Regional News From the AARP Bulletin
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2006-11-09 10:27:19.805410-05:00
January/February 2008
Predatory "fees" – As part of the Stop Payday Predators coalition, AARP Arizona is collecting signatures to put an initiative on the November ballot that could ban payday lending in Arizona. The initiative would repeal a 2000 law that allowed payday lenders to sidestep the state’s lending cap of 36 percent interest simply by charging "fees" instead of "interest." Payday loans are short-term, high-cost loans that must be paid in full or else renewed, often trapping the borrower in a cycle of debt.
Payday lending is flourishing in Arizona, with more storefronts in the state than Starbucks and McDonald’s combined. For information, go to www.stoppaydaypredators.com.
November 2007
A little time off – Help is on the horizon for family caregivers in Arizona under a new law appropriating $500,000 to launch a respite care program. Now in the planning stage, the program will seek additional funding to give family caregivers statewide occasional relief from the constant burden of care.
The Arizona program will give priority to caregivers not already eligible for respite care through other programs such as Medicaid or the Veterans Administration, says Bonnie Danowski, co-chair of the Lifespan Respite Care Advisory Committee.
AARP Arizona championed the initiative. “The state’s 550,000 family caregivers who are in dire need of relief are the reason why AARP supported this legislation,” says Lupe Solis, AARP associate state director for advocacy. For more information, visit http://www.azcaregiver.org.
October 2007
Taking steps toward health – This fall AARP Arizona is rolling out 10-week walking programs at three senior centers with large Spanish-speaking clienteles. The programs, all in the Phoenix area, are part of an effort to involve the Hispanic community in AARP activities. Participants receive pedometers at the kickoff events and attend weekly check-ins, as well as milestone events to celebrate completion of the program.
“Walking is a simple, practical and fun way to exercise,” says David Parra, AARP Arizona program coordinator. Call 602-262-5176 for more information, to enroll or to find out how to start a walking program — in Spanish or English — in your community.
September 2007
Big smiles – Included in Arizona's 2008 budget is $1 million to provide routine dental care for Medicaid beneficiaries receiving or in need of long-term care. Beginning Oct. 1, a pilot program will provide dental care for an estimated 30,000 people, says Robert Birdwell, dental director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. Arizonans eligible to enroll can do so through their managed care plans. “Oral health is very much related to overall health,” Birdwell says.
Lupe Solis, AARP associate state director for advocacy, says, “This is a benefit people have been asking for.” Previously, coverage was available only for dental emergencies or medically necessary dentures. For more information, call 602-417-4000 in Maricopa County or 1-800-654-8713 in other parts of the state.
— Reports by Donnan Runkel
July 2007
Strike back... AARP Arizona and other nonprofit organizations are working with state Attorney General Terry Goddard, D, to track down and take legal action against con artists who target older people by mail.
The Seniors Strike Back campaign began in May when volunteers sorted and delivered piles of junk mail to the attorney general’s staff, who then screened it for misleading solicitations and violations of direct-mail laws. “We hope this effort will put fraudulent operators out of business and better inform Arizonans about potential threats that arrive in their mailboxes,” says Elvera Anselmo, AARP associate state director for community outreach.
May 2007
Grand aid... Grandparents raising grandchildren may get some relief if lawmakers vote to appropriate $2 million to continue a program that provides a one-time grant of $300 and a $75 monthly stipend for each child in their care.
As co-sponsor of a recent “Grandfamilies Rally” at the state capitol, AARP Arizona encouraged participants to support the bill. “With an increasing number of grandparents assuming the role of caregiver, this legislation is sorely needed,” says Lupe Solis, AARP associate state director for advocacy. More than 52,000 Arizona grandparents are currently raising grandchildren.
Call 1-800-352-8404 to ask legislators to support funding for SB 1110.
April 2007
Pick up the pace... AARP and the National Recreation and Park Association are launching a free 10-week walking program for Phoenix-area residents. Each participant will receive a step counter and guidebook and will have a chance to join a walking group and weekly education sessions on nutrition and fitness. Participants will be asked to keep track of their steps and to increase the total by 1.2 times each week. The program begins April 7 at 8:30 a.m. at the Glendale Adult Center in Glendale. Call 1-877-926-8300 toll free to sign up. AARP Arizona is one of eight state offices offering the program. Studies have shown that walking briskly at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week, can dramatically improve health and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis. For tips on walking for health, visit http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/walking/.
March 2007
Why stop now? AARP Arizona has joined with Rio Salado College, based in Tempe, to promote the value of workers age 50 and older to employers and to provide learning opportunities to enhance these workers’ skills. n Four new noncredit seminars will be offered this fall at the college’s Lifelong Learning Center in Surprise, Ariz. Topics include interviewing for jobs, handling age discrimination, working after retirement and navigating the multigenerational work force. Additional courses are available online. For course schedules and more information, contact the Lifelong Learning Center at 480-517-8770.
-Report by Donya Currie Arias
January 2007
Touchy subject... Adult children who feel their parents are no longer safe drivers are getting pointers on how to broach the subject at “We Need to Talk” seminars across the state. The 90-minute sessions cover everything from why driving is important to older adults, to recognizing the warning signs of unsafe driving, to a cost analysis of driving versus alternative forms of transportation. Piloted last year in Arizona and nine other states, the seminars were developed by AARP, the Hartford Financial Services Group and the MIT AgeLab.
“People who attend get tips not only on how to jump-start a family conversation about whether it’s time to hang up the keys, but how to make sure their parents stay connected in the community without driving,” says Tom Burch, Arizona coordinator for the AARP Driver Safety Program. For information go to www.aarp.org/az, or call 602-262-5166 for a free brochure.
December 2006
Kin care aid... Grandparents raising grandchildren may be eligible for financial assistance under a new $1 million program the legislature enacted earlier this year.
The funding—administered by the state Department of Economic Security (DES) and distributed through Area Agencies on Aging—provides a clothing and personal allowance of $75 a month per child. It also provides a one-time subsidy of up to $300 per child to help defray the costs of moving a child into a grandparent’s home—to buy a bed, for example.
In Arizona, about 55,000 children live with a grandparent or other relative and with no parent in the home. As the number of grandparents raising grandchildren grew nationwide between 1990 and 2000, Arizona ranked fourth among the states in the percentage of increase and 16th in actual numbers. These factors made the program a top legislative priority for AARP Arizona in 2006.
November 2006
Copay relief... As of Oct. 1, Arizonans eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare no longer have to make copayments for prescription drugs, thanks to an eleventh-hour appropriation for the state’s Medicaid agency.
Since the inception of the Medicare prescription benefit, these low-income, older Arizonans have had to pay out of pocket from $1 to $5 per prescription, depending on the drug. Before that, their prescriptions were free.
The change signaled a victory for AARP Arizona and the Arizona Center for Disability Law, which pushed for the funding. “This puts the people with the least resources and the most medically complex problems where they were before,” says Peri Jude Radecic, the center’s acting executive director. “People were skipping their drugs altogether, borrowing from their neighbors or cutting their doses in half to get by.”
—Reports by Donnan Runkel
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