shAARP Talk: Observations from AARP

Many Medicare recipients are justifiably nervous over the state of their coverage. There has been a lot of talk about doctors refusing to cover Medicare patients if they receive a pay cut. While Congress works to avoid the reduction in payment, the Bush administration has announced it will temporarily freeze the Medicare cuts to buy Congress some more time to come up with a fix.

Meanwhile, the state of health care for all Americans is still troubling. According to the New York Times, 20 percent of Americans either delayed or didn't make visits to the doctor to deal with health problems last year. These numbers show a troubling rise in the amount of Americans who aren't properly dealing with health problems and shed some light on just how bad things are getting in health care. Have you skipped a doctor's visit or put off getting a health problem checked out? Let us know, comment below.

We're on a guest blogger roll here folks! Yesterday Congressman Neal, from the fine state of Massachusetts, held a hearing about saving for retirement at work. Now, if you didn't know already, 75 million people in the United States have no way of saving for their retirement! Congressman Neal is working to change that. Read on below to see his plan.

We have all heard of the three-legged “retirement” stool meant to prop us up in our golden years -- that is, Social Security, pensions, and savings. Without one leg, that stool will be hard to sit on. Unfortunately, recent statistics show that our personal savings rate continues to decline. In fact, our personal savings rate has declined so much over the last few decades that, since 2005, it has been a paltry one-half of one percent.

Individual Retirement Accounts, or IRAs, have existed for decades, with the hopes that those without employer plans would save on their own, and yet we are still faced with underutilization by the intended targets. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently projected that 37% of all workers will retire with zero plan savings, and that of young and low-income workers, 63% will have no plan savings at retirement. Clearly, Congress must do more to foster personal savings.

We must begin to think more creatively and use innovation to capture this group of workers who are not saving. One of these vehicles is the Auto-IRA (HR 2167), a bipartisan bill that I have sponsored along with my colleague Rep. Phil English (R-PA). With 75 million workers with no access to a workplace retirement plan, and only 10% of these workers saving on their own, clearly the current incentives are not working.

Our bill creates automatic payroll deposit Individual Retirement Accounts for workers who do not have access to employer-provided qualified pension plans. Our bill would require employers to automatically enroll employees in an “auto IRA” unless the employee opts out. These are ‘set it and forget it’ payroll deposit accounts. The non-partisan Retirement Security Project has estimated that this proposal could raise net national savings by nearly eight billion dollars annually.

At a recent hearing before a House Ways and Means Subcommittee, Dr. Leo Estrada, a member of the Board of Directors of AARP, testified in support of this bill. He said, “Studies have shown that automatic enrollment programs provide a way of improving retirement savings by using the so-called ‘power of inertia’ to change non-savers into savers.” I am pleased to be joined by the more than 39 million members of AARP in supporting this innovative savings vehicle.

As George Foreman observed, “The question isn't at what age I want to retire, it’s at what income.” If only we all had this same observation in our 20’s, we wouldn’t be fighting so hard to save in our 50’s.

Dying to find some old Sinatra flicks? Wanna know who's on first? Well there haven't been a lot of options for folks looking to watch great older movies, but that is starting to change. Slowly but surely an effort by both major and independent studios to release older films onto DVD is taking place. This is a great chance to take home some vintage movies, many of which never even made it to VHS. Check out Legend Films for a full list of their DVDs.

This has been quite a week for talking about money - especially for AARP. Our folks have been at conferences, talking to Congress, and popping up in the media even!

We thought we'd invite someone to guest blog with us here at Shaarp Session about your money and offer some advice. Ric Edelman has been ranked among the 100 best financial advisors in America five times and he's here to offer some advice about what do with your 401(k) when it's time to move on to a new job. Check it out below - and send us your questions about personal finance. We'll make sure Ric gets to see them.

If you’re leaving an employer, what should you do with the money in your retirement plan?

Regardless of why you’re leaving — you’re retiring, you found a new job, you quit, you were fired, whatever — we routinely recommend that you move the money to an IRA account. This is true regardless of what kind of retirement plan you have — 401(k), 403(b), 457, TSP, etc.

