Discrimination
Why did AARP do this Survey?
If you have a hard time understanding what the wonks in Washington are talking about, welcome to the club. Beltway buzzwords are at dime a dozen on Capitol Hill, but there’s one particular term to watch out for that simply means massive health care premium hikes for older Americans.
You might soon be paying more for your insurance than some of your coworkers if you are unwilling to share your medical information with your employer, according to rules released May 16 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The new rules allow employers to charge employees a penalty equal to 30 percent of the total employer-employee cost of employee-only health insurance unless they divulge their health data to their employer’s workplace wellness program.
UPDATE (5/16/2016): AARP is deeply disappointed with the new EEOC rules on workplace wellness programs. Read our press release.
May was Better Hearing Month, and I did a lot of radio interviews, some on behalf of AARP, others for my new book, Living Better With Hearing Loss: A Guide to Health, Happiness, Love, Sex, Work, Friends … and Hearing Aids. As I heard myself repeating the statistics in one interview after another, I was unhappily reminded of the magnitude of the numbers of people with hearing loss, and the blithe dismissal with which it is generally treated. The prime example of this attitude is the fact that Medicare doesn’t cover hearing aids.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court has permitted Texas to enforce its controversial voter ID law in the Nov. 4 election.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to extend its oversight to large nonbank auto-finance companies to make sure they are not discriminating against consumers.
A federal judge in Milwaukee has struck down Wisconsin's voter ID law, holding that it unconstitutionally discriminates against low-income and minority voters, who are less likely to have photo IDs or the documents needed to obtain them.
Older women who may not feel welcome in the workforce have a powerful advocate - none other than Hillary Clinton.
Many communities have affordable housing programs designed especially for older people on fixed incomes.