Summer vacation may be approaching fast for Wisconsin school kids, but your AARP Wisconsin volunteers will be working hard on an advocacy blitz to improve the health care system. Keeping Medicare strong for current and future generations is a top priority. We want to lower costs for people on Medicare, while also eliminating waste, fraud and abuse that squander money, and result in medical errors and poor care.


Skyrocketing costs and our economic crisis are pricing millions of beneficiaries out of the care they need. Medicare patients now spend an average of 30% of their incomes on out-of-pocket health costs -- six times more than those with employer coverage


These runaway health costs burden families and the Medicare program itself. To address them, AARP supports an array of actions to contain costs, attack waste and make care more efficient. For example, AARP is fighting to close the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole," which forces people to pay much more for their medications. By closing the “doughnut hole,” we can lower out-of-pocket costs for seniors with high drug costs and give them the coverage they’ve been paying for.

AARP is also fighting to reduce unnecessary rehospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries. A recent study found that one in five people on Medicare who leave the hospital have to go back within 30 days, and about one-third have to go back within 90 days. These unplanned and often avoidable readmissions cost Medicare $17.4 billion in 2004.

A way to reduce them would be for Medicare to establish a follow up care benefit that helps patients transition home safely after a hospital stay. Under such a benefit, a team of health professionals could establish an individual plan for each patient, to make sure he or she gets adequate follow-up help -- including medication management and education -- to thrive after discharge to home or another facility.


These common-sense health reforms are not likely to be enacted without AARP’s leadership. We need your support and your voice to convince Congress to act on them. So please sign up today at http://www.healthactionnow .org.

If you are interested in becoming an AARP Wisconsin Advocate send us an email at aarpwi@aarp.org and we'll tell you all about it!
 

AARP has made guaranteeing access to affordable health coverage for people aged 50-64 an essential element of health reform. Why? Americans aged 50-64-- who make up nearly half of AARP’s 40 million members -- are taking a hard hit in these times of shrinking employer-sponsored health coverage. They have become the fastest growing group of uninsured. The rate at which they have been losing coverage is really alarming -- 36 percent between 2000 and 2009. And, now, in today’s turbulent economy, as more working men and women in this age group are losing jobs with employer-sponsored health care, they are finding it more and more difficult – if not impossible -- to get affordable individual coverage. This is -- in large part -- because health insurers consider age and pre-existing conditions when setting their rates. Seven of every ten Americans in this age group have at least one -- if not several – such chronic health conditions as diabetes and heart disease. Insurance industry data show that insurers reject between 17 and 28 percent of all applications from people aged 50-64.And those “lucky”enough to find individual coverage must pay, on average, premiums that average three times higher than premiums for those of the same age who have employer coverage. And their out-of-pocket spending for health care is more than twice that of those with employer coverage -- despite less generous benefits. This problem is becoming more serious because, thanks to the aging of the baby boomers, our 50-64 population is growing rapidly. Nearly one of every five Americans will be 50-64 by 2015. So, AARP is pressing Congress to find a common-sense solution to the coverage gap for 50-64-year-olds. For information on AARP’s efforts to help people in this age group – and on ways you can help – please check out our new web page for health reform – www.healthactionnow.org.

Swine Flu

• AARP urges anyone with flu-like symptoms—including fever, body aches, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea—to contact their health professional to find out if they should be tested or treated for seasonal influenza or swine flu.
• You can help prevent the spread of swine flu and other illnesses by:
  • Washing your hands regularly with soap and water;
  • Covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze;
  • Avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth;
  • Avoiding contact with sick people; and
  • Staying home from school or work if you feel sick.
• While we encourage all older Americans to get an annual vaccine for seasonal flu, the swine flu strain is not prevented by the seasonal flu vaccine.
• The Centers for Disease Control have important information about swine flu available at www.cdc.gov/swineflu

• We encourage people to take personal responsibility for their health with preventive measures—like flu shots—to guard against illness and disease.  Keeping people healthy is more efficient and economical than caring for people after they get sick.
• People 50+ are more vulnerable to the flu and its complications, so anyone 50 or older should get a flu shot.  You can find a flu shot clinic at AARP.org/flu.
• A growing number of Americans are caregivers.  This sandwich generation needs to get immunized to prevent serious disease for themselves and also for the people they care for—grandchildren and older parents.
• In a 2007 AARP survey, we learned nearly half of 50+ Americans skipped their flu shot.  Many mistakenly believed the vaccine could give them the flu.
• This is also a good time to ask your doctor about a vaccine for pneumococcal disease, which causes 4,800 deaths annually.  Everyone 65+ should consider a pneumococcal vaccine.

Do you know someone who is making a significant difference in your community? In the lives of others?

If that person is an AARP volunteer or an AARP member, you have the opportunity to honor their dedication, commitment and creativity by nominating them for the 2009 AARP Andrus Award for Community Service, AARP's most visible volunteer award. 

Nomination for this year's award will be accepted between March 2 - June 1, 2009. You can fill out the form here .
 

It was announced on February 27 that AARP Wisconsin was among the winners of this year’s Governor Doyle’s Financial Literacy Awards. Specifically named was Jeanne Benink, AARP Program Coordinator, for her efforts in financial security and fraud prevention. "I am so honored that my work was regarded highly enough to have won" said Benink, "Because AARP continues to support and resource programs like those that I manage, we’re able to develop and sustain our amazing partnerships and volunteer programs".

The partnership she refers to is with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) and the Wisconsin Office of Privacy Protection (OPP). Benink developed and manages 2 programs for AARP, the AARP Volunteer Fraud Fighters and the AARP Lunch and Learn Fraud Prevention Workshop Series. There are currently 27 Fraud Fighters in Wisconsin, "They are our eyes and ears in the communities" states Benink. The Fraud Fighters are trained by the 3 partnering agencies and then charged with giving fraud prevention presentations in their local communities.

The Lunch and Learn Fraud Prevention series targets businesses around Wisconsin. The partners travel together and speak to employees over the lunch hour about the pitfalls of fraud and how they can protect themselves and their families. "Without DFI and OPP, the programs just wouldn’t be of the same high caliber that they are today" states Benink. Both of these AARP programs are in their third year of operation and both continue to expand each year.

Feb. 25, 2009 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE