How AARP is Working for You

We were instrumental last year in helping the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) devise a labeling system aimed at bringing more transparency to shopping for a high-speed internet plan. 

Now we call on the agency to strengthen those labels, which are modeled after nutrition information on food and are expected to be rolled out this spring. 

Learn more.

Like clockwork, millions of Americans receive the Social Security benefits they've earned through a lifetime of hard work.

Social Security is a guaranteed source of income you’ve earned by paying into the program that helps provide financial security in retirement. For most Americans, Social Security is the only reliable inflation-protected income source that helps older Americans keep up with rising prices, and you can’t outlive the benefits. It also provides survivor and disability benefits to millions of Americans.

So it’s no surprise that an overwhelming majority of the public supports the program – and that backing crosses party and geographical lines.

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We notched another win in our fight for accessible voting — this time in Wyoming, where we helped defeat proposed changes that would have made it tougher for people to cast ballots in upcoming elections.  

A series of bills introduced in the legislature last month called for stricter voter ID requirements and would have made it a crime, in some cases, for groups to collect absentee ballots from voters. None will be enacted into law, thanks to lobbying from AARP Wyoming and others.   

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We applaud federal officials for heeding our call to step up enforcement of laws against age discrimination in the workplace. 

We wrote to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) this week, thanking commissioners for “including a significantly increased emphasis on the protection of older workers” in the EEOC’s planning priorities for the next five years. 

The commission is also zeroing in on the growing use of technology in recruiting and hiring, which AARP has argued could be biased or used against older workers. 

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This year, we’ve made it a top priority to lobby Congress and state lawmakers for programs to support America’s 48 million family caregivers, who provide an estimated $470 billion in unpaid care. A new AARP survey shows that as a group, they also wield power in the voting booth. Not only are caregivers likely to be registered to vote, but they also show up for elections, the survey found.

More than 1,000 unpaid caregivers 18 and older were surveyed online or by telephone Oct. 6–27, 2022 about their voting habits. Eighty-five percent of respondents 18 and older and 98 percent of respondents 65 and older said they were registered to vote. Among those who were registered, about 90 percent said they voted in 2020 and planned to do so again in 2022.

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We applaud lawmakers for passing – and Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. for signing last month – a law in the U.S. Virgin Islands to protect older and disabled adults when hurricanes and other natural disasters strike.

The AARP-backed law will set up a special unit within the islands’ emergency management agency focused specifically on the needs of older adults and those with disabilities, who are often disproportionately impacted by extreme weather events.

Learn more.

People on Medicare prescription drug plans should already be reaping benefits of last summer’s sweeping legislation to reduce drug prices, with additional savings to come in the next few years, the head of Medicare told AARP tele-town hall listeners on Thursday. 

“It was really important to deliver [cost savings] right away because we know how much not only people with Medicare, but their families, their communities who support them, have been struggling with these high costs,” said Meena Seshamani, M.D., director of the Center for Medicare, during the live Q&A event Thursday afternoon.

AARP has for years led the charge to lower drug prices, ramping up pressure on lawmakers last summer as the bill advanced through Congress.

Learn more and listen to a recording of the event.

We brought together global leaders Thursday for a conversation on how to fight age inequities — the cumulative effect of inequalities throughout a person’s lifetime — and promote healthy aging around the world.

“Aging doesn’t just stop at the borders of the United States. It is a global megatrend,” said Jean Accius, AARP’s senior vice president for global thought leadership, during a panel hosted by AARP International and the Meridian Center for Diplomatic Engagement. 

Learn more and watch a recording of the event.