Access to an employer-based, payroll-deduction retirement savings plan plays a key role in allowing people to save for the future. Yet nearly half of American workers, or about 56 million, do not have access to such a plan. To address this challenge, in recent years a growing number of states have…
In a recent AARP focus group, Malcolm (name changed for privacy), a 64-year-old man with health insurance through his employer and a preexisting condition, shared how over the course of a year, he received two low-balance medical bills he couldn’t afford to pay. The bills went to collection, which…
New AARP research finds that about half of American working adults, or about 56 million people, lack access to a payroll-deduction workplace retirement savings plan, making it much more difficult for them to save for retirement. Small business employees, workers with low-to-moderate earnings, and…
More than 30 states are considering creating retirement savings plans for small-business employees who do not have a retirement plan at work, and seven states are already implementing them. These programs would provide the opportunity for millions more workers to save for retirement out of their…
My almost 96-year-old mother is one of about half of older adults with disabilities serious enough to need long-term services and supports. She is nearly blind, has dementia and osteoporosis, and suffers from arthritis. Recently she’s begun to experience back pain too. She lived in her home of over…
The recently enacted 21st Century Cures Act will mean welcome changes to electronic health records (EHRs) as we know them. In short, the EHR piece of the Cures Act is good news for consumers. Here’s why.
In 1961, AARP’s founder, Ethel Andrus, presented President Dwight Eisenhower with a version of Freedom House. The scale model of a uniquely designed home contained
The aging-in-community of a rapidly aging population demands a fundamental shift in planning in order to minimize the economic, social and health challenges that will otherwise overwhelm communities. Nearly 90 percent of Americans 65 and older tell us that they want to age in their homes or…
Did you know? Diabetes rates are significantly higher among Americans age 65 and older than in any other age group. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of Americans 65 and older reported having diagnosed diabetes in 2015, according to a recent AARP Public Policy Institute analysis. Diabetes, a chronic…
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) established a 3-to-1 limit on age rating of health insurance premiums, meaning that older adults who purchase coverage on their own cannot be charged more than three times the amount a younger person is charged for the same health plan. This important provision…
Since 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have had access to outpatient prescription drug coverage through Medicare Part D. The standard benefit under Part D includes an annual deductible, an initial coverage period when enrollees pay 25 percent of their drug costs, and catastrophic coverage that limits…