AARP News

In a tough economic climate, it can be especially hard to balance the state budget.

"In the face of mounting Republican opposition to its healthcare agenda, the Obama administration received a boost Wednesday, winning a preliminary agreement with leading hospital groups to cut federal payments to the industry over the next decade," The Los Angeles Times reports.

Jonathan Chait is a senior editor at The New Republic. Two weeks ago, President Obama offered to cut several hundred billion more dollars out of the Medicare and Medicaid budget to help make room for health care reform.

A local congressman called for reform to ensure affordable health care during his first telephone ``town hall'' meeting Wednesday.

Two key papers released last month highlight how shifting demographics will place Latinos front and center in the discussion about our state and nation's economic future.

The Linthicum Chapter 2244 of the AARP will host a bus trip on July 24 that includes an Eastern Shore crab feast at Fisherman's Crab Deck in Grasonville.

A push is under way to allow the sale of generic versions of biotech drugs - a move supporters say could boost access to vital treatments for cancer, heart disease and other ailments, saving consumers billions of dollars a year.

"I've never dug a hole in my life," she said. "Frankly, I've never really had my hand in any dirt." With that, the starting sentence in a recent AARP Bulletin article was born.

Are corporate executives embracing Twitter and blogs? Not if they've received an invitation to join the AARP.

Being hardwired to parents and grandparents who taught us the virtues of the American Dream makes some boomers uncomfortable with the thought of entering retirement with a mortgage.

From deciding where grandma will sleep to knowing her preferred bed time, turning a home into three-generation household takes plenty of planning and frank discussions that can be difficult.

In this June 18, 2009 photo, Patricia McNally, 58, of Washington, holds her dog Lola, during a walk in Washington.

The Ohio biennial budget is still in the works and "anything can happen during these final days of discussion," said Jane Taylor, state director of AARP Ohio, one of a number of statewide associations that make up the Ohio Aging Network Coalition.

"? HEALTH CARE REFORM UPDATE Follow the issues that will affect the quality and costs of your health care.

Reverse mortgages, under the radar for most of their 20-year existence, are getting new attention from cash-strapped consumers who want them and wary regulators who worry about the possible fallout.

The Ohio Business Roundtable, AARP Ohio and others are urging Gov. Ted Strickland and legislative leaders to stop over-spending on nursing homes as they try to fill a $3.2 billion shortfall in the upcoming budget.

Tennessee AARP officials say they're pleased with legislation passed this session that creates a new housing option for people who receive long-term care services, but they're hoping to make progress on other laws affecting the elderly.

By Jim Coutts * It's a shame to see Vermont as last in the nation on anything -- particularly as a state that prides itself on how it treats its most vu * June 28, 2009 We have the highest energy rates in the U.S. and the worst energy affordability gap nationwide.

This study was undertaken because research relating fat intake to pancreatic cancer was inconclusive.

Ted Kennedy chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, to which the AARP's angry letter was addressed.