AARP Volunteers Visit Congressional Offices Today

"AARP members are very concerned about health care -- and we want Congress to act now," said AARP State Director Michele Kimball. "We are visiting every member of the Congressional delegation today to urge them to take action this summer."

The AARP groups will be urging Members of Congress to take action on these six issues important to AARP members:

Guaranteeing access to affordable coverage for Americans age 50-64

Closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap or "doughnut hole"

Creating a Medicare-transition benefit to help patients safely return to their homes after hospital stays—thus preventing costly hospital readmissions

Increasing federal funding and eligibility for home- and community-based services through Medicaid, so older Americans can remain in their homes—thus avoiding expensive nursing homes

Creating a pathway for the approval of generic versions of biologic drugs—thus lowering the prices of these costly treatments

Improving the Medicare Savings Programs and the Part D Low Income Subsidy so more Americans can afford the health care and prescription drugs they need .

Click here to watch our volunteers on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q9HcYsQnoU

AARP volunteers from around the state are visiting the Minnesota district offiices of the Congressional Delegation today, delivering important messages about the need to pass health reform this summer.

A busload of AARP members from the 3rd Congressional District will be leaving the Maple Grove Community Center this morning at 10:15 a.m. to travel to the Office of U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen to urge him to help secure passage of health care reform in Congress this year.

WHO:AARP members from the 3rd Congressional District

WHEN: Leave Maple Grove Community Center, 10:15 a.m., travel to U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen's district office (250 Prairie Center Dr, Suite 230). Visit with Rep. Paulsen's staff at about 10:30 a.m., return to Maple Grove Community Center.

Added: June 25, 2009
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Promoting Economic Security in Uncertain Times

Registration is now available . . .

For the fifth Transform 2010 Boomers Mean Business Forum

Promoting Economic Security in Uncertain Times

WHEN: Fri day, June 26, 2009

TIME: 8:30 a.m. to noon

LOCATION: Elmer L.AndersenBuilding , 540 Cedar Street , St. Paul, MN

This forum will explore and examine the impact of recent economic changes along with increased longevity on financial security for later life. How will this change play out in the marketplace and workplace, and what role does healthcare coverage play in financial security? What is the impact on the most at-risk segments of the population (i.e., the low-income, women, minorities, and rural areas)?

REGISTRATION

Registration is free but seating is limited. Click here to register for this forum event online. (Or go to http://survey.dhs.state.mn.us/surveylogin.asp?k=124405885768)

Regrettably we are unable to offer this forum via video conference. This forum will be recorded. A DVD copy can be purchased for $20 via the Transform 2010 Forum Online Order website. Please note, DVDs are generally available 6 to 8 weeks following the date of the event.

For more information about this upcoming Boomers Mean Business Forums or Transform 2010, email Transform.2010@state.mn.us, or call 651-431-2500, or check our website after June 12, 2009—http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/2010

This Transform 2010 event is co-sponsored by

AARP

Minnesota Financial Fitness Network (formerly Minnesota Saves Network)

And Transform 2010 partners

Minnesota Board on Aging

Minnesota Department of Health

Added: June 23, 2009
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Kimball Oped: Six Steps Congress Should Take to Fix Health Care

http://www.minnpost.com/community_voices/2009/06/17/9537/attention_mn_delegation_six_steps_congress_should_take_to_fix_health_care

Minnpost recently published this health reform oped by AARP State Director Michele Kimball.

Attention, MN delegation: Six steps Congress should take to fix health care

By Michele Kimball | Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The nation's broken health-care system has finally reached the top of the domestic agenda, and lawmakers plan to tackle the problem in earnest over this summer.

Affordable health-care choices for all Americans must be the goal. Yet this basic necessity is increasingly out of reach, and the recession has made a serious problem worse as laid-off workers lose their health benefits.

In Minnesota, 57,956 residents age 50 to 64 lack health insurance — mostly because they cannot afford it, due to high premiums based on their age and medical history. Drug costs are soaring, and in Minnesota, one-third of those enrolled in the Part D drug benefit have landed in the infamous "doughnut hole," potentially facing thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.

But statistics cannot convey the human toll suffered by those who cannot afford health care.

Illness and lack of affordable insurance
At AARP, we hear their stories all the time: cancer patients who cannot afford health insurance; people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and heart disease who cannot fill out their costly prescriptions; workers who quit their jobs to care for ailing spouses because they cannot afford to pay for in-home care; people who burn through their life savings, lose their homes and end up in bankruptcy because someone got sick.

The mounting problems in health care breed cynicism, stress and even despair. As a patient who is fast running out of money put it: "So much for the American dream."