Moving the money from a former employer’s plan to an IRA has several advantages: You gain the ability to select from a potentially unlimited number of investment options, and you enjoy complete control over your account, with no interference from a Human Resources or plan administrator.

When people move money from an employer plan to an IRA, they frequently refer to the transaction as a “rollover.” But that term is rather inaccurate. A true rollover occurs only when your employer sends you a check for the account balance that’s made payable to you. In this case, you’d deposit the check and write a new one, which you’d forward to your IRA account. Rollovers must be completed (meaning the money must be deposited into the IRA) within 60 days; otherwise, you’ll owe taxes (plus a 10% IRS penalty if you are under age 59½ at the time of the rollover). To make matters worse, employers typically withhold 20% of the funds when sending you that check. It’s hard to roll over money that you never get — making it more likely that you’ll incur taxes and penalties!

Fortunately, there’s an easier way to move money out of that employer plan. Simply sign a form your employer can give you, authorizing a “direct transfer.” The form instructs your employer to send the money in your retirement account directly to your IRA. This is easy (you just sign the form) and stress-free (there’s no 60-day deadline). Plus, your employer will not withhold 20% of your money!

Sometimes, employers send “transfer” checks to the employee (you) instead of directly to the IRA. Have no fear: As long as the check is payable to the IRA trustee or custodian, it’s considered a transfer and not a rollover. It’s OK even if your name appears on the check. (Your name should be preceded by the initials FBO, which means “For the Benefit Of.”)

Thus, if you receive such a check, don’t deposit or sign it. Instead, just mail it to your IRA. You’ll get confirmation shortly, showing that the money has been deposited into your account.

Then, sit back and relax, knowing that your retirement assets are working for you.

By Ric Edelman

Well boomers have had a rough go of it when it comes to saving for retirement. The diminishing likelihood of support from Social Security and the end of the pension era have closed many doors to those looking to prepare financially for retiring. Throw in the trouble in the housing market and its little wonder that by 2009 the net worth of boomers will have dropped between 20 and 40 percent.

Despite all the doom and gloom in regard to the economy and retirement savings, there are still simple, common-sense approaches to encourage growth of personal savings. The automatic IRA proposal first thought up by David John and Mark Iwry is a simple but effective plan to help many of the over 75 million workers who have no work place retirement programs. That's why AARP and several other organizations are backing the proposal. We need to adopt ideas like these to prevent a future with millions of older Americans living in poverty.

It used to be generally accepted that you could count on a nice little inheritance from your parents. That just isn't the case these days. More and more parents who thought they would be able to leave money to their kids can't. People are being stretched in all directions between living longer and having greater expenses, depleting their savings. With the economy being down, it looks like everyone will have to fend for themselves.

To help deal with all the growing costs and a longer life-span, many 50+ Americans are doing what was once unthinkable: looking for new jobs. As costs are rising and the labor pool is shrinking, there are more and more opportunities for older Americans to stay employed and share their experience. Take a look at some tips on how older Americans can find jobs.

So last weekend a group of ten divas got together in Atlanta, GA for an AARP 50th Anniversary concert. (Yes, AARP can now join itself...) The divas represented old to young, hip hop to gospel and shared their passion with the crowd.

Here's a picture of Queen Latifa belting out some tunes for you!

There has been an enormous effort to get those stimulus checks to everyone who qualifies. AARP is continuing its effort to inform people on how to get their payment and has created a tool to assist in filling out forms and filing a return. Happy filings!

It's always to get a little extra cash to spend, but hold off on that big purchase you were planning. You might just need that check to help pay for necessities, especially health care. For example, if you currently rely on Medicare, you don't need me to tell you that premiums have doubled over the last eight years. If you have a private plan, that might seem like a bargain.

How are you planning on spending your stimulus check? Impulse thrills or insurance bills? Comment below.

