Uncategorized

How often do we get to see elected officials voting on Nothing? That’s what it came to in Congress the other day. The U.S. Senate could not muster the votes to even discuss “repealing and replacing” the Affordable Care Act. But they exerted more pressure on their members, and finally managed to vote 51-50 to begin to debate some version of repealing the Affordable Care Act. They came up with a replacement bill that would have allowed insurance companies to offer cheap, “stripped down” policies that did not meet federal standards. But that bill lost by a vote of 43 to 57. With conservatives and moderates balking at the “replacement” bill, the leadership turned to a new option: repeal Obamacare. No replacement, just what they called a “clean repeal.”

Massachusetts ranks 11th in the nation when it comes to meeting the long-term care needs of older residents and people with disabilities, and even more must be done, at an accelerated pace, to meet changing demographic demands. Specific areas of concern in Massachusetts include affordability, the quality of life and quality of care, and effective transition dimensions.

The federal War on Poverty has turned into a war on poor people. The battle lines have shifted from alleviating poverty, to eliminating poor people. Instead of attacking poverty, the field has been reversed, and the attack is on poor people themselves.

I just dropped my 91-year-old father and his wife off at Logan Airport. They live outside of LA, and were visiting here for a week.  My father has clearly deteriorated both physically and mentally with increased dementia since I visited him several months ago.

Massachusetts elected officials prepared the Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) commonwealth budget proposal, a $40.5 billion spending plan which funds key priorities.

Picture a widowed elderly woman in her mid-80s. She needs help daily with bathing, dressing and toileting. But she has one more problem. She has been told that there are no workers available to come into her home to fill all the hours of care she needs. This scenario is happening more and more across the commonwealth. The recruitment and retention of home care aides, home health aides, and care managers poses a real threat to the independence of many of our older neighbors. The image of a low-wage/high-turnover job makes it hard to find and keep home care workers. We must do better if we are to keep up with our fastest growing demographic - those over age of 60. We must give these workers "enough pay to stay."

By Marianne Delorey Every generation creates its own lingo. Recently, Millennials have coined the word “Adulting” to mean “being responsible.” Many 20- to 30-year-olds are...

By Mike Festa, State Director, AARP Massachusetts What’s your image of a caregiver? If you envisioned a middle-aged woman, one who is caring for an...

By Al Norman On March 16, President Donald Trump sent over his federal fiscal year 2018 Budget Blueprint to Congress. It was the president’s first...

By Mike Festa, State Director, AARP Massachusetts Seniors on fixed incomes often have to make difficult choices between heating their homes, paying for essential medications,...