How AARP is Working for You

We’re making AgeTech — technology that helps older people live longer, better and more independently — a bigger part of the annual CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, which opened today.

The AgeTech industry is booming, with people over age 50 projected to contribute $118 trillion to global GDP by 2050 — nearly three times the $45 trillion they contributed in 2020. So we’re bringing a new series of panel discussions, speakers and programming about AgeTech to CES 2023, in partnership with the Consumer Technology Association. We’ll raise awareness of technology that’s already available — like an app to help improve balance and prevent falls, and artificial intelligence that helps coordinate caregiving duties — and spark discussions about what’s possible for improving the lives of older adults.

Learn more.

We’re urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to keep the health needs of older adults front and center as the nation’s top public health agency undergoes a major overhaul.

We wrote to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky last week, asking her “to focus on the urgent needs of older Americans and make promoting healthy longevity a key priority of the agency.”

Learn more.

Starting in 2023, voters in several states passed new constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives this week opening more options to vote in future elections — and racking up a series of big wins for AARP as we push to make voting easier.

In Connecticut, voters gave lawmakers the green-light to introduce early in-person voting for the first time. And in Michigan, a new constitutional amendment will create a 9-day early voting period, allow voters to sign an affidavit if they don’t have a photo ID, require the state to fund prepaid stamps, drop boxes and a tracking system for absentee ballots, among other measures.

Learn more.

Most U.S. nursing home residents and staff aren’t up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations, even as data point to a sharp winter uptick in COVID cases in long-term care facilities. AARP’s latest Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard found that fewer than half of nursing home residents across the country (45 percent) and fewer than 1 in 4 staff members (22 percent) were fully immunized against COVID-19 as of the week ending Nov. 20. 

That’s despite COVID already taking the lives of an estimated 175,000 nursing home residents and staff.

We wrote to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which regulates more than 15,000 U.S. nursing homes, last week asking that they hold the facilities accountable, continue educating residents and staff about the protection that vaccines and boosters offer and enforce requirements that people who work in federally-funded facilities are immunized.

Learn more.

Older Americans will be better able to save and plan for their retirement and have more options for getting Medicare services at home under a sweeping 2023 spending bill President Joe Biden signed into law on Dec. 29.

The bipartisan measure, which lawmakers had raced to pass ahead of a Dec. 23 deadline to avert a federal government shutdown, provides a road map for spending through September 2023. The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 23 by a vote of 225-201 with one member voting "present." The measure had passed the U. S. Senate on Dec. 22 by a 68 to 29 vote.

Read the full post.

AARP applauds the Department of Transportation for unveiling $686 million in grants to improve accessibility in older transit stations for millions of Americans with disabilities and mobility concerns. The grants — which will be spread across nine states and will help improve railway accessibility in and around cities including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia — are the result of an AARP-backed component of the bipartisan infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed last year.

The All Stations Accessibility Program grants are designed to bring older railway systems more in line with the standards introduced by the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and make train and public transit stations more accessible for people who use wheelchairs or strollers or who have mobility challenges and need extra support. In New York, for example, the grants will pay for the installation of elevators and updates to stairs and handrails, among other projects. In Chicago, they’ll help fund the installation of new elevators and ramp upgrades.

Learn more.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned that COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have climbed in recent weeks as millions of Americans prepare to travel and visit with loved ones over the holidays. But he noted that the risk is “dramatically lower” for those up-to-date on their vaccines and boosters and that it’s “never too late” to get protection from the virus.

“If you just got your first two shots, but you haven’t gotten your updated vaccine, you don’t do as well,” Murthy said Thursday afternoon during the latest virtual AARP Coronavirus Tele-Town Hall.

Read more, and watch a recording of the event.

AARP’s original true-crime podcast The Perfect Scam is a finalist for the inaugural Signal Awards for excellence in podcasting. Organized by the same group that holds the annual Webby Awards for digital content, the Signal Awards received 1,700 entries this year. “The Perfect Scam” is one of six finalists in the “Best Road Trip Podcast” category. 

The Perfect Scam, a project of AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, is a weekly podcast profiling America’s most shocking scam stories, featuring interviews with professional con artists, scam victims and experts on the billion-dollar fraud industry. The Perfect Scam podcast seeks to increase awareness of all types of fraud and arm listeners with the knowledge to best protect themselves and their loved ones.  

You can help us win the Listener’s Choice award by voting for The Perfect Scam between now and Dec. 22.

Learn more, and cast your vote.