Yesterday, about 60 AARP members met with their state lawmakers to urge them to remember Minnesota's most vulnerable citizens when working to balance the budget.  AARP members delivered these messages straight to their representatives:

v     Please protect vulnerable Minnesotans from severe budget cuts and uphold Minnesota's long-standing tradition of caring for our elders.

 v     Older Minnesotans have been among the hardest hit by the economic crisis, and we need to ensure that we maintain important health and long-term care safety nets at this crucial time.

 v     Fully-funding home and community based services should be a priority so that we can fund adequate staff and ensure quality care for our elders.

 v     AARP urges you to find a balanced approach to the budget dilemma.  Health and Human Services should not take a disproportionate share of cuts.  Increasing revenues should be on the table for discussion.

The President and members of Congress are saying they want to bring about health reform this year. Want to learn more about AARP's role in the health reform debate what we're working for and how we're representing YOU? 

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AARP staff and volunteers have been advocating for members at the state capitol this session.  Here are the top priorities for 2009.

1. Find Bipartisan Solutions to the Budget Dilemma

AARP urges Governor Pawlenty and state lawmakers to seek common ground in finding a solution to the state’s historic budget deficit that does not adversely impact vulnerable Minnesotans. In today’s weakening economy, older Minnesotans are at greater risk for health and financial suffering, and are more likely to need critical services in order to live.  AARP has several concerns about proposals on the table: 

·        We oppose eliminating health care coverage for adults which has an adverse affect on coverage levels for children. 

·        We oppose changes in eligibility for long-term care waiver programs and have concerns about the possible adverse affects of changes to the personal care assistance programs that help very vulnerable Minnesotans receive basic care less expensively at home.

·        We oppose the three percent cut to long-term and continuing care providers.  We also oppose the elimination of “rebasing” which results in a cut to providers. 

·        We urge lawmakers to take full advantage of federal funding by avoiding cuts to programs as required by law.  We simply cannot afford to leave any federal money on the table.

·        Health care measures enacted last year will save the state and consumers money in the long-term and should be continued. 

·        We oppose the proposed reduction in the renters credit which will adversely affect nearly 77,000 older or disabled Minnesotans.  

  To avoid harm to vulnerable Minnesotans, AARP urges the Legislature to consider options that increase the state’s revenues.  Given the severity of the budget situation, we believe that it would cause too much harm to vulnerable populations to use budget cuts alone to solve the budget dilemma.

Protect Elder Minnesotans From Abuse

AARP strongly supports House File 818 (Hilstrom) and Senate File 758 (Moua), legislation to reform and streamline the Vulnerable Adults Act. Allegations of nursing home residents’ abuse that have surfaced in two Minnesota communities serve as a reminder about the responsibility we all must take in caring for our loved elders. This legislation will streamline the Vulnerable Adult Act reporting system, assure first responders have the tools to serve a growing and changing population and help to better protect vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. We must ensure that adequate resources are directed to law enforcement and state agencies that assure incidents of abuse do not occur.

Continue Minnesota’s Health Care Reform Leadership

AARP supports a series of health care reform bills sponsored by Senator Linda Berglin and Representative Tom Huntley that will help reduce costs in the system, improve quality and help balance the budget.  The rate of growth in health care is a burden on taxpayers, the state budget and ultimately, on consumers.  This package of bills will reduce administrative costs, leverage additional federal funding and improve the way we pay providers.  This effort is a continuation of the health reform legislation enacted last year that AARP supported, and is intended to move these initiatives along faster.

Support Long-term Caregivers

Workers in the long-term care system are underpaid and often work without health insurance.  AARP supports better pay and benefits for workers in the long-term care system.  In addition, unpaid family caregivers provide the vast majority of care to Minnesotans.  Given the current budget and economic challenges, caregivers will be taking on a larger part of the care burden. AARP urges lawmakers to provide better support for unpaid family members, who still provide the vast majority of the long-term care provided in society, often juggle multiple roles at home and in the labor force, and often experience stress and health problems.  AARP supports House File 337, to provide a tax credit for low income caregivers.  We also support allowing employees to use earned sick time to care for loved ones.