Tomorrow Congress is going to take a closer look at payday lenders and their targeting of social security beneficiaries. These crafty and unscrupulous businesses set up shop around government subsidized housing and sometimes even around retirement communities! Generally speaking, I’d say payday loans aren’t the way to go - but they are especially dangerous for Social Security recipients who are bamboozled into signing their checks over to these lenders to settle accumulating debts.

If you ARE dealing with payday lenders never, ever sign over your Social Security checks to a bank account that’s controlled by the loan company. You always have options, so talk to your family about a small loan or call your creditors and explain the situation – many are happy to develop a payment plan that works for everyone.

While you’re spreading the word, AARP will be up on Capitol Hill tomorrow talking about ways to protect ya’ll and your Social Security checks! We’ll keep you posted.

So we all know that the boomers are getting ready to enter their golden years, but what you might not know about are the widespread efforts to prepare for all the changes this entails. One great example can be found in the area of driving. The driving experience will soon be very different. Driving courses can help older drivers to adjust their driving style to match their abilities, but cars will feature new designs meant to customize the driving experience and help keep older drivers on the road. New cars could feature customizable displays capable of using a larger font. Future vehicles may even be able to vary their performance based on the abilities of the driver or even forward medical records to the hospital after an accident. It's not quite the Jetsons, but it's pretty interesting.

Driving isn't the only arena that is adjusting to this massive demographic shift. From helping people to remember their medication to alerting loved ones in the event of a fall, new inventions are helping to ensure that technology allows people to age in place. It is great to see new inventions helping people to stay in the homes they love.

I got my stimulus payment finally, how about you?

According to a USA Today story, more than 5 million potentially eligible retirees and disabled veterans haven't received a stimulus check yet because they haven't filed a tax return. If you haven’t received your rebate, it’s not too late. You could still be eligible for several hundred dollars.

Here’s the deal: you have to file a tax return form, but not with all the mess and confusion. So what are you waiting for? Visit AARP’s Stimulus Payment Tool – it’s free and easy. The hardest part will be deciding what to do with the money …

It is a good day. We've been watching this closely and apparently so has the Huffington Post:

The Supreme Court made it easier Thursday for employees to prove they have suffered discrimination because of their age.

In a 7-1 ruling, the court said that when older workers are disproportionately affected by an employment decision, the employer bears the burden of explaining whether there was a reasonable explanation other than age for the company's action.

The lawsuit involved 26 former employees of Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in upstate New York who were all over 40 at the time they were laid off in 1996. In fact, 30 of the 31 workers who were laid off that year were over 40 years old.

But the Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects them, and the Supreme Court justices agreed. The New York Times reports:

The issue in the case, while technical, is important for the litigation of age discrimination cases in which an employer's action or policy that appears neutral on its face has a disparate impact on older workers. David Certner, the chief legislative counsel for AARP, praised the decision and said it would prove 'vital to the creation and maintenance of a workplace that is fair and free of age bias.'

Indeed. Read the Times article for more details, and let's start celebrating.

In general, what is the best age for the president of he United States? Is the “best” age for a president in the 40s? 50s? 60s or 70s? CBS News conducted a poll in February that asked this exact question, and found some surprising results.

Just about half of those polled said that the best age for a president to be in office was in their 50s. But of course neither Senator Obama or Senator McCain is in their 50s. Barack Obama is in his 40s and John McCain is in his 70s.

Ok, so what does that mean? Well, 20 percent of those polled said that Barack Obama’s age was just about right while only 2 percent of those polled thought that John McCain’s age was appropriate to be president. So do a majority of people feel that John McCain is too old to be president?

Not exactly. The CBS poll also asked voters if they thought a candidate’s age would be an obstacle to their voting for a candidate. Only 30 percent of those polled said that McCain’s age would be a problem (70 percent didn’t think it would be a problem). But the surprising fact that the CBS News poll points out is that voters under 30 were less likely to view McCain’s age as a problem than were older voters.

Go figure.

Somewhere Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan are looking down on all this and smiling.

