“These older Americans spend 92 percent of their income — a greater proportionate share of income than all other adults. This spending pattern strongly suggests that rebates for these individuals will be spent entirely and quickly, helping to provide an immediate boost to the economy,” Bill Novelli, the AARP’s chief executive officer, wrote in a letter Thursday to all senators.

CNN: Caring for Mom and Dad from afar

So what do you do when you live a continent away from your aging, ailing parents? As the AARP aptly puts it, there are no magic answers.

Queens Gazette: Senior-Friendly Home Makeovers

AARP Home Design section (www.aarp.org/families/homedesign). This Web page provides information and resources on universal design and remodeling solutions, including a checklist that helps you evaluate each room for safety and long-term livability.

Associated Press: Leavitt seeks expanded use of electronic health records

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt proposed a $150 million incentives plan Thursday to expand physicians’ use of electronic medical records.

After the Finance Committee vote, AARP launched a lobbying push to win passage of the Senate version. Advocates of the Senate bill said House-Senate talks should take a few days.

Wall Street Journal: Senate Stimulus Plan Heads for Floor Showdown

Of all the differences between the plans, Senate Democrats appear most attached to the rebates for older people, and they could have leverage in talks with the House, amid a grass-roots campaign by AARP, the advocacy group for older people. Yesterday, an AARP email to its members helped generate 75,000 emails and 1,500 calls to senators’ offices. The group promised to keep up the pressure.

Associated Press: Former Social Security Official Dies

John Rother, AARP’s public policy director, called Ball a tireless defender of Social Security and Medicare. “His dedication has inspired a whole generation of younger advocates and leaders in the field, and his writings will continue to influence the debate for broader health and pension coverage for years to come,” Rother said.

Money: Boomers: How to age gracefully

Maybe it’s time to stop supporting your healthy adult children. Or downsize your home and move to a less expensive area. Or – egad! – cut some of your leisure spending. The best way to put more cash in your coffers: Retire later than you planned. “Every extra year you work is a ‘twofer,’” says David Certner, legislative policy director at AARP. “It’s a year that you make money and don’t spend savings.”

Still at the crux of the debate are efforts by the American Medical Association and AARP to raise Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors by supporting cuts to private Medicare Advantage plans.

Wall Street Journal: Employers Explore Health-Care Options

Other small and medium-size employers are also providing stipends to workers who buy their own coverage through similar defined contribution programs.

Associated Press: House approves economic recovery plan

The House, seizing a rare moment of bipartisanship to respond to the economy’s slump, overwhelmingly passed a $146 billion aid package Tuesday that would speed rebates of $600-$1,200 to most taxpayers.

Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Offer Plans For Homeowner Refinancing

Lawmakers, looking for ways to aid homeowners in need of refinancing, are considering raising the caps on how much money states can borrow to finance housing projects, and easing other restrictions.

The AARP applauded the inclusion of 20 million senior citizens who live on Social Security.
“In addition to tax rebates, the Baucus stimulus proposal would help approximately 20 million older Americans who primarily depend on Social Security for retirement income,” said Bill Novelli, CEO for the group, which represents retired Americans.

Wall Street Journal: Baucus Stimulus Plan May Spur Conflict

The AARP, an advocacy group for retired people, has pushed for the elderly to be included. But “it’s going to be hard to get people to take advantage of it,” said David Certner of AARP, if they don’t normally file tax returns.

Bloomberg: Half of U.S. States Facing Budget Gaps, Report Finds

Following the U.S. recession in 2001, 34 states reduced funding for health care and education programs, according to the center’s report. More than 1 million people lost their health- care coverage because of those cuts, according to the report.

But it would leave out about 20 million senior citizens living chiefly on Social Security. They wouldn’t get rebate checks unless they have at least $3,000 earned income or pay income taxes based on other sources such as earnings, interest, investments or private pension plans.
“Less than half of all Americans 65 and older would get it,” said AARP spokesman Jim Dau.

Chicago Tribune: Seniors tapping homes for cash

Bronwyn Belling, project manager of the AARP Foundation’s Reverse Mortgage Education Project, worries that people are tapping the equity in their homes before they really need to.
“The money they borrow now, that money won’t be available later,” Belling said.

Associated Press: AARP Hands Out ‘Movies For Grownups’ Awards

So said AARP magazine, which announced “The Savages” will be receiving its top award at its seventh annual Movies for Grownups Awards on Feb. 4 at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.

Washington Post: No Country for Old People?

It’s a tough time for seniors these days, and getting tougher as the economy slumps. How can we enrich Americans’ later years?

Democrats backing universal health care long favored a single-payer system, with government replacing insurance companies and covering everyone. More recently, most have advocated a more modest — and politically feasible — system that provides universal coverage by building on the employer-based system.

Los Angeles Times: Saving becomes a campaign issue

A dawning reality that millions of workers face an income squeeze when they retire has elevated building a nest egg to the national political agenda.

