How AARP is Working for You

Ohio communities will soon get additional state funding to investigate reports of elder abuse, thanks in part to advocacy from AARP Ohio.

AARP successfully pushed lawmakers to include an additional $4.9 million per year for its Adult Protective Services program in the state’s recently approved two-year budget. The program handles complaints of abuse against vulnerable adults, including people 60 and older.

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AARP wrote to U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers this week in support of a bill that would protect the rights of retirees to remain in the type of Medicare plan they are enrolled in.

The bipartisan Right to Medicare Act would prohibit employers from forcing retirees enrolled in a retiree health plan in traditional Medicare to move to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, which are managed by private insurance companies. It would instead allow currently retired employees to opt into a Medicare Advantage plan if they choose to do so.

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AARP applauds Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and the state Department of Aging for developing a master plan to ensure residents have the support they need to age in their homes and communities.

In May, the governor signed an executive order calling for the 10-year plan, thanks in large part to AARP’s advocacy.

Our state office staff and volunteers joined Department of Aging officials and others in recent months for town halls and listening sessions to get input from older Pennsylvanians about what should be addressed in the plan.

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AARP wrote to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee last week calling on lawmakers to adopt responsible reforms to shore up Medicare’s finances for the future.

In a statement submitted Sept. 27 ahead of a hearing on Medicare financing, we urged lawmakers to work together on policies that “maximize the value of every dollar spent” and prevent “simply shifting costs onto current and future Medicare beneficiaries.”

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AARP joined Families USA and nearly 100 other organizations in writing to the country’s top health official urging him to “fully and quickly” implement a program to negotiate Medicare prescription drug prices, even as the program faces challenges from pharmaceutical companies.

The negotiations will help lower the high cost of lifesaving prescription medications for millions of older Americans, who are sometimes forced to choose between paying for prescriptions and buying food and other necessities, noted the Sept. 28 letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

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We applaud Indiana lawmakers for listening to our call to safeguard funding for adult guardianship programs in the state’s recently approved two-year budget.

Thanks in part to our advocacy, lawmakers agreed to preserve nearly $2 million in funding, saving a program that pairs volunteer advocates with seniors under court-appointed guardianship as well as a registry that tracks guardianship cases statewide, among other services.

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Family caregivers have long labored in obscurity, often overlooked by policymakers and health care providers despite their critical role in helping loved ones live with independence. 

But their status is starting to change, and recent federal policy actions point to an encouraging trend: Increasingly, the invisible army of 48 million family caregivers is becoming recognized for its integral role in the health care landscape. 

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In a major win in AARP’s fight for affordable health care, North Carolina will extend Medicaid coverage to an additional 600,000 residents starting on Dec. 1.

North Carolina now joins 39 other states, plus the District of Columbia, in accepting the federal government’s expansion of Medicaid, which covers 72.5 million Americans, including millions of low-income seniors and people with disabilities.

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