So we know now that boomers are online doing a lot of the same things that younger people do. Why would gaming be any different? Well, in fact it isn't. In a nod to changing trends in gaming, AARP's website will include a gaming platform. Turns out boomers spend 100 minutes of their leisure time each week playing video or computer games. I wonder how much of that "leisure time" takes place in the office?

Maybe boomers are spending so much more time playing video games because they are trying to forget about the economy. Between high gas prices, a tight credit market, and bad housing market, we are far from out of the woods here.

We’ve heard that “gaming” is all the rage, and people can’t stop talking about “friending” people on Facebook, but young people aren’t the only ones playing online anymore. Boomers are behaving like teenagers on the Internet too—joining online communities, playing games and shopping according to a new study. The perception that people over 50 are only dabbling on the Internet has been totally dispelled by this study – in fact, they’re pretty much doing the same stuff online that 20 year olds are! The majority of folks said their online community is important to them and that they are going online to check for news now more than ever!

Okay, shameless plug here. If you haven’t found a community yet – give aarp.org a try. Happy “friending.”

When it comes to preparing for care later in life, it pays to know your stuff. Considering many of us are likely to reside in a nursing home at some point in our lives, it is crucial to research your options and be prepared for that possibility. The Chicago Tribune's health care blog Triage has a piece today on the new five star rating system for nursing homes. This is the kind of system that can easily give people a way to compare their options and find the best fit for them. Thanks for the help Medicare!

AARP has come out in support for this rating system and has had nothing but good things to say about the value of it. Hopefully by creating an clear and easily understood ratings system, people won't be left in the dark when trying to make one of life's vitally important choices.

We talked about Electronic Prescribing not too long ago. It brings Silicon Valley and health care together, and makes this blogger squeal with delight.

Imagine if your prescription was ready at the pharmacy before you even leave the doctor’s office. Even better, imagine automatic reminders when a cheaper generic drug is available. And imagine getting immediate notice if a new prescription could have dangerous interactions with a drug you’re already taking. These are just some of the promises of e-prescribing, which The Wall Street Journal touched on.

The Journal’s Health Blog points out a couple of the roadblocks...like the fact that the DEA has forbidden electronic prescribing of controlled substances. Even though e-prescribing actually produces better records than pen and paper, doctors can’t prescribe pain killers and other controlled drugs electronically. That’s a big red flag to doctors that don’t want to keep paper and electronic systems running together. Fortunately, the DEA is starting to respond to pressure to fix that..

So how can we make e-prescribing a reality? Encourage your doctor to make the switch, and let your representatives and senators in Congress know that you want them to support electronic prescribing legislation that will make it easier and safer for you to get the prescriptions you need.

We all face the daily struggle of trying to keep track of deadlines, bills, and other responsibilities. While it might be tough to hold on to every last detail, there are ways to improve your recall and keep your brain healthy. The Huffington Post picked up on an Associated Press article on the booming brain fitness industry. Companies such as Nintendo have created products that work along side with classics like Sudoku and can help to create and maintain mental sharpness. Now that's something worth remembering!

Since we're on the topic of memory, let's talk about how Congress seems to have forgotten its promise to protect the American people, particularly in the wake of the economic slowdown we've been going through. Al Dia covered an AARP survey which showed that Hispanic Americans are being hit even harder than the average American by the weak economy. Maybe members of Congress could use a few brain fitness exercises.

So many of today's big headlines revolve around Fed Chairman Ben Bernake's recent comments on the state of disrepair of our nation's health care system. He acknowledged that without major reforms to the system, health care costs will continue to rise at an astronomical pace. No kidding.

Rising health care costs are just one contributing factor forcing Americans to stretch a dollar further every day. In fact, more and more Americans are facing the breaking point when it comes to their finances. AARP's Consumer Bankruptcy Project confirmed that bankruptcy rates amongst older Americans have risen 150% in the past ten years. Just another symptom of a country that needs to stop the infighting and come together to solve major challenges.

If this has got you fired up, you're not alone. Let us know what you think it the comment section below.