Support Protections for Reverse Mortgage Consumers

AARP supports House File 528 (Davnie) and Senate File 489 (Clark), legislation to ensure that Minnesotans who consider reverse mortgages receive a fair product that best meets their needs.  The legislation requires that homeowners seek nonbiased counseling about the pros and cons of entering into a reverse mortgage. It also increases the responsibility of lenders so that when a mortgage is sold, the originator and the buyer of the loan can both be held responsible for any unscrupulous actions by the loan originator. It also helps ensure that reverse mortgages are sold only to people who need and can afford them.  The legislation also prohibits the cross-selling of insurance products and expands the timeframe in which consumers can reconsider and rescind their loan.

Oppose Medicare Balanced Billing

AARP opposes House File 1027 and Senate File 962, bills that will allow doctors and hospitals to charge Medicare beneficiaries more than what Medicare will pay when they go to the doctor.  Many Medicare beneficiaries are living on fixed incomes and simply cannot afford to pay more to go to the doctor.  This legislation would be a cost shift to patients, who are already suffering from out-of-control health care spending.

As the House and Senate prepare their detailed budget proposals, AARP members from across the state are emailing their legislators asking them to avoid cuts to services that help seniors get care in their homes and communities.  AARP volunteer advocates are also meeting personally with legislators to voice concerns.

“Critical services like nursing homes, home care, and meal programs that older Minnesotans rely on could see major cuts this session if Minnesotans don’t speak up,” said AARP State Director Michele Kimball.  “Our members want their legislators to know that these cuts would impact vulnerable loved ones.”

AARP is advocating that health and human services, including services for elders, should not take a disproportionate share of cuts, and other options for raising revenue must be on the table for discussion. Specifically, AARP is concerned about:

“We have a tradition in Minnesota of caring for our elders and promoting cost-effective programs for older adults that allow older loved ones to live with dignity,” said Kimball.  "Giving care to seniors in their homes and communities saves the state and individuals money by avoiding costly nursing home stays.  It makes common sense to preserve these cost-effective ways of delivering care."

So far, AARP members have made more than 1,000 personal contacts with their state lawmakers. 

Senate Passes Critical Part of Economic Recovery

AARP Tracks “Key Vote” on Government Watch for 40 Million Members

On Friday,   AARP thanked U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar for her vote on the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act—a bill that will strengthen and expand civic engagement and volunteer opportunities for people of all ages. The U.S. House is slated to vote on the measure on Tuesday, March 31.

Designated as a “key vote” by AARP on behalf of its 40 million members, each senator’s final vote is posted on AARP’s Government Watch site (www.aarp.org/governmentwatch) so individuals across the nation can see how their legislators voted on this important bill.   

The legislation provides the opportunity to serve others in neighborhoods and communities across the country.

AARP is pleased the Serve America Act will help non-profit, service and philanthropic organizations recruit, manage and engage more volunteers—including skilled volunteers—to help address specific community needs.  After all, recovery from America’s economic crisis will require not only action by our government, but also in our communities.

  A recent letter from AARP CEO Bill Novelli to Senate leadership outlines the most important issues for older Americans in this legislation:

• This legislation will strengthen and expand civic engagement and volunteer opportunities to include social services, environment, health, caregiving, nurturing, mentoring, intergenerational solutions, education, economic development and community development. 
• The bill will improve service opportunities for persons age 50+ so that they can apply a lifetime of acquired skills to help remedy a range of identified service needs. 
• Provisions included will improve the capacity of non-profit, service and philanthropic organizations to recruit, manage and apply volunteer skills to identified service needs in this period of economic recession and lower charitable giving. 

AARP The Magazine Unveils Top-Ranked Hospitals Across the Country

Plus: Doctors’ Hospital Picks by Specialty and Tips to
Determine If and How to Travel Away from Home for Medical Care

 
WASHINGTON (March 24, 2009) — AARP The Magazine , the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world’s largest-circulation magazine with more than 34 million readers, today debuted a new interactive map listing the top-ranked hospitals in the U.S. by geographic area. This list (available at www.aarp.org/health ) was compiled by Consumers’ Checkbook, a nonprofit organization, and coincides with the release of the May/June issue of AARP The Magazine, which features new information and advice for consumers deciding whether or not to travel away from home for medical care. The magazine article also features the results of a national survey in which doctors were asked to give their top picks for out-of-town hospitals based on specialty. With several of the largest U.S. hospitals reporting significant increases in the number of out-of-state patients in the past decade, it’s clear that more patients are venturing further from home for care.

