Public Policy & Aging E-Newsletter

Volume 4, Number 2, March 2010

This bimonthly e-newsletter highlights key developments and viewpoints in the field of aging policy from a wide variety of sources, including articles and reports circulating in the media, academy, think tanks, private sector, government and nonprofit organizations.

The goal of this email publication is to reach teachers, students, and citizens interested in aging-related issues, especially those who may not have sufficient access to policy information disseminated both in Washington and around the country.

I. WHAT’S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON?

A. Profile of Older Americans: 2009: The U.S. Administration on Aging has released its latest demographic profile of Americans age 65 and older. Statistics are presented for key categories, including marital status, living arrangements, racial and ethnic composition, geographic distribution, income, poverty, housing, employment, education, health and health care, health insurance coverage, disability and activity limitations, and caregiving. For access to accompanying narrative and statistical charts and archived profiles, click here.

B. Will Health Care Costs Bankrupt Aging Boomers?: This Urban Institute report examines the increasing financial burden of aging baby boomers' health care costs. It projects income, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and insurance premiums for Americans age 65 and older from 2010 to 2040. Results show that the financial burden of health care costs will increase steadily over time if future costs grow at the rate projected by the Medicare trustees in 2009. These projections underscore the importance of controlling health care costs and the need for boomers to plan for future health care spending. To view the report in brief, click here.

C. Tough Times Require Strong Social Security Benefits: Views on Social Security among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and White Americans: A brief released by the National Academy of Social Insurance compares African Americans', Hispanic Americans', and White Americans' views on financial security. Key findings include: African Americans and Hispanics are greatly concerned about their financial security; African Americans, Hispanics, and whites rely on Social Security differently; most Americans don't mind paying for secure retirement, disability, and survivor benefits; Americans are wary of investing Social Security funds in the stock market; and a majority of African Americans and Hispanics prefer strengthening Social Security's benefits over making cuts to the program.

II. WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND THE COUNTRY?

A. Long-Term Care Briefs 2009: Long-Term Care in Your State: AARP has produced a set of state-by-state briefs that highlight the most up-to-date long-term care data for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Information is provided about each state's older population, long-term care funding, the cost and ranking of nursing homes, and long-term care insurance.

B. Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging National Recognition Program: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Aging Initiative has released a call for applications for the 2010 Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging awards, which recognize excellence in communities that embrace smart growth and active aging principles that lead both to healthier environments and communities. Applicants must be public-sector entities in the United States that coordinate with their local Area Agency on Aging. Applications are due July 17, 2010. Click here for the application, award guidelines, and entry rules, and to read about the 2009 awardees, click here.

C. American Indian Elder Health: Critical Information for Researchers and Policymakers: This fact sheet, released by the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research, addresses the need for focused attention on the health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) due to their increasing likelihood of living to adulthood and old age. The fact sheet summarizes key economic, demographic, and health trends facing AIAN elders, including cancer screening rates, health behaviors, falls, and access to care.

III. THIS ISSUE'S MAJOR POLICY STORY: Caregiving

While the fate of the health care reform legislation remains uncertain, it is clear that other matters surrounding elder care remain problematic. In this section, we focus on the demographics of caregiving near and far, here and abroad. And we highlight aspects of older workers' eldercare commitments from the perspectives of employers and the government.

--Andy Achenbaum


A. The MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Health Care Costs: This MetLife Mature Market Institute study addresses demographic trends indicating that a greater number of employees of all ages will assume family caregiving roles for an increasingly older population, and that these employees responsible for eldercare report more health problems than non-caregiving employees and cost U.S. employers an estimated $13 billion annually. This study highlights the urgent need for employers to address their options for facilitating the realities of employees dealing with eldercare responsibilities.

