Consider the following: 

• Are you someone who thinks strategically and sees the “big picture”?
• Are you a good verbal and written communicator?
• Do you enjoy challenges and working with people?
• Can you envision yourself inspiring and leading volunteers?
• Do you like to be active and involved?
• Do you believe that positive change starts with you? 

If so, we encourage you to apply today. 

 Executive Council Responsibilities

As an Executive Council member, you will: 

• Participate in setting annual priorities and choosing among opportunities, in alignment with AARP’s national strategic plan, to benefit our members and their families in Massachusetts.
• Seek input from other volunteers and members on a continuing basis; inspire and motivate volunteers.
• Communicate national and state policy updates to volunteers in the areas for which they are responsible.
• Serve on special projects and teams with various AARP volunteer leaders from Massachusetts and across the country. 

Position Qualifications

Executive Council members must be:

• A Massachusetts resident;
• Committed to the goals and priorities of AARP;
• Knowledgeable of Massachusetts issues, including the political, social and economic environment in the state;
• Able to work well with diverse populations;
• Eligible for membership or associate membership in AARP;
• Accessible via email. 

In addition, qualified applicants must have demonstrated past volunteer involvement and professional leadership, including but not limited to leadership in:

• Community groups,
• Government advisory bodies,
• Fraternal or faith organizations,
• Social welfare organizations,
• Trade associations,
• AARP chapters or other programs, or
• Unions. 

Interested?  Get the facts and apply today!

For a complete Position Description and Application Form, or additional information, please contact ma@aarp.org.   We hope to hear from you.  

Spread the word

Please feel free to share this information with anyone you know who would make a good member of our AARP Massachusetts Executive Council. 

Deborah Banda, state director for AARP Massachusetts, appeared on NECN's Business Day on April 7 to discuss 50+ workers, and the new policy brief by the Boston College Center on Aging & Work and AARP.

You can watch the video on NECN's website:

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Business/Study-Workers-over-50-economically-essential/1207612949.html

And you can view the full report here: http://agingandwork.bc.edu/states.

April 2, 2008

AARP ‘DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED’ BY SUPREME COURT DECISION

ON RETIREE HEALTH CARE BENEFITS

NEW GROUP CALLS FOR “SAFE ROADS NOW”

Urges Action on Road Safety and Driver Retesting

BOSTON – Today, 10 organizations and individuals working together as Safe Roads Now urged Massachusetts leaders to act on road safety and driver retesting in a comprehensive and timely manner. The group – including AARP Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging and Senior Center Directors, and Elizabeth Dugan, Ph.D., author of The Driving Dilemma: The Complete Resource Guide for Older Drivers and Their Families – proposes to expand on Senate Bill No. 2043, An Act Relative to Driver Impairment, which establishes a commission to address the broad issues of road safety.

Spurred to action by legislative proposals aimed solely at age-based driver retesting, Safe Roads Now believes such a narrow focus will result in costly changes that will do little to improve safety.  “We urge policy leaders to address the issues of road safety and driver retesting – in a careful, comprehensive, and timely way,” says Deborah Banda, AARP Massachusetts state director. 

“The current system for driver renewal and testing is antiquated in that it is not designed to evaluate a driver’s functional ability and does not account for the gains in human longevity,” says Elizabeth Dugan, Ph.D.  In Massachusetts, at five year intervals, drivers may renew licenses by phone, mail or online without any testing; at ten year intervals, drivers must renew in-person at the Registry of Motor Vehicles and pass a vision test.

In letters, sent today, to Governor Deval Patrick, Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, Senate President Therese Murray and Chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation, Senator Steven Baddour and Representative Joseph Wagner, Safe Roads Now says, “We believe that none of the bills currently pending before the Massachusetts legislature goes far enough to address this issue in a comprehensive manner.  Ideally, we would like to see a new law in place that truly corrects deficiencies in the current system.

“We propose to expand upon the framework outlined in Senate Bill No. 2043, An Act Relative to Driver Impairment.  A clearly defined timeline and specific areas to address must be incorporated into a redrafted version.”  These areas include:

• Evaluate testing methods that focus on a driver’s functional ability and detect functional impairments.
• Review state license renewal processes that have been updated recently, such as California and Maryland.
• Define programs in addition to those offered by the Registry of Motor Vehicles to identify unsafe drivers such as existing efforts by law enforcement and opportunities with Councils on Aging and senior centers.

“We are looking to expand upon Senate Bill No. 2043 so that the commission can come up with the most comprehensive solution to road safety and driver retesting, but within a specific timeframe,” says David Stevens, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging and Senior Center Directors.  “We want to look at the innovations that have been implemented in other states – and update the current driver testing system in a way that weeds out unsafe drivers, while not breaking the bank.”

