savvy boomers really are …

Contrary to the popular belief that tech entrepreneurs start their companies in their teens or early 20s, we found that the average and median age of founders was 39. Twice as many were older than 50 as were younger than 25. And there were twice as many over 60 as under 20. So, we may read stories about young people starting tech companies, but they're the minority. Most tech entrepreneurs have grey hair and experience.

I’m not surprised – boomers are a vast and varied group who are redefining growing older. Many will continue to work after retirement and a solid majority of them don’t let the years prevent them from using the internet.

AP: As Economy Sours, Health Care Problems Worsen

The AP reports that "as the economy spirals downward, a series of recent reports forecasts that the country's health-care crisis is about to get worse, particularly for children." Researchers at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center "concluded that children who were covered by private insurance were over three times more likely than government-insured children to lose their coverage if a parent lost or quit a job." At the same time, insured "workers can barely afford to keep it. In recent years, most people have seen larger chunks of their paychecks going to health-insurance premiums."

US News And World Report: Boomers Want Specialized Health Care As Geriatricians Disappear

In her US News And World Report (5/5) blog, Emily Brandon writes, "A new survey found that baby boomers want medical care specifically geared toward older patients. Both 55- to 64-year-olds (83 percent) and those over age 65 (87 percent) say it is important to see a healthcare provider with specialized training for adults in their respective age ranges, according to the online survey of 3,110 adults over age 55 by Zogby International and the American System for Advancing Senior Health." At the same time, "highly trained doctors can be elusive. About half of 55-to-64-year-olds (55 percent) and those over age 65 (52 percent) say they've encountered difficulty finding a specialized doctor for their age ranges, the Zogby survey found."

USA Today: Retailers Target Rebate Checks

USA Today reports, "Wall Street has its own opportunistic take on the 2008 economic stimulus plan: Where they shop could add to a stock-price pop. ... But which retailers will ring up the most sales, and which stocks will benefit most?" Wall Street has been trying to figure that out as stores are "offering discounts and promotions to lure shoppers." Wal-Mart has "cut prices on staples, such as shampoo, juice and sports drinks, to give shoppers an incentive to spend their rebates at its stores." Other stores like "grocery chain Supervalu, Sears, office supply giant Staples and grocer Kroger" are targeting consumers.

Jonathan Martin of Politico recently wrote about Senator McCain and the issue of age, wondering if age impacts who is voting for the candidate. It seems to me like people are more focused on the issues and the media more focused on the superficial fluff. In fact, as recently as April’s Washington Post-ABC News poll, 70 percent of respondents said Senator McCain’s age makes no difference. So there.

UPI: Taxpayers Pay Billions For Uninsured's Health Care

"U.S. taxpayers pay $45 billion a year for Medicaid, children's health insurance and unpaid healthcare for full-time workers and their families," according to the Commonwealth Fund. Research conducted on their behalf by researchers at Columbia University "found federal, state and local governments pay $33 billion a year for public coverage such as Medicaid and [SCHIP] for full-time workers and family and $12 billion in uncompensated care expenses." The article concludes, "The cost borne by the public for full-time workers not covered by their own employers is largely a result of fewer workers and worker family members obtaining health insurance coverage through their employers -- even among those employed by firms with more than 100 employees."

USA Today: Job Loss Numbers Said To Indicate Stumbing Economy

According to Friday's report from the Labor Department, US employers "shed 20,000 jobs in April, while wages stalled, leaving Americans struggling to keep up with rising energy and food costs. ... The nation's unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, dipped to 5% in April from 5.1% in March. The employment picture was less brutal that the 75,000 job loss economists had predicted, still, it reflects a badly stumbling economy." USA Today adds, "There are now 7.6 million Americans out of work, compared with 6.8 million a year ago. The jobless rate is highest for teenagers at 15.4%, African-Americans at 8.6% and Hispanics at 6.9%."

AP: Fed Announces Crackdown On Credit Card Industry

The AP reported that the proposal "would be the biggest clampdown on the industry in decades. ... Lawmakers who have demanded tougher controls on the credit card industry were generally positive about the proposed rules, as were consumer groups. But some questioned whether the changes would be strong enough and soon enough to help the millions of households struggling with credit card debt."