ShAARP Session invited Senators Baucus and Grassley - the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, the Committee in charge of Medicare in the Senate - to guest blog. Below you'll see each of them explain their respective bills to you. Now you have the chance to respond to them with your thoughts and concerns.

The following statements from Senators Baucus and Grassley regarding their competing Medicare bills are
unedited and do not reflect AARP's position.

If Congress doesn't act, the physicians who treat Medicare patients will face a 10.6 percent pay cut, effective July 1. Such a dramatic cut would very likely hurt older Americans' access to their doctors. A big number of doctors might stop dealing with Medicare altogether.

The Republican bill prevents the cut and gives a small payment increase to keep doctors serving Medicare patients. The physician payments are the same as in the Democratic leaders' bill. Neither bill is more generous than the other to doctors.

The Republican bill has several other Medicare improvements. It increases payments to doctors who report quality data to the government to help link payments with quality. It promotes value-based purchasing, e-prescribing to reduce medication errors, and electronic health records. It includes responsible proposals to preserve Medicare access in rural areas, including much-needed payment improvements for rural hospitals and home health care. It returns the ownership of oxygen equipment to the supplier, not the beneficiary, so the beneficiary doesn't have to get the equipment serviced. It cracks down on abusive sales tactics by Medicare Advantage plans and makes plan quality information available to beneficiaries for comparison shopping. It improves cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, renal care, diabetes prevention, and outpatient therapy. It extends programs to help low-income seniors and families.

Unlike the Democratic leaders' bill, the Republican bill does not:
* cut payments for power wheelchairs;
* reduce payments for oxygen;
* make large, unwarranted cuts to Medicare Advantage, altering policy decisions designed to maximize patient choice;
* eliminate the fund that Congress specifically created to help avert future physician cuts; or
* expand eligibility for low-income Medicare programs, which although well-intentioned, would increase long-term entitlement spending and expand coverage under an already fiscally challenged program.

Maybe most important, the President will sign the Republican bill. The President would veto the Democratic leaders' bill. Meanwhile, the Democratic leaders walked away from bipartisan negotiations and put a timely outcome of this effort in jeopardy. The Republican bill does everything Medicare beneficiaries need to protect their access to
doctors and prevent a physician revolt. There's nothing in it that Democratic leaders would find objectionable if they put aside their political lens and looked at it as Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers.

The following statements from Senators Baucus and Grassley regarding their competing Medicare bills are unedited and do not reflect AARP's position.

The laws governing Medicare have a big influence on seniors’ access to health care, and on the quality of the care they receive. As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I’ve introduced the “Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008” to update Medicare laws and make the program work better for every single American senior. It’s the best bill Congress can pass for seniors this year.

The Baucus bill starts by helping more low-income seniors get help with their Medicare premiums. It has incentives for more primary care doctors to take Medicare patients. It allows for more preventive care in Medicare, to keep seniors healthier, and lowers co-payments for mental health services. It provides more money to rural hospitals, ambulance services, and other facilities to make sure seniors get quality care no matter where they live. It cracks down on shady marketers selling seniors on private plans they don’t need or want. And it makes sure local pharmacists get paid promptly for dispensing medicines under the drug benefit, to keep affordable medications available everywhere.

The Baucus bill is responsible, too, paying for these improvements with smart savings found elsewhere in Medicare. It’s important for you to know that these savings in no way endanger any senior’s access to health coverage, health care, or medical equipment. Rather, savings come from strengthening the rules applied to private fee-for-service plans – which are paid 17 percent more than the amount paid to other Medicare providers – and by reducing overpayments to wheelchair and oxygen providers, who sometimes receive more than 1000 percent of the cost of the equipment they supply. In most cases, these changes will even reduce seniors’ out-of-pocket co-payments while also saving taxpayer dollars.