Following are the initial organizations and individuals working as part of Safe Roads Now:  AARP Massachusetts; Alzheimer’s Association Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter; Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging and Senior Center Directors; Jon Bailey, TRIAD Officer, Waltham Police; Juergen Bludau, MD; Elizabeth Dugan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School; Massachusetts Silver Legislature; Elin Schold-Davis, Coordinator, Older Driver Initiative, American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.; Nina M. Silverstein, Ph.D., Professor of Gerontology, University of Massachusetts Boston; and, Robert Stern, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine.

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• Academic Detailing

• Gift Ban

• Expand gift ban to apply to all health care providers. The bill currently prohibits gifts given to physicians and to health care facilities. Physicians are not the only health care providers that write prescriptions.  Additionally, health care providers who cannot prescribe drugs, such as nurses, are also involved in decision-making around what medications to prescribe and are increasingly targeted by pharmaceutical detailers. To prevent the influence of gifts in all prescribing decisions, the ban on gifts should extend to all health care providers.

• Expand the definition of “pharmaceutical manufacturer agent” to include those marketing biologics. As it stands, the gift ban applies to those marketing prescription drugs and medical devices. Biotechnology companies also engage in aggressive marketing practices and should be included in the prohibition. 

• Require compensation to be made pursuant to a contract for deliverables unrelated to marketing. The definition of gifts in S. 2526 excludes payments made when “consideration of equal or greater value is received.” Without greater protections, the industry could take advantage of this exclusion by paying providers for sham transactions or by employing providers in marketing efforts. We urge you to not only require that permissible compensation be in exchange for consideration of equal or greater value, but also to require that it be subject to a contract and be unrelated to marketing.

• Include a disclosure requirement. It is critical to include a disclosure requirement in tandem with a ban in order to ensure compliance with the ban. A disclosure requirement would also promote the transparency of the financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and providers that are not considered “gifts” as defined by
  S. 2526. There is a strong public interest in having access to information about the continuing funds flow between industry and providers. We urge you to require pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology companies to disclose the payments they make (listed by individual provider and facility) to the Department of Public Health. Those reports should be public records. Any violations of the ban that become apparent as a result of the disclosure should be reported to Attorney General for enforcement.

AARP Urges Congress to Support House and Senate Budgets

Group reminds lawmakers: 39 million AARP members have much at stake

WASHINGTON — As lawmakers continue work on the FY2009 budget, AARP issued a statement urging Members of Congress to support the House and Senate budget resolutions and to oppose harmful amendments that would negatively impact older Americans.  The Association has been actively lobbying both chambers to ensure Congress passes a budget resolution that addresses the priorities of older Americans.  The statement, from AARP Senior Vice President David Sloane, follows:

“The budget resolutions in both chambers address the needs of older Americans, and we encourage all members to support them.  These bills also reject the deep Medicare and Medicaid cuts proposed by the Administration, while taking steps toward improvements in both programs that will begin to reduce America’s skyrocketing health care bill.

“Both the House and Senate budget bills also reject the Administration’s proposals for drastic cuts to heating assistance and supportive housing for the elderly.  These programs provide vital funding to help low-income older Americans live in safe, affordable, warm homes.

“This week will lay the appropriations groundwork for the next fiscal year, and there is much at stake for our 39 million members.  We urge members in both chambers to pass the budget resolutions as reported out of their respective budget committees and without harmful amendments that would reduce access to health and financial security for older Americans.”

AARP urges passage of a final budget resolution that will:

* Prioritize sound health policies, such as addressing the Medicare asset tests;

* Protect the 44 million people in Medicare from unreasonable and unfair premium increases when addressing the potential cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement;

* Reauthorize and improve the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP);

* Promote comparative effectiveness research and health information technology;

* Extend the moratoria on harmful Medicaid regulations;

* Ensure adequate funding for the Social Security Administration to address the growing backlog of disability insurance benefit claims; and

* Reject the Administration’s proposed cuts to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and housing assistance for older Americans.

AARP also urges Congress to reject attempts to add harmful budget provisions that would:

* Encourage private accounts in Social Security—already rejected by the public—which would threaten the promise of a guaranteed, inflation-protected retirement benefit that cannot be outlived;

* Income-relate Medicare Prescription Drug Program premiums or further income-relate the Part B premium, which would add yet another “senior tax” and unfairly burden those who work past age 65; and

* Create a “hard trigger” within Medicare that will cause across-the-board spending cuts without solving the underlying problem of skyrocketing health care costs.

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