AARP Agenda Advancing in Legislature, But Much Work Remains
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2007-02-23 11:14:43.888043-05:00
The Indiana General Assembly will soon enter the second half of its four-month session with some early successes for 50+ Hoosiers and other consumers.
By unanimous votes, the House of Representatives passed bills that boost protections against identity theft and slightly stretch the value of an energy assistance program for low-income households.
House and Senate lawmakers also approved separate bills—again on unanimous votes—that require sprinkler systems and smoke detectors in most nursing homes by July 2012.
AARP Indiana supported all four bills through testimony or other efforts, and will continue working to ensure their enactment. The identity theft legislation allows consumers to place a "security freeze" on their credit reports. That way, only someone with access to a consumer-chosen personal identification number (PIN) can use the report to establish new credit or increase existing credit lines.
Consumers can "thaw" the freeze by notifying any of the big three credit reporting agencies, either electronically or through another agreed format. Electronic requests must be granted within 15 minutes.
"A lot of people hear horror stories and feel helpless to protect themselves from the growing problem of identity theft," said June Lyle, associate state director for public policy. "AARP thinks that House Bill 1082 will give citizens a much-needed tool to protect the private financial information contained in their credit reports."
Those early successes aside, much advocacy work remains.
Lawmakers are crafting a plan to reduce the number of uninsured Hoosiers, and AARP Indiana will insist that the final product meets high standards.
Out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles, should not deter enrollment or participation by low-income households.- Financing should be broadly based, fair and affordable.
- Care should match the needs of a diverse population.
- Consumers' needs and interests must drive the process and the product.
In Indiana, this issue affects about 870,000 people who go without health insurance each year. But it also fits squarely with Divided We Fail, AARP's national campaign to assure the health and financial security of all Americans. You can read more about Divided We Fail under the Announcements section on the Indiana State Web Page.
But we also want to state, loudly and proudly, that AARP Indiana is working close to home to make sure that Indiana's experiment in health care reform advances the high standards and goals of Divided We Fail.
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