AARP Hearing Center
The following documents related to health care concerns of people 50-plus are presented in reverse chronological order.
December
L: On December 7, 2017 AARP sent a letter to Congressional leadership expressing concerns for potential automatic cuts to Medicare. The CBO estimated that because of statutory pay-as-you-go and the increase in the deficit, Medicare providers will be subject to an automatic $25 billion cut in fiscal year 2018, and additional cuts in subsequent fiscal years. According to CBO, the automatic cuts, or sequester, would begin as soon as January, 2018. AARP urged Congress to act now to prevent these cuts to Medicare. (PDF)
L: On December 6, 2017 AARP sent a letter to Chairman Brady and Ranking Member Neal of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means in support of permanently reforming the limitations on therapy services. In the letter, we expressed that Congress can help older Americans and people with disabilities afford and access the care they need by repealing the arbitrary caps on physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy services in Medicare. (PDF)
November
L: On November 15, 2017 AARP, along with a group of other organizations, sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance expressing collective support for amendment number 288 (Bennet 9), the Credit for Caring Act (S. 1151), urging the Committee to include this family caregiver tax credit in the final tax reform package. The Credit for Caring Act would create a new, non-refundable federal tax credit of up to $3,000 for eligible family caregivers to help address the financial challenges of caregiving. (PDF)
L: On November 8, 2017 a coalition of organizations, including AARP, sent a letter to the entire U.S. Senate expressing support for the Medical Expense Deduction and urged Senators to protect the deduction in any forthcoming tax reform legislation. For the approximately 8.8 million Americans who annually take this deduction, it provides important tax relief which helps offset the costs of acute and chronic medical conditions for older Americans, children, pregnant women and other adults as well as the costs associated with long term care and assisted living. (PDF)
L: On November 7, 2017 a coalition of organizations, including AARP, sent a letter to the entire U.S. House of Representatives expressing opposition to H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The coalition urged Congress to restore the Medical Expense Deduction and continue to support millions of middle class Americans with high health care costs. (PDF)
L: On November 2, 2017 AARP sent a letter to the entire U.S. House of Representatives supporting the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the essential role it plays in providing affordable health coverage to working families for over 8 million children, including the thousands of grandparents raising grandchildren under the age of 18. HOWEVER, AARP strongly opposes section 403 of the “CHAMPIONING HEALTHY KIDS ACT” (H.R. 3922) that unfairly and inappropriately offsets some of the program’s costs by shifting those costs onto older Americans in Medicare. (PDF)
September
L: On September 19, 2017 AARP sent a letter to the entire U.S. Senate urging senators to vote NO on the Graham/Cassidy health care bill. Older Americans need and deserve affordable premiums, lower out-of-pocket costs, and coverage they can count on as they age. AARP urged the Senate to reject the Graham/Cassidy/Heller/Johnson bill because as it would do precisely the opposite. Overall, the Graham/Cassidy/Heller/Johnson bill would increase health care costs for older Americans with an age tax, decrease coverage, and undermine pre-existing condition protections. In addition, this bill would jeopardize the ability of older Americans and people with disabilities to stay in their own homes as they age and threaten coverage for individuals in nursing homes. (PDF)