Washington Post: Longing for Size and Speed

Small-car options appeared limited, pushing aging baby boomers onto the unfamiliar territory of Scion, Toyota’s youth-car brand.
“I shouldn’t even be in this section,” said Larry Waldron, a 60-year-old retired federal worker. The Scion could be a real draw for older people, he said. It is easy to get in and out of and has thin windshield posts, giving drivers a wider view of the road. But he said Toyota will have to dress the brand down so the car doesn’t look quite so funky.

U.S. News & World Report: Health Insurance Options That Squeeze Individuals

Many people have no choice but to buy healthcare coverage on their own, despite its downsides.

Schneider National also became an employment team member with the AARP and has increased its number of drivers older than 50 by 46%.

Wall Street Journal: Economic Slowdown Could Widen U.S. Budget Deficit

But lawmakers were more alarmed by the CBO’s warnings about the approaching budget squeeze as baby boomers retire and begin drawing Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits. The CBO projected that Medicare, the health plan for the elderly, and Medicaid, the program for the poor, will together cost 5.9% of the entire U.S. economic output by 2018, compared with about 4.6% this year. Over the next 75 years, the CBO expects such entitlement programs to create a fiscal gap measuring 7% of GDP.

New York Times: The Unavoidable Update

While people like to complain that there is nothing to watch on television, about 21 million American households may find that literally true in February 2009. On the 17th of that month, most TV stations will quit broadcasting analog TV signals over the air, and older sets will go blank.

USA Today: Employers put health coverage in workers’ hands

Nick Trikolas plans to drop health insurance for his employees and give them money to buy their own coverage. He says doing so will put him in the vanguard of a movement by employers searching for answers to rising health costs.

If our Moms and Dads are relying on us to pay for their expenses — from groceries to utility bills in early retirement to long-term health care in their 70s and 80s, how will that impact our own financial future?

Los Angeles Times: Good for borrowers, bad for savers

“It’s bad for seniors who are living on fixed incomes, but this gigantic baby boom generation is largely made up of borrowers,” said Gary Schlossberg, senior economist with Wells Fargo Capital Markets in San Francisco.

Wall Street Journal: Wal-Mart Insured Ranks Rise

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said the percentage of its work force enrolled in its health plans has increased significantly from a year ago after it expanded choices, including lower-cost options.

Washington Post: Braving a Downdraft

The stock market heads south just as you’ve retired, or are about to. It’s the worst-case scenario you’ve always feared. Is it time to scour the help-wanted ads? Do you have to put your post-work life on hold?

The employees won a jury trial, but the federal appeals court in New York eventually overturned the verdict on the ground that the employees had failed to carry their burden of showing that the evaluation system was unreasonable. In their Supreme Court appeal, supported by a brief filed by the AARP Foundation, the employees are arguing that the structure of the statute makes clear that the employer must prove reasonableness of an action that would otherwise be prohibited.

Washington Post: Homeowners in Alleged Scam Get Settlement

Many of the homeowners didn’t realize or didn’t want to accept that their problems could have been solved if they sold their homes. The plaintiffs each had tens of thousands of dollars in equity in their homes. The amounts due on their mortgages ranged from $8,000 to $16,000.
“Each person was attached to their homes,” said Jean Constantine-Davis, an AARP lawyer. One plaintiff, Idriis Bilaal, was born in the home he was trying to keep.

Chicago Tribune: A New Deal for a New Economy

These days, middle-class families across America are understandably concerned about the new economy and the prospect that globalization will send their jobs overseas or change their way of life. As they confront these new challenges we need a plan — a New Deal for the New Economy — that will address working Americans’ concerns and prepare them for the future.

Newsweek: Careful What You Wish For

The numbers are staggering, but no longer shocking: about 47 million Americans are uninsured and millions more struggle to pay expensive health-insurance premiums.

AARP is adding three federal government agencies and six private companies to its list of employers looking to hire people 50 and older for a variety of full-time, part-time and seasonal jobs, the group announced Thursday.

USA Today: Reverse mortgages aren’t for everyone

“It’s a generational shift,” says John Rother, policy director at AARP. “Our parents’ generation saw the home as a bedrock of security, and it was a good deal to pay off the mortgage and own it free and clear. Many boomers, on the other hand, are treating the home as a financial asset and are using it to borrow against its value.”

AP: Nicholson Says He’s Looking for Love

“I never minded being a fool for love,” the 70-year-old Oscar winner tells AARP The Magazine. “It’s nice to have a place to be foolish. Ask any old friend of mine, they’ll say, `Jack’s pretty smart, but in this area the man is beyond the pale. Don’t ask him anything about love. Or if you ask him, don’t listen to him.’”

New York Times: Health Care Could Sway Nevadans

But with the Nevada caucuses coming Saturday, little seems to concern people here as much as health care. The state has an unusually high number of people with no insurance, doctors are hard to come by, Medicaid reimbursements are low and health care safety nets are eroding.