AARP Public Policy Institute

As I have told my team, the AARP Public Policy Institute needs to be more than a think tank. We are a Think and Do Tank. We produce leading research on aging issues, yet we also are action-oriented, from engaging consumers on the topic of prediabetes to producing videos that help family caregivers perform tasks.

From creating a trailblazing initiative that trains bank employees to identify and report suspected financial exploitation, to shining the light on the detrimental health effects and high costs of social isolation, AARP’s Public Policy Institute kept a frenetic pace in 2018, underscoring its identity as a leading “think-and-do” tank. Throughout the year, PPI researched, crunched data and analyzed critical policy issues facing older adults and presented solutions and findings here.

As a family caregiver for my mother who died last year at the age of 96, I benefited greatly from the peace of mind and financial security of having paid family leave benefits from my employer, AARP. The benefit was there when I needed it most: to be present for significant caregiving issues, during a hospitalization, and, finally, in the last days of my mother’s life.

En español | When people talk about family caregivers, Millennials are not always part of the conversation. Yet as the report Caregiving in the U.S. 2015 found, close to 1 in 4 family caregivers (24%) are Millennials.

 

Oregon is about to take a small but important first step in solving the nation’s retirement security crisis. On July 1, 2017 the state launched a pilot program of “ OregonSaves” and become first in the nation to begin a state-based IRA program.

Thanks to drug manufacturer price hikes, the average cost for a year's supply of a prescription drug has jumped to more than $11,000, or about 75 percent of the average annual Social Security retirement benefit and half the median income of someone on Medicare.

Today, almost everyone in the United States has the option of purchasing an Internet connection. Yet tens of millions of Americans do not share in many of the social and economic benefits that Internet use affords. An increasing number of communities are taking action to address this issue.

Many, perhaps even most homes in the United States aren’t well suited for aging in place.

En español | Prices for generic drugs most commonly used by older Americans fell by the smallest percentage since 2006, with 1 in 4 rising in price — some by more than 1,000 percent, according to a new report from AARP’s Public Policy Institute (PPI).