AARP believes that Congress should take six steps to guarantee that all Americans have the choice of quality health care plans they can afford:

• Guarantee affordable coverage for Americans ages 50-64.

• Close the Medicare Part D coverage gap or "doughnut hole".

• Create access to generic versions of costly biologic drugs used to treat cancer and other serious illnesses.

• Prevent costly hospital readmissions by creating a Medicare follow up care benefit to help people transition home after a hospital stay.

• Increase federal funding and eligibility for home- and community-based services through Medicaid so older Americans can remain in their homes as they age and avoid more costly institutional care; and

• Improve programs that help low income Americans in Medicare afford the health care and prescription drugs they need.

Costs too much, wastes too much
Our health care system costs too much, wastes too much, makes too many mistakes and gives us back too little value for our money. This sad diagnosis is shared by many on both sides of the political aisle.

Yet while members of Congress disagree on details of health reform, the overarching goal of affordable, accessible health care for all commands widespread support. So does the recognition that we all share responsibility to be part of the solution.

With costs rising and coverage shrinking, the need for fair, bipartisan measures to repair the system has never been so urgent.

That is the message our Minnesota congressional delegation should be hearing. And that is the message they should act on.

Michele Kimball is the state director of AARP.

Added: June 23, 2009
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Avoid the Dreaded Doughnut Hole!

AARP Launches Money-Saving Prescription Drug Resource

Online tool helps people avoid dreaded “doughnut hole”

(St. Paul, MN) — By the end of this summer, more than one million older Americans will have fallen into the “doughnut hole”—a coverage gap in Medicare’s prescription drug program that leaves individuals on the hook for all of their own drug costs while still paying premiums. AARP is launching a new online resource to help older Americans avoid this dreaded coverage gap.

The AARP Doughnut Hole Calculator, available at www.aarp.org/doughnuthole , guides visitors through their prescription drug options using localized information about their plans and prescriptions to determine if or when they will fall into the coverage gap. In about 15 minutes, visitors can view a graph of their out-of-pocket spending by month, look up lower cost drugs for their conditions, create a Personal Medication Record and print out personalized letters to their doctors to help start a conversation about safely switching prescriptions.

“More than three million people fall into the gap each year, and millions more nervously wonder if they might fall in,” said AARP Minnesota State Director Michele Kimball. “For the first time, people in Medicare have a simple way to learn if they’ll fall into the doughnut hole and find ways to avoid it by switching to safe, less expensive medications.”

As a part of its Health Action Now campaign, AARP is calling on Congress to close the doughnut hole and lower prescription drug prices so that no one has to go without the prescriptions they need to stay healthy. Yesterday, AARP joined President Obama to endorse an agreement by Senate leaders and the pharmaceutical industry that would reduce brand name drug costs for people who fall into the doughnut hole by half. Research has shown people cut back on their prescription drugs when their costs become unaffordable, which can lead to more serious health conditions and larger health care bills.

Kimball added: “Saving money on prescription drugs is going to mean pressing hard in Washington to close the doughnut hole; yesterday we were proud to help announce significant progress toward that goal. In the meantime, we also want to give Americans the tools they need to cut their drug costs and stay out of the gap in the first place. We encourage every person in Medicare to take a few minutes to find the right drugs at the lowest prices.”

The calculator is powered by DestinationRx as part of a special arrangement between AARP and Medicare. The data is the same used by the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder, giving users the most accurate and up-to-date drug pricing information available.

Note: AARP volunteers around Minnesota will be visiting with offices of the Minnesota Congressional Delegation on Thursday, June 26, to urge adoption of this and other health reform measures. For details on AARP’s health reform priorities, visit http://www.aarp.org/governmentwatch.

Added: June 23, 2009
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Minnesota Poised to Lead Nation in Health Reform

Our health care system costs too much, makes too many mistakes and gives us back too little value for our money. That’s why AARP, on behalf of our 40 million members nationwide (700,000 right here in Minnesota), believes Congress must pass health care reform that provides all Americans with affordable health care choices.

Throughout the summer, AARP is calling on Congress and the President to find common sense solutions this year that will lower prescription drug costs and provide affordable health choices to Americans age 50 to 64. Every member of the Minnesota Congressional Delegation is getting visits and calls from AARP members.

Minnesota has a good start on health reform – and our efforts at the state level are being touted as an example for national reform. With AARP’s support, the Minnesota Legislature passed several measures over the past two sessions that began to stem the tide of rising costs, and empower consumers to improve the quality of their health care. More than 5,500 AARP members contacted lawmakers last year to weigh in on health care reform.