The President threatens to veto this bill, but I believe Congress should do the very best it can for seniors, and pass the Medicare bill that does the most for all who use the program. The Baucus bill goes the extra mile – particularly for rural and low-income seniors – while giving doctors a decent payment increase that won’t explode costs or inflate premiums. And the Baucus bill saves money in Medicare without endangering anyone’s access to care. I’ll work with other Senators and even the White House to get a good bill signed into law. But the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act is the right start to make Medicare better for every American senior.

This is intriguing.

Reuters had a story yesterday on the potential positive effects that whole body vibration training (WBV) may have on older folks. What is WBV, do you ask? It merely involves standing on platform that sends mild vibratory impulses through the feet and into the rest of the body.

Exercise therapy without having to exercise? Sounds like a win-win to me. They say this strategy could be particularly useful for older women:

In 1 study of 28 postmenopausal women, for example, researchers found that WBV appeared to increase bone density in the hip. The 8-month training regimen required the women to stand on a WBV platform, in a squat position, for six 1-minute cycles, 3 times per week.

Another small study of postmenopausal women found that over one year, WBV training seemed to inhibit bone loss in the spine and hip area.

In the meantime, this like an interesting new form of therapy that folks could potentially benefit from - although the idea of a platform as your exercise machine does seem a bit silly. "Going to the platform to work out, honey!"

It's Friday the 13th! My father insists that this is his lucky day, but so far mine seems to be living up to the legend of back luck! I'll spare you details.

Did you know there's a phobia for Friday the 13th? Paraskevidekatriaphobia! Who knew!? USA Today explores some of the myths around this unlucky day. Any stories you'd like to share? Care to debunk the myth?

Alexis Leondis of Bloomberg reports that a growing number of seniors are using reverse mortgages to pay for things they might never be able to afford on their own. Leondis describes reverse mortgages this way:

Reverse mortgages are for people aged at least 62. The loans, which lenders charge fees equal to as much as 6 percent of a home's value, allow borrowers to use their home equity to get cash tax free. After the borrowers die, or move, the lenders are repaid when the house is sold.

Like every other personal financial decision, the question of whether or not a taking out reverse mortgage is the right decision is a deeply personal and circumstantial one. The AARP Foundation’s Reverse Mortgage Education Project has many tools folks can use to find out if a reverse mortgage is appropriate to their particular circumstance.

Full confession: I love “weird” news. I check Yahoo! Odd News daily, sometimes hourly (shh! don't tell my boss!). I came across these two tidbits: protesting nuns and French spiderman.

Now, there are a lot of causes I’m passionate about – access to health care and financial security chief among them – but I don’t know that I’d chain myself up, much less scale a skyscraper. Signing a pledge is more my style. What about you – what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to support an issue you care about?

Bill Novelli, AARP's CEO, sounds off on today's Medicare vote:

“Eight in ten older Americans are concerned about their health care bills; even more are worried about what those bills will be in the coming years. It’s unfortunate that some senators voted to block debate on real, positive changes to our health care system.”

To see what else he had to say click here.

Yesterday we said we’d let you know if your senator voted to Keep Medicare Fair for you, and today we’re posting the record of their votes. Click here to see how your senator voted.

Feel free to sound off here, or give your senator a call and let them know how you’re feeling.

I must have health on the mind lately (healthy drinks, health care, etc.) because when I was skimming the news this morning I found a story about these ladies who tap dance! They started tapping as a little light exercise once a week and now they're practically Vegas showgirls!

Check out this video of the Hot Flash Hoofers (I didn't make it up!) in action:

The World Health Organization has new data out on the health of its 193 member states. First, the good news: for the first time life expectancy in the U.S. has passed 78 years. This means that children born in 2006 are expected to live longer than ever. Now the bad: according to this story by AP writer Mike Stobbe, “the United States continues to lag behind about 30 other countries in estimated life span.” Hmmm … it would probably help if all Americans had access to health care, like some of our longer-living European friends. (We’re working on it. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and take your health into your own hands by checking out some healthy living tips.)

Because there is such a pressing need to end the gridlock here in Washington, we've been taking the issues directly to the people. This is why you've likely noticed a surge in political ads including the huge Divided We Fail ad campaign that has been going on nation-wide. The politicians are just not getting things done and the American people are the ones left in the lurch. By bringing our message to the people we can work together to make some real progress here.