Consumers’ Checkbook surveyed doctors from across the country and collected 140,000 ratings of hospitals in their own communities and also asked the doctors whether, and where, they would recommend patients seek care in other communities for extremely difficult cases of heart conditions, cancer, and other ailments. The resulting list will help guide patients to appropriate hospitals if they decide they need to travel outside their hometown for care. When asked where they were most likely to send patients with extremely difficult cases, doctors surveyed by Consumers’ Checkbook named the following hospitals:

Heart, General

·          Cleveland Clinic , Cleveland, OH

·          Mayo Clinic, Rochester , MN

·          Children’s Hospital Boston , Boston, MA

·          New York-Presbyterian/Columbia , New York, NY

·          Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston, MA

·          Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston , MA

·          The JohnsHopkinsHospital , Baltimore, MD

·          Stanford UniversityMedicalCenter , Palo Alto, CA

·          Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital , Houston, TX

Cancer, General

·          The University of TexasM.D.AndersonCancerCenter , Houston, TX

·          Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY

·          Dana-Farber Cancer Institute , Boston, MA

·          Mayo Clinic , Rochester, MN

·          City of Hope , Duarte, CA

·          The JohnsHopkinsHospital , Baltimore, MD

·          Duke UniversityHospital , Durham, NC

·          Roswell Park Cancer Institute , Buffalo, NY

Mystery Diagnoses

·          Mayo Clinic , Rochester, MN

·          Cleveland Clinic , Cleveland, OH

·          The JohnsHopkinsHospital , Baltimore, MD

·          Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston, MA

·          Ronald ReaganUCLAMedicalCenter , Los Angeles, CA

Neurosurgery

·          Duke UniversityHospital , Durham, NC

·          Mayo Clinic , Rochester, MN

·          University of CaliforniaSan FranciscoMedicalCenter , San Francisco, CA

·          Cleveland Clinic , Cleveland, OH

·          Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston, MA

·          The JohnsHopkinsHospital , Baltimore, MD

·          Ronald ReaganUCLAMedicalCenter , Los Angeles, CA

Eyes

·          Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami , Miami, FL

·          Wills Eye Institute , Philadelphia, PA

·          Ronald ReaganUCLAMedicalCenter , Los Angeles, CA

·          Wilmer Eye Institute, The JohnsHopkinsHospital , Baltimore, MD

This survey was part of the research for a new book from Consumers’ Checkbook (www.checkbook.org) called Consumers’ Guide to Hospitals, which uses volumes of government safety statistics and data on death and complication rates, along with survey results, to compare and rank hospitals in the country’s 53 largest metro areas. To see the interactive map of Consumers’ Checkbook’s top 125 hospitals, visit www.aarpmagazine.org/health.

Yesterday, State Director Michele Kimball testified before the House Health and Human Services Committee in opposition to legislation that will repeal Minnesota's ban on Medicare Balanced Billing.  Here is information about AARP's position on this issue.

AARP Opposes Repeal of Medicare Balanced Billing Restriction

House File 1027/Senate File 962

• AARP opposes House File 1027 and Senate File 962, bills to repeal Minnesota’s current ban on Medicare Balanced Billing.

• This legislation would allow doctors who choose not to participate in the Medicare program to charge Medicare beneficiaries more than what Medicare allows for a particular service. 

• Currently non-participating doctors may only charge beneficiaries 95% of the charge allowed by Medicare.  If the ban on Medicare Balance Billing is lifted, non-participating doctors would then be allowed to charge Medicare patients up to 115% of the charge allowed by Medicare.

• This legislation would be a cost shift to Medicare beneficiaries – people with disabilities or over aged 65 -- many of whom are living on fixed incomes and who already suffer from out-of-control health care costs.

·         Minnesota is among eight other states that go beyond the federal law to protect Medicare beneficiaries from extraordinary costs.  Other states include Connecticut , Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.  Due to today’s climate of increasing health care costs, this protection is needed more than ever.

• Approximately 87,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Minnesota do not hold a supplemental policy and would immediately pay more at the doctor’s office.  For many others in the Medicare population, this legislation would ultimately result in increased rates in policies.

• Medicare beneficiaries are not immune to health care cost increases.  Medicare premiums have doubled since 2000. Medicare only covers about half of a beneficiary’s health care bills. Beneficiaries themselves pay for about a quarter of the costs out of their own pockets.