Several provisions that passed here in Minnesota should be part of a larger national debate:

A “health care homes” provision will help Minnesotans with chronic diseases receive more coordinated care.
Publishing data on providers will help consumers compare costs and quality.
Public health investments will help fight obesity and smoking.
Standards will be set for electronic health records to make them interoperable among providers and providers will be required to e-prescribe by 2011.

· Affordability standards will be set for MinnesotaCare, ensuring that the premium does not exceed 8 percent of an individual’s income. Standards will also be developed for the private market that will help ensure that no Minnesotan is priced out of the health care market.

Similarly, AARP is calling on Congress to provide Americans age 50 to 64 with a choice of health care plans they can afford – even people with pre-existing conditions. We’re fighting to ensure that people in this age group can get adequate coverage for no more than 10 percent of their income (5 percent if they are low income), including both premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

At the national level, AARP believes any national health care reform bill must address the following six priorities:

1) Guaranteeing access to affordable coverage for Americans age 50 to 64;

2) Closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap or "doughnut hole";

3) Creating access to generic versions of biologic drugs used to treat cancer and other serious diseases to reduce the price of these costly treatments;

4) Preventing costly hospital readmissions by creating a follow-up care benefit in Medicare to help people safely transition home after a hospital stay;

5) Increasing federal funding and eligibility for home and community based services through Medicaid so older Americans can remain in their homes and avoid more costly institutions as they age; and

6) Improving programs that help low income Americans in Medicare afford the health care and prescription drugs they need.

Minnesota ’s efforts can lead the nation on reform. Join us as we work with the Minnesota Congressional Delegation to urge them to adopt comprehensive reform that continues this home-grown progress. Visit www.healthactionnow.org to get involved.

Added: June 23, 2009
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Albert Lea to Launch Walking Moai Program

Vitality Project Launches Walking Moai

Residents of Albert Lea Urged to Participate in Community-wide Walking Launch

Free AARP pedometer for each participant!

(Albert Lea, MN) The AARP^®/Blue Zones^® Vitality Project sponsored by United Health Foundation ^SM invites everyone who lives or works in Albert Lea to join us at the launch of the Vitality Project’s Walking Moai on Thursday, June 18^th, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at a school nearest your home.

“Anyone of any age can make walking a part of their daily life,” said Margaret Hawkins, a national walking program expert from AARP. “This unprecedented program combines the ease of AARP’s walking program with the Blue Zones principles to give Albert Lea residents another tool to live longer, better.”

What is a Walking Moai?

Natural movement throughout the day, especially walking, is a way of life in Blue Zones around the world. The walking moai program is designed to bring this practice to Albert Lea -- and help residents make walking a natural part of their day by walking to typical destinations. At the same time, the program will help strengthen ties between neighbors of all ages.

“We know that if your three best friends are obese, you have a 50% greater chance of being overweight” stated Blue Zones explorer Dan Buettner. “This exploration of Albert Lea will help participants make friends that can contribute to greater health and happiness.”

Albert Leans are invited to join neighborhood teams of about 10 people and earn points each time they walk with at least one other team member. Teams can compete for prizes after they walk to a designated list of local destinations provided to each team.

Vitality Project Walking Moai Launch

Thursday, June 18, 2009

6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Come to the location listed below nearest your home to get started!

Free AARP pedometer for each participant!

Wear comfortable shoes.

Albert Lea High School , 2000 Tiger Lane -- if you live in the area of HawthorneSchool

Southwest Middle School , 1601 W Front St – if you live in the areas of the Arena, Indian Hills or Sibley School

Brookside Education Center , 211 W Richway Dr – if you live in the areas of Wedge Nursery or LakeviewSchool

Halverson Elementary School , 707 E 10th St -- if you live in the area of Halverson School or wish to enroll as a business

Visit www.aarp.org/bluezonesproject to find out more about the various events and projects available to residents of Albert Lea. For more information about joining a moai in your neighborhood, contact the Walking Moai leaders:Nancy VanderWaerdt 377-0227;Catherine Buboltz: 377-0835;Jeshua Erickson: 373-1289.

About the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project sponsored by United Heatlh Foundation

Since January, Albert Lea leaders have been working behind the scenes with the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project to make changes to their community that will promote health and longevity. Today, residents who live or work in Albert Lea made an individual commitment to participate in the first-ever longevity makeover of an entire community . The Vitality Project will shine a national spotlight on the efforts of one small town working together to make a commitment to better health and increased longevity.

