Enter your dream travel adventure essay and you could win a trip for 4 to the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando.

Here's how it works: A parent or grandparent submits a 350-word essay describing a dream adventure-travel excursion. AARP Travel Ambassador Peter Greenberg will lead a panel of judges to select the winners. The contest ends June 30.

The contest celebrates the release of the Disney/Pixar animated adventure film "UP," featuring a curmudgeonly balloon salesmen and a pint-sized kid who fly off on the ultimate travel adventure and find friendship along the way.

Learn More

     Summer vacation may be approaching fast for South Dakota kids, but your AARP South Dakota 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

See additional state facts on Social Security at

http://www.aarp.org/research/socialsecurity/general/ss_facts_08.html

Members receive first look at Association’s plans to bring affordable health care choices to every American on AARP.org

AARP today announced six specific elements that must be part of health reform, including closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap and ensuring 50- to 64-year-olds have access to affordable health care choices.  AARP members and activists were the first to learn about the announcement when the organization posted its goals on its Government Watch website this morning.

“The next few weeks will be an all-out blitz for health reform,” said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond.  “As leaders on Capitol Hill hammer out the details of their legislation, we want to make sure they include the priorities that we’re hearing from our members.  Any final package must include these critical issues.”

AARP’s health reform campaign will focus on six critical priorities:

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

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

3) Creating a Medicare transition benefit to help people safely return to their homes after a hospital stay and prevent costly hospital readmissions; 

4) 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;

5) Creating a pathway for the approval of generic versions of biologic drugs to reduce the price of these costly treatments; and 

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

Tuesday, May 5, AARP President Jennie Chin Hansen will participate in the Senate Finance Committee’s roundtable on health coverage.  Four AARP members from states represented by members of the Senate Finance Committee will visit Capitol Hill to discuss with their Senators the struggle of getting and affording health insurance, particularly for people 50 to 64.  AARP will also be distributing to the entire Congress booklets of its members’ personal stories—real life experiences that put a human face on why their priorities should be included in any health care reform legislation.

 Beginning today, AARP is launching a month-long television and print advertising campaign.  The ads use personal stories to communicate the priorities of AARP members to lawmakers in Washington.  The campaign will include full-page ads in the Capitol Hill publications CongressDaily, The Hill, Politico and Roll Call, as well as television ads on Face the Nation, Fox News Sunday, Meet the Press and This Week. 

 ARP will also leverage the power of its state offices across the country over the coming weeks, with events to build support behind comprehensive health reform.  Among the events, AARP New York will co-host a health fair to highlight the need for health reform, including coverage for people 50 to 64.  Reps. Jason Altmire and Kathy Dahlkemper will join the AARP Pennsylvania office for a town hall meeting, and Rep. Frank Pallone will host a tele-town hall meeting to discuss health reform with New Jersey AARP members.

LeaMond added: “Whether it’s on Capitol Hill, in their district offices or in the media, our lawmakers will hear from AARP this month.  We’ve been working for more than two years to set the stage and the time for health reform is now.  We’re excited about the work happening in Washington to address the needs of older Americans as a part of comprehensive health reform.”

For details on AARP’s health reform campaign, visit www.aarp.org/makeadifference/advocacy/GovernmentWatch/HealthCare/.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

What should I do if I get sick?

If you live in areas where swine influenza cases have been identified and become ill with influenza-like symptoms, including fever, body aches, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, or vomiting or diarrhea, you may want to contact their health care provider, particularly if you are worried about your symptoms. Your health care provider will determine whether influenza testing or treatment is needed.

• Fast breathing or trouble breathing
• Bluish skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Not waking up or not interacting
• Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
• Fever with a rash

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting

• The bill is devoted to enhancing service opportunities for persons age 50+ so that they can apply a lifetime of acquired skills to address a range of identified service needs.  
• The bill includes provisions that 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. 

The Joint Appropriations Committee is back in session early this morning with the expectation that they will finish up their work before 10AM so that the General Bill can be considered on the floor of the House.  The Senate is scheduled to go into session at 11AM.  The expectation is to finish work as close to Noon as possible but there will have to be considerable compromise to accomplish that goal.  We had a small victory yesterday when the Joint Appropriations committee passed an amendment to "rebase" long term care costs in Medicaid.  This essentially ensures that our state's long term care providers are reimbursed at the most recent year's cost reporting levels.  This will put an additional $3 Million into the Medicaid system for long term care providers but unfortunately provides no increase for other Medicaid providers outside of the long term care delivery system.  Just moments ago, the Joint Appropriations committee shot down proposed provider payment increases at the 3%, 1.5%, 1%, and .5% levels.  These increases would have extended reimbursement increases throughout the Medicaid system.  It looks like only the long term care providers will be seeing any increased payment this year unless some additional horse trading occurs for an amendment to be offered on the floor of the House or the Senate.

Given that this is the last day of the regular session, we'll be reporting out a longer list of accomplishments next week that encompasses all activity throughout the session as well as any last minute happenings that occur the remainder of today.  Until then, this is AARP signing off from the 2009 South Dakota Legislative Session.