• Many seniors in Minnesota live on Social Security as their main or only source of income.  Social Security payments are high enough to disqualify Minnesota elders from receiving any public assistance.  These elders in the “middle” cannot afford to pay more for doctor visits.
  
• The economic downturn is hitting seniors especially hard.  Many have lost substantial assets in the value of their home, their retirement accounts have been depleted and many who are forced to work have lost jobs. An additional bill from a provider, especially in this economy, would be unmanageable for many.  See a recent AARP report for more information. http://www.aarp.org/research/economy/trends/i19_crisis.html

• This bill would discourage people from seeking preventative care and routine care for chronic conditions.  T his only triggers more expensive care down the line, putting further strain on a struggling system.

·         It is very unclear to beneficiaries which doctors are participating physicians and which are not.  This information is not well-publicized.  Those who need urgent or emergency services will not be able to determine a provider's billing practices before they are unknowingly charged. 

(March 11, 2009) AARP today applauded Congress for taking important steps on legislation that will expand civic engagement and volunteer opportunities at a time when many Americans are in great need.

The Serve America Act (S. 277) and the G.I.V.E. Act (H.R. 1388) sponsored by Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Orrin Hatch and Representatives George Miller and Carolyn McCarthy will usher in a new era of American service.

The legislation enhances service opportunities for persons 50+, so they can apply a lifetime of acquired skills to help remedy a range of needs.

AARP supports provisions that will improve the capacity of non-profit, service and philanthropic organizations to recruit, manage and engage more volunteers – including skilled volunteers – to help address people’s critical and growing service needs.

The 50+ community has the opportunity to lead the next generation of service: in a survey conducted for AARP last year, millions of boomers said that in the next five years, they want to increase their volunteer service to improve their communities and our world. Boomers stand ready to give, ready to do more, and ready to, as AARP’s founder said, ‘create the good.’

Visit www.aarp.org/createthegood for more ways you can help your community.

(March 5, 2009) AARP Volunteer Christeen Stone testifies before the State Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection about protections needed for consumers of reverse mortgages.  Here is her testimony.

Madame Chair and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today in support of Senate File 489, legislation authored by Senator Tarryl Clark to help protect consumers of reverse mortgages.  I am Christeen Stone, a volunteer with AARP on the Grassroots, Elections and Advocacy Team.

AARP would like to thank Senator Clark, our bipartisan coauthors and Attorney General Swanson for their leadership in bringing this legislation forward. 

Older Minnesotans have been among the hardest hit by the economic crisis.  Many have lost retirement savings and employment while struggling to pay for the increasing costs of living. 

For  most older Minnesotans, our home constitutes the biggest and most important part of our life savings.  In fact, two-thirds of Americans aged 65 and older own their homes free and clear. 

In today’s economic downturn, older homeowners across the state are increasingly turning to reverse mortgages to pay for life’s necessities – such as needed home repairs, health care or long-term care.

AARP believes that in general, reverse mortgages should be used as a last resort for most consumers.  We know that reverse mortgages can be a useful safety net for many Minnesotans who have no other choice and want to remain living independently.

I would like to call your attention to several areas of the bill that we believe will have a positive protective impact on consumers:

• We support the suitability clause – intended to ensure that reverse mortgages are sold only to people who need them.  Lenders should be held responsible for selling loans that they know are bad for the particular consumer.

•  We also support the prohibition of cross-selling.  Too often, the home equity of borrowers is depleted because they are offered inappropriate financial products, such as annuities or long-term care insurance.  Consumers should be wary of anyone who tries to sell them something to be paid for with a reverse mortgage.  If anyone is trying to sell you something and recommending you use a reverse mortgage to pay for it, that's generally a good sign that you don't need it and shouldn't be buying it.

We also support the mandatory counseling provision of the bill; and are pleased that the timeframe in which consumers can reconsider their loan is expanded.  We are also pleased that the bill increases the responsibility of lenders so that the originator and the buyer of the loan can both be held responsible for any unscrupulous actions by the loan originator.

We believe this bill will help protect those homeowners who may be considering a reverse mortgage to meet their needs and ensure that they get a fair product that best meets their needs.  We look forward to working with you to see this important legislation enacted. 

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. Send an email to apope@aarp.org for the application!