Added: June 11, 2009
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AARP Champions Bipartisan "Follow-up Care" Legislation

AARP Endorses Bill to Help Older Americans Stay Healthy, Out of the Hospital

Reps. Blumenauer and Boustany champion bipartisan follow-up care legislation

WASHINGTON —AARP today enthusiastically endorsed the “Medicare Transitional Care Act,” sponsored by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Charles Boustany (R-LA). This critical legislation would help eliminate the thousands of preventable hospital readmissions that occur each year by providing coordinated follow-up care to people in Medicare through a team of caregivers. Such a benefit can help save some of the estimated $17 billion Medicare spends each year on preventable hospital readmissions and significantly reduce the 20 percent of people in Medicare who are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of their first visit.

“Millions of Americans are suffering needlessly each year because of a broken health care system that leaves them without the care and support they need after a hospital stay,” said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond. “We applaud Representatives Blumenauer and Boustany for sponsoring common sense legislation that will save money and keep people healthier and out of the hospital.”

AARP has urged lawmakers to ensure that comprehensive health care reform includes a Medicare follow-up care benefit to help people safely return to their homes after a hospital stay, coordinate their health care needs and prevent unnecessary hospital readmissions. The legislation introduced today by Reps. Blumenauer and Boustany marks an important step toward a stronger, higher quality health care system.

The “Medicare Transitional Care Act” would create a new Medicare benefit to coordinate care during a person’s transition from a hospital to their home or other care settings. With help from a team of nurses, doctors and other professionals, patients and their caregivers would receive critical follow-up care, like instructions for taking their medications, a medical professional to attend follow-up appointments with their doctors and help to find the equipment and services they may need.

“Too many people are leaving the hospital with a handful of prescriptions and little else,” LeaMond added. “Our fractured health care system is leaving them and their caregivers without the direction they need to stay healthy. It’s weighing on our health and driving up the cost of health care for all Americans. That’s why we’re excited to have the leadership of Representatives Blumenauer and Boustany to finally make this a problem of the past.”

For details on AARP’s health reform priorities, visit http://www.aarp.org/governmentwatch .

Added: June 11, 2009
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Bring Generics to Market, AARP Says

Association presses Congress to bring less costly generics to market faster

WASHINGTON, DC, May 21, 2009—A new analysis by AARP’s Public Policy Institute reveals the manufacturers of many top-selling biologic drugs have recouped average research and development costs several times over in the past six years, often within a single year. The report’s finding busts the myth that allowing generic versions of biologic drugs will undermine further development of these breakthrough medicines.

Unlike traditional chemical drugs, biologic drugs are made from living organisms. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has no process in place to approve less costly generic versions of biologics, which can cost thousands of dollars each month.

AARP’s analysis of ten top-selling biologics finds these drugs have had U.S. sales of between $5.5 billion and $14.9 billion since 2003. The average development cost for a new biologic drug is $1.2 billion, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. All of the drugs examined more than recovered the average development cost of a biologic drug in just three years of sales between 2003 and 2005.

“For more than 20 years, generic versions of chemical drugs have given Americans access to safe, inexpensive treatments for their health problems without hindering scientific innovation,” said AARP Executive Vice President John Rother. “With more Americans taking biologic drugs for relatively common diseases like cancer and multiple sclerosis, it’s time to bring affordable generic biologics to the market.”

AARP is telling lawmakers that a process to approve generic biologic drugs must be a part of comprehensive health reform. The association has endorsed the “Promoting Innovation and Access to Life-Saving Medicine Act” (H.R. 1427/S. 726), which would create a process for the approval of generic biologic drugs. This bill would prevent generic competition from entering the market for the first five years after a new biologic drug is approved, providing a common-sense balance between encouraging innovation and increasing access to these life-saving medicines.

Rother added: “This bill is a win-win both for biologic drug makers and for those Americans with the most desperate medical conditions who are struggling to afford the medicines they need.”

A competing bill, the “Pathway for Biosimilars Act” (H.R. 1548), would force consumers to wait twelve years before being able to purchase the lower cost generic version of their medicine.

AARP’s report, “Biologics in Perspective: The Case for Generic Biologic Drugs,” is available at http://www.aarp.org/research/health/drugs/fs155_biologics.html.

For details on AARP’s health reform priorities, visit http://www.aarp.org/governmentwatch.

Added: May 26, 2009
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Albert Lea Residents Pledge for AARP Blue Zones Vitality Project

Albert Lea Residents Pledge to Add 10,000 Collective

Years of Life to Their City

(Albert Lea, MN) Hundreds of Albert Lea residents joined together on Thursday night and pledged to take part in the AARP^®/Blue Zones^® Vitality Project sponsored by United Health Foundation, an unprecedented city-wide health makeover designed to inspire residents to take charge of their health so that they can live longer, better.