Speaking of getting the word out, yesterday the blogosphere picked up on the presumptive 2008 nominees sparring over Social Security. While there has been a lot of posturing, little if anything has actually gotten done to this point. However, this lively debate is a step in the right direction. Regardless of what you personally believe the best way of protecting Social Security may be, a vibrant public dialogue between our leaders is clearly a necessary step in the process.

Many of your have heard about our effort to Keep Medicare Fair. With premiums skyrocketing over the last decade, AARP is working to make sure inaction in Congress doesn't add up to big jumps in your health care bills.

Congress has been listening to you and to us, and they're getting somewhere. Tomorrow, the Senate is scheduled to vote on a Medicare bill that AARP gave a thumbs up to earlier this week (link to article or press release). That bill keeps premium increases reasonable, improves help for low-income people in Medicare and creates a national system for electronic prescriptions to help lower the chance of a mix-ups with your drugs.

Thursday's vote won't decide whether or not the bill passes, but it will decide if the Senate can continue to work on this particular bill. They need 60 votes to keep moving forward with this bill to keep Medicare fair for you. If we don't get 60 votes, we're starting all over, and creeping closer and closer to the June 30 deadline for a Medicare bill.

SHAARPSession is going to watch Thursday's vote, and we'll report the results right here, so you'll know right away how your senators voted. In the meantime, visit KeepMedicareFair.org and call or e-mail your senators. Let them know they need to Keep Medicare Fair.

And if you have a story to share about your rising health care bills, sound off in the comments. We want to hear from you.

Cranberries are making an appearance everywhere nowadays…I was browsing YouTube and even Richard Simmons digs their tangy juice. I did some research and found out they are good for more than just urinary tract health (thanks for the tip, mom). Some recent studies are showing that cranberry juice increases the “good” cholesterol in your body almost the same way red wine does!

So while Congress works on Medicare– sip on some cranberry juice and say cheers to your heart!

Sex appeal and stylishness aren't only for twenty somethings. Need proof? Look no further than the extremely popular Sex And The City girls. Here are some women who are not afraid to be on the cutting edge of fashion regardless of what their age is. In that same vein, AARP wants to show off just how beautiful life after 50 can be and the search for 50+ real people models is on.

Since there is so much appeal in the 50+ crowd it shouldn't be too surprising to know that many older Americans aren't afraid to stay a little frisky. Fox News' Health Blog answers a reader's question on an active sex life after 65 and notes that staying sexually active is definitely the norm. Just more proof that you're only as old as you feel.

Have you seen this ad for the Alliance for Climate Protection yet? Pretty striking, right? Left and right working together for the greater good of all…sounds vaguely familiar. Who does Al Gore think he is?!

OK, OK – Divided We Fail doesn’t actually own the idea on encouraging bi-partisan solutions to the problems facing Americans. I guess great minds really do think alike that if we’re going to accomplish anything, we’re going to have to work together. What are you waiting for? Go ahead, get involved already!

Well it was looking dicey for a while, but the legislation designed to prevent cuts to Medicare patients doctors' rates has been changed to ensure that patients won't be stuck paying the tab. While the legislation was starting to look like it would leave patients to foot the bill through increased premiums, recent changes will protect Medicare recipients while still preventing a cut in doctors' rates. This is a real win and good news for the millions of Americans who rely on Medicare.

Meanwhile, the need to protect Social Security is only growing and there has been little effort by the government to do anything about it. The 2008 Presidential hopefuls butted heads on Social Security yesterday as covered by Bonney Kapp of Fox News Embed Producers' Blog. Though Social Security has been debated widely, so far that debate has only paid lip-service to the problems facing the program. Let's look to these two politicians to put those word into action.

