Basic protection from consumer fraud, access to adequate, affordable health care and long term care, and affordable and accessible housing top the list of priorities AARP Iowa will be working on during the 2009 legislative session.

The AARP Foundation has announced a call for entries to its third annual Women’s Scholarship Program. The scholarships will provide funds to women 40+ who are seeking new job skills, training and educational opportunities to support themselves and their families.  

• Be female age 40 or over (as of March31, 2009);
• Be able to demonstrate financial need; and
• Be enrolled in an accredited post-secondary school or training program within 6 months of the scholarship award date.

Feb. 4, 2009-- Today AARP joined with the Iowa Attorney General’s office in advocating for passage of a private right of action for consumer fraud at a Senate subcommittee hearing on SSB 1037, one of two bills in the Iowa Senate to create a private right of action for consumer fraud. Passage of consumer fraud legislation to protect Iowans is AARP’s top legislative priority. Older Iowans are especially vulnerable as they are often the targets of fraud and scams.

Call the free Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline at 877-622-4866 instead.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office is warning Iowans to be aware that scam artists are trying to take advantage of Iowans who are facing foreclosure.  These phony telemarketers are offering fake mortgage foreclosure “rescue” schemes ask ing victims  to pay hundreds of dollars up-front for so-called assistance or “rescue” from foreclosure – but they just take your money and do nothing to help. The scam puts people deeper into a financial hole, does nothing to save a victim's home, and diverts people from getting real help.

The Attorney General's office cites the example of a Des Moines family that was conned into giving $795 to a company that claimed it would set up arrangements to help them avoid foreclosure -- but the con-artists made no such arrangements, and then they asked for even more money!

Iowa Attorney General and Area Agencies on Aging warn of flare-up in phony “emergency” calls asking grandparents to wire money to help a grandchild who is “in trouble.”

WASHINGTON , DC - Jan. 22, 2009 - In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, AARP today charged that the Treasury Department “has largely ignored Congress’ directive to facilitate mortgage modifications” and called on Congress to provide “average homeowners with the same rights and opportunities to protect their primary assets in bankruptcy that corporations, investors, farmers and others have relied on for many years.”

• Americans age 50 and over hold about 41 percent of all first mortgages.

• More than 684,000 homeowners age 50 and over were either delinquent or in foreclosure at the end of 2007, representing 28 percent of delinquencies and foreclosures.

• Homeowners age 50 and older with subprime first mortgage loans are nearly 17 times more likely to be in foreclosure than homeowners of the same age with prime loans; homeowners under age 50 were 13 times more likely to be in foreclosure with subprime loans.

DES MOINES, Jan. 15, 2009 — Divided We Fail is launching the next phase of the national movement to seek bipartisan solutions to the health care and financial security challenges facing our country with events this week in Washington, DC, Iowa and every state in the nation.  

In Iowa, AARP volunteers today recognized the state’s Congressional Delegation for their commitment to seeking solutions on health and financial security issues a series of meetings at the elected leaders’ district offices. Last fall, all seven of the Iowa’s national leaders officially endorsed Divided We Fail, the national coalition led by AARP, the Business Roundtable, National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).   

DES MOINES − As Governor Culver and Iowa state lawmakers consider state budget priorities and cuts, AARP is urging Iowa’s leaders to consider the benefits Medicaid funding brings to local economies at the same time ensuring protection for Iowa’s most vulnerable citizens.  AARP has created a new Iowa Medicaid fact sheet with specific information on how the state’s economy benefits from the new job creation, increased tax revenue and the multiplier effects of spending that federal Medicaid funding brings to the state. 

“We realize these tough economic times call a re-evaluation of state budget decisions, and we want to make sure that state leaders and policy makers are well aware that Medicaid spending is an effective way to stimulate our economy,” said Anthony Carroll, AARP Iowa Associate State Director for Advocacy.   

The new state fact sheet includes research by Moody's Analytics, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, and the Rural Policy Research Institute that clearly shows how Medicaid fuels a state’s economy. The research shows that for every dollar Iowa cuts in Medicaid, the state loses $1.68 in federal matching funds. An 8% increase in funding to states for 15 months, as recently proposed by Congressional leaders (H.R. 7110), would generate $285,526,953.00 for Iowa, according to an analysis of the legislation by Health Management Associates, www.healthmanagement.com. That money then flows through the economy, providing jobs and generating tax revenue for both state and local governments.  The complete Iowa Medicaid Fact Sheet is posted on the Iowa AARP state webpage at www.aarp.org/ia. (also attached below for news editors).

Since the economic downturn began, AARP has coordinated a continuing effort to prevent state Medicaid cuts.  On the federal level, AARP has strongly advocated for including a temporary increase in federal funding to states for Medicaid (known as “FMAP”*) in economic stimulus legislation. While Congress did not act on FMAP in the lame-duck session, AARP will continue to advocate strongly for FMAP increases, and the new Administration has indicated that it is receptive. *Federal Medical Assistance Percentages [FMAP] are the percentage rates used to determine the amount of matching funds allocated by the federal government annually to each state for Medicaid, which varies based on state income levels.

 AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 33 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's 39 million members and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  Medicaid Is a Powerful Economic Stimulus Tool for Iowa

Medicaid is a powerful economic force. Medicaid cuts harm the economy, and increased federal funding boosts local economies and can help prevent our economic crisis from getting worse. That’s because for every dollar Iowa cuts in Medicaid, the state loses $1.68 in federal matching funds. An 8% increase in funding to states for 15 months, as recently proposed by Congressional leaders (H.R. 7110), would generate $285,526,953.00 for Iowa.1 That money then flows through the economy, providing jobs and generating tax revenue for both state and local governments. Leading economists and academics agree that this is true:

Moody's Analytics, Inc., Mark Zandi2: An “economically potent tool of the federal government is aid to financially pressed state governments. This could take the form of general aid or a temporary increase in the Medicaid matching rate to help ease the costs of health coverage... Additional federal aid to state governments would fund existing payrolls and programs and so provide a relatively quick economic boost. States that receive a check from the federal government will quickly pass on the money to workers, vendors and program beneficiaries.”

Kaiser Commission on Medicaid & the Uninsured3: “New [Medicaid] spending can create a larger impact than the amount of new spending alone through “multiplier effects” because of the successive rounds of spending that occur when money is injected into a state economy. For instance, state businesses and residents spend their earnings on purchases from other businesses or residents in the state, who in turn make other purchases and so on.”

Rural Policy Research Institute4: “Medicaid payments in rural communities contribute directly to the community’s financial base, leading to additional employment in health care and associated occupations (e.g., suppliers, retailers serving the health care employees) and more local spending from workers, patients, and families while c

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Simon Johnson5: “Direct aid to state and local governments… replaces money that state and local governments have been forced to cut from their budgets, it can have a very rapid effect, without the need to design new programs… The money will go to programs that these governments have already decided are important and worth funding, minimizing the risk that the stimulus will be wasted on inappropriate ends.”

1 Analysis of H.R. 7110 Medicaid provisions done for AARP by Health Management Associates, www.healthmanagement.com

2 http://www.economy.com/dismal/article_free.asp?cid=102598

3 The Role of Medicaid in State Economies: http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/The-Role-of-Medicaid-in-State-Economies-A-Look-at-the-Research-Policy-Brief.pdf

4 Medicaid and Its Importance to Rural Health http://www.raconline.org/info_guides/medicaid/

5 Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, October 30, 2008 Government Relations & Advocacy