Since January, Albert Lea leaders have been working behind the scenes with the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project to make changes to their community that will promote health and longevity. Today, residents who live or work in Albert Lea made an individual commitment to participate in the first-ever longevity makeover of an entire community . The Vitality Project will shine a national spotlight on the efforts of one small town working together to make a commitment to better health and increased longevity.

“Albert Lea residents will learn that by making a few simple changes to the way we live and the way we think, we can vastly improve our health and actually stack the deck in our favor to live longer, better,” said Dan Buettner, founder of Blue Zones and the project leader. Buettner is a Minnesotan and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest.

“The people of Albert Lea have shown an intense commitment to this project already– and I believe they are ready to not just add years to their life – but life to their years ,” said AARP National Board Member Hubert H. “Skip” Humphrey, III. “AARP is proud to watch Albert Lea, Minnesota show the rest of the world how to make a serious and mindful commitment to improving health and longevity.”

"The United Health Foundation has a passion for supporting projects that can strengthen the overall health of a community," said Daniel Johnson, executive director of the United Health Foundation. "We jumped at the opportunity to support AARP and Blue Zones as they find new ways to improve community health through a holistic approach."

A dynamic web site was launched at www.aarp.org/bluezonesproject to track the town’s progress and allow Albert Lea residents to take the “Vitality Compass,” a tool designed to project life expectancy and allow residents to track their progress.

National Experts Come to Albert Lea

The project is using national experts to bring the latest teachings about health and longevity to Albert Lea.

v Longevity Expert Dan Buettner, director of the AARP^®/Blue Zones^® Vitality Project sponsored by United Health Foundation and Blue Zones founder, shared longevity information about his recent trip to Ikaria, Greece, a longevity hotspot where people are reaching age 90 at astonishing rates.

v University of Minnesota’s Dr. Leslie Lytle, co-director of the Vitality Project is an expert in children’s health promotion and childhood obesity prevention and is working with Albert Lea schools, employers and government to improve foods and activity offerings.

v At the launch event, national eating expert Dr. Brian Wansink provided information about avoiding “mindless eating,” and offered tips for making over one’s habitat. In Albert Lea, he will work with restaurants, businesses, and citizens’ homes, teaching simple tricks to eat less.

v Richard Leider, an expert in helping people find a clear sense of purpose, will lead a series of workshops free of charge for about 1,500 residents in Albert Lea to help them realize and express their gifts and talents.

Community Events and Engagement

From now through September, the Vitality Project will work with volunteer leaders to roll out several activities designed to inspire health and wellness.

v An AARP Walking Program will help residents exercise and strengthen social circles and will provide 3,000 pedometers to dedicated walkers.

v An intergenerational ”walking school bus” is now launched, to provide volunteers such as retirees to walk Albert Lea area children to school as a group.

v Volunteer leaders will promote community gardens, healthy cooking classes and wine tastings to promote the teachings of the Blue Zones.

Visit www.aarp.org/bluezonesproject or call Community Education (507) 379-4834 t o find out more about the various events and projects available to residents of Albert Lea.

Added: May 20, 2009
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Vietnam Vets to be Honored in St. Paul on June 13

Veterans organizations from around the state and the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs are teaming up for what is expected to be the largest Vietnam Veteran event in Minnesota History.

Thousands of Veterans, families, friends and supporters are expected to gather June 13 on the Minnesota State Capitol Grounds to honor and remember all Veterans who served during the Vietnam era.

Sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, this event is designed to unite the Minnesota community in support, gratitude and celebration of the brave men and women who served during the Vietnam War era.

Over the decades, the state of Minnesota has taken steps to recognize those who served. A Vietnam Veterans memorial was dedicated in 1997, and in 2008, legislation creating a state Vietnam Veterans Day was signed into law by Governor Pawlenty. In this tradition, the Minnesota Honors Vietnam Era Veterans celebration will continue to unite Veterans and the community.

“This is a day to celebrate Vietnam era Veterans,” said Clark Dyrud, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. “We need to recognize those who have served, and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”

The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature guest speakers, period music, Vietnam memorabilia, food, Vietnam Veteran reunions and more. A replica of the National Vietnam Memorial will also be on display. For more information about this event, visit www.mnhonorsvietnamvets.org .

Added: May 19, 2009
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My Journals (79)

Attention, MN delegation: Six steps Congress should take to fix health care

By Michele Kimball | Wednesday, June 17, 2009