More than 9,000 AARP TN Members Talk with U.S. Rep. Phil Roe about Health Care Reform 

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean to Lend His Hands to Home Improvement Project for AARP’s National Day of Service

A thoughtful and thought-provoking editorial in the Chattanooga Times Free Press points out that uninsured Tennesseans are not ``a large cadre of non-working citizens who are lazy or content with not having insurance. The overall portrait is quite contrary: it is mainly low-income working families that lack coverage, and the vast majority of them surely need and deserve help. ...

``In fact, every other industrial nation in the world provides universal health care, and has healthier populations, at half to two-thirds the cost of what the United States medical system already costs, as a share of Gross Domestic Product. That's because everyone pays into the system, they all get preventive care, and their governments have largely taken the price gouging of insurers, providers and pharmaceutical companies out of the equation. America cannot afford to do less.''

AARP agrees. Join our efforts at www.healthactionnow.org

A four-part series on elder care published in the Jackson Sun in recent weeks should be required reading for anyone with aging family members.

It includes tips and resources from AARP and other agencies that all of us could use to plan for our future, as well as heartbreaking stories about how families have dealt with decisions about caring for loved ones.

AARP Tennesse Advocacy Director Patrick Willard is quoted in the fourth installment, which focuses on the quality of the state's nursing homes.

Letters to the editors of newspapers across Tennessee tout the necessity and benefit of reforming our nation's health care system, directing readers to web sites like AARP's HealthActionNow.org to learn the truth about what it would mean for them.

The Tennessean published one such letter from Mary Alice Sullivan , who said ``the unbelievable amount of misinformation and lies about health-care reform can only be understood as coming from those Americans who have not in recent years had a chronic or acute medical condition, do not fear the `doughnut hole,' are independently wealthy or are being misled by radio personalities or journalists whose main concern is personal fame.'' 

The letter from John Borner to the editor of The Jackson Sun urged readers to `` g et the facts - because if we don't fix what's broken now, we're all going to pay the price. And that price is just going to keep on rising.''

Bill Schall said in his letter to the editor of the Knoxville News-Sentinel that ``unfortunately, but perhaps not unusually, more heat than light is cast on this debate.''   Schall, leader of AARP's Knoxville regional impact team, also had a letter published in the Metro Pulse , in which he which clarified that ``health-care reform is not socialized medicine, and it does not mean rationed care or the government making life-and-death decisions for you. Reform will not hurt Medicare, nor will it be too expensive.''

Bettye Wells wrote the Chattanooga Times Free Press that `` America 's health care delivery system can be improved. That's what the current administration and most folks in Congress seem to be trying to do. Compromises will need to be made and not everyone will get everything they wanted. But hopefully the finished product will provide those core benefits supported by AARP and many others whose concerns extend to all citizens.''

For the first time in 35 years, older Americans may not get cost-of-living increases (COLA) in their Social Security checks. That's because inflation is expected to be so low. That would be really bad news for folks living on a fixed income in the midst of a recession. The official announcement about the cost-of-living adjustments is likely to come in October. AARP  is very concerned and has reached out to key members of Congress in hopes of finding a solution. WTVF-TV in Nashville aired a story quoting AARP Tennessee State Director Rebecca Kelly. For more information, read the story that AARP's Bulletin posted earlier in the year.

A news story on WTVF-TV in Nashville illustrates just how much confusion there is about health care reform and AARP's role in the efforts to fix our broken system. The story included part of a statement that AARP Tennessee issued after WTVF asked for clarity.  

Below is the statement from AARP Tennessee Advocacy Director Patrick Willard:

Tennessee Celebrates Completion of 100^th EasyLiving Home

Lebanon mayor, state lawmaker among dignitaries attending ceremony

Members of the coalition include AARP Tennessee, Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness, Boyd Construction, Exit Real Estate Solutions, Goodall Homes and Communities, Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee, Home Builders Association of Tennessee, McWhirter-Dillon LLC, Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity, Statewide Independent Living Council of Tennessee, Swanson Construction/Tennessee Comfort Living, Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, Tennessee Disability Coalition, Tennessee Housing Development Agency, West Tennessee Housing Resource Network

AARP Chapter 4443 in Hendersonville is celebrating its 20th anniversary in style. Local dignitaries including state Sen. Diane Black and Rep. Debra Maggart attended one celebration, while at a city Board of Aldermen meeting, Hendersonville Mayor Scott Foster presented chapter leaders with a proclamation honoring the group for all their good work over the years. 

Here's a link to a photo posted on The Tennessean web site.

And there's more to come, including a photography exhibit at the Park Place Retirement Community entitled ``Hand in Hand,'' a testimonial to the aging community as they meet the challenges and joys of life. 

Claude Weingand, president of the Hendersonville chapter, reminisces in a story by the Hendersonville Star-News about a someone in the community who needed a new wheelchair ramp and some plumbing work done. With help from the chapter this senior was able to get these problems fixed. “As needs arise within our community, the chapter does everything possible to make sure these needs are met,” Weingand said. 

Over the years, the chapter has participated in health fairs, assisted schools in tutoring, delivered homebound meals, lobbied on Capitol Hill, filled out and delivered birthday cards to Christian Towers, signed up students from Vol State to vote and consistently educated seniors on important issues. Annually, the chapter holds a benefit luncheon and collects needed supplies for the senior center.