AARP Eye Center
Thinking Policy
Within a decade, the U.S. population will consist of more adults over 65 than children under 18. To prepare for rapid population aging, Age-friendly Community (AFC) programs across the country are helping towns, cities, counties, and states transform their communities into great places to grow up…
“If it wasn’t for SNAP, I don’t know what we would do.” – 61-year-old AARP survey participant
As states and communities continue to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, many are left wondering what could be done to prevent large-scale destruction from such disasters. Despite the severity of those storms, they were only the most recent among several to sweep…
Elizabeth “Izzy” Barnett, 80, is a full-time caregiver for her husband, Bob, who has dementia. They have no children or family to help and Izzy has lost contact with friends because she is busy taking care of Bob. Izzy’s is not alone in this situation. Millions of older adults are socially…
Thought the debate over the health law was over? Not quite. Yes, Congress has shifted its focus from health care to tax reform over the past couple months. But health care faces new threats under the latest proposed tax legislation.
If you’ve been following the twists and turns of the ongoing tax reform efforts moving along in Washington, you’ve likely noticed proponents often repeating a particular theme: tax cuts for middle-class Americans. But tax policy is rarely simple, and it is important to look beyond the headlines to…
Veterans Day provides an opportunity for all of us to thank our military veterans for their service. This time of year is also an appropriate time to increase our awareness of some of the challenges our veterans face. The AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) wants to ensure that our nation’s veterans…
The tax reform bill (HR 1, the “Tax Cut and Jobs Act”) recently introduced in the House of Representatives makes a number of substantial changes to the tax system, including eliminating the itemized deduction for high medical expenses. The stated goals of such changes are to make the tax system…
Employment overview
Changing Medicare into a “Premium Support” Program Would Reduce—Not Increase—Choices for Individuals
The budget blueprint recently passed by the House proposes to redesign Medicare—the program that nearly all Americans ages 65 and older and millions of younger people with disabilities rely on for health coverage. The proposal would transform Medicare into what’s termed a “premium support” or…
Policymakers have been talking on and off for decades about ways to make Social Security solvent and adequate. However, the conversation often seems stuck in the 1980s, the last time Social Security was addressed, with a small set of policy tools to raise revenue or cut benefits being recommended…
Federal subsidies, known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), have been critical to ensuring that over 2 million lower-income adults ages 50 to 64 who purchase coverage through health insurance Marketplaces can afford health care. [1] Despite the subsidies’ crucial role, the Administration announced…
I recently had the opportunity to participate on a panel sponsored by Genworth that turned out to be a truly candid and oftentimes personal discussion on an emerging crisis. The topic: “ Solving America’s Long-Term Care Crisis: What We Can Do Now to Fix the $750 Billion Program.”
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