Despite belly aching by opponents, age doesn’t appear to play much of a role in John McCain's bid for the Presidency. In her article, Angela Delli Santi of Associated Press describes why In her AP article, Angela Delli Santi describes why age will not impact the election bids of McCain and other older politicians. It’s nice to know that these arguments aren’t holding water with voters even though it seems to be the topic du jour.

Meanwhile, the presumptive nominees for the 2008 race seem to be willing to engage each other on the real problems facing the nation rather than superficial issues such as age. This weekend, McCain and Obama tussled over the best way to cure what ails the American economy in The New York Times political blog, The Caucus. We’ll give this one some time before we dive in with our opinions.

CNN Health Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is reported yesterday that she recently learned her insurance company was storing her health records online. She seemed a little concerned she didn’t know about that—and she has a point. It’s tough to know what standards her insurance company is using and how secure her records really are.

At the same time, AARP was on Capitol Hill yesterday talking to congress about how to make sure medical records are safe, but also make sure your doctors have access to the information they need to keep you healthy.

Electronic health records and health information technology (or Health IT if you're saving time) have been proven to reduce mistakes and improve efficiency when it comes to health care. That saves lives and money, but only if the government sets standards for security and interoperability.

Now, your bank card wouldn’t be very useful if it didn’t work at all ATMs and your health records won’t do much good if they’re locked on a computer in Albuquerque while you’re on vacation in Hawaii.

Senator Obama has received a good deal of coverage recently as he has taken the time to detail many of the policies he would advocate if elected President. On the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog, Scott Hensley outlined Obama's plans for health care which apparently include whupping Congress into shape with a stick given to him by a supporter at a rally in Virginia. Aside from talking about what he wanted to do to increase health care coverage, Obama also told the audience what he wouldn't cover...liposuction.

At the same time, the blog Obscurity Calls noted that Senator McCain was chastising his political opponents for using delaying tactics rather than dealing with Social Security now. It's great to see influential politicians forcing this issue to the forefront rather then pushing it onto the back burner. Now let's see if anything gets done.

While Congress recently passed the budget, for a whopping three trillion dollars, it failed to address the key financial and health care concerns facing the country in the future. Fire Dog Lake picked up on a Reuters piece which notes that it will most likely be up to the new President to deal with the most important and troubling issues our nation faces.

We all know that gas prices are going up, up, up, and that as a result more people are riding mass transit. But what about commuting to work on your bike? According to this blog post from Freakonomics, Dutch workers can use up to $750 of pre-tax income triennially to purchase bikes. In offering this subsidy, the Dutch government aims to incentivize short-distance commuters and decrease air pollution. Added bonus: a more active and healthy population. Makes sense to me.

Do you ride your bike to work? If not, would you if (OK, when) gas prices rise even higher?

A lot of attention is being paid to the diminishing savings of many Americans and the challenges we face in stashing money away for retirement. In her blog for US News And World Report, Michelle Andrews talks about health care costs after age 65. She says that while many retirees believe that Medicare will cover their expenses, they should really be planning on spending as much as $500,000 or more in out of pocket health care costs. Ow! That will put a real crack in your nest egg.

Aside from the challenges that exist for those in retirement, there are many expenses that can draw away from that retirement fund of yours before you even reach an age where you can say goodbye to work. Responding to an article in Monday's Wall Street Journal, Alexis Glick describes the retirement cruch and some unanticipated costs that can strain savings that would otherwise go toward retirement. So while the costs during retirement are on the rise, so are those we face before we can even get to that point. Hopefully the 2008 election will offer some better solutions than our current strategy of crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

Check out Newsweek.com’s "A Guide for Caregivers." Author Joan Raymond offers tips on medical, financial, legal, and housing issues you can discuss with your aging relatives and points to additional helpful resources. Before you join the ranks of the approximately 20 million Americans taking care of their families and their aging parents – what we at AARP call the sandwich generation – it’s important to open a dialogue about these issues with your parents. You can also visit AARP's caregiving page or pick up our book, Caring for Your Parents, at Borders for more information.

’It's kind of odd to think of Woodstock in terms of AARP…But that's probably the magazine we're going to advertise in,’ sai