B. Caregiving in the U.S. 2009: The National Alliance for Caregiving recently released a report that compiles the results of interviews with 1,480 caregivers of adults, the elderly, and children with special needs. The study reveals that 29 percent of the U.S. adult population, or 65.7 million people, are caregivers, and that these mostly female caregivers provide an average of 20 hours of care per week. The report is accompanied by several complementary products, including an executive summary, a companion report of those caring for someone aged 50+, and a companion report of ethnicity of those caring for someone aged 50+.

C. Caring for a Parent who Lives Far Away: The Consequences: This Statistics Canada report highlights the consequences of adult children providing long-distance care for a parent or parent-in-law. Key findings include: just over one in five caregivers lives more than an hour away from the assisted parent; 70 percent of caregivers have employment income; caregivers who live further from the care recipient are more likely to miss work and are at increased risk for extra expenses compared to those who lived closer; and among long-distance caregivers, women are more likely than men to take time off from work.

D. Caregiver Assistance and Relief Effort Act: Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) recently reintroduced the Caregiver Assistance and Relief Effort (CARE) Act (S. 2958/H.R. 1192), which would provide a tax credit to those caring for family members with long-term care needs. The credit would amount to $2,500 in 2010, $2,750 in 2011, and $3,000 in 2012. In addition, the bill would increase funding for the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) by 60 percent, allow a tax deduction for long-term care insurance premiums, and apply consumer protection provisions to long-term care insurance contracts.

E. In the Care of the State and the Family: Understanding Care of the Elderly through Macro and Micro Perspectives: This United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific discussion paper examines provisions of care for older people at macro (national) and micro (individual or family) levels, and recommends ways to link macro and micro perspectives in caring for the elderly. Key recommendations include the necessity for policy makers to be well informed about the needs of the elderly at the micro level, and the important role civil-society groups can play in shaping macro policies.

IV. WORTH NOTING

A. National Legal Resource Center: The U.S. Administration on Aging has launched a new website for the National Legal Resource Center (NLRC). The NLRC empowers legal and aging services advocates with the resources necessary to provide high quality legal help to older adults who face direct threats to their ability to live independently in their homes and communities.

B. Technical Assistance Centers for Caregiver Programs and Lifespan Respite website: The Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA)-in partnership with ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center and with funding from the U.S. Administration on Aging-has launched a new website focused on supporting state caregiver program development. As part of this effort, FCA has developed a bimonthly e-newsletter that offers timely information about best practices, key research findings, policy trends related to family caregiving, news, and listings of training opportunities. To subscribe to the e-newsletter, click here.

C. Advocacy for Latino Baby Boomers: Protecting an At-Risk Population: The latest policy brief released by the Latinos and Economic Security project summarizes the results of a survey examining the extent to which advocacy groups are addressing the aging of the Latino population. The report finds that leading Hispanic organizations are just beginning to recognize that aging baby boomers soon will cause a large increase of Hispanic elderly. The report recommends that Hispanic advocacy groups and related organizations incorporate the concerns of Latino baby boomers into their organizational agendas and that the nation recognizes the growing diversity of the aging population.

V. WHAT'S HAPPENING ABROAD?

A. World Population Ageing Report 2009: The United Nations has released a report that offers a demographic profile of the older global population, and explores the demographic determinants and speed of population aging and the changing balance among age groups. It addresses additional topics such as fertility rates, population growth, growth within the aging population, and the differences between wealthy and poor countries.

B.National Retirement Savings Systems in Australia, Chile, New Zealand and the United Kingdom: Lessons for the United States: This Brookings Institution report examines the current and planned retirement savings plans of four countries with unique pension systems-Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom-and attempts to draw lessons for U.S. policymakers to use in building a more sustainable pension system. The countries profiled use either mandatory participation or automatic enrollment systems that make it easier for workers to see their savings grow without having to acquire extensive knowledge or pay for expensive individualized investment advice.

C. Poverty Risks for Older People in EU Countries: An Update: This policy brief, released by the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, provides an overview of how European Union countries differ in terms of poverty risks for older people. The latest 2008 data show that, on average, older people face a higher poverty risk rate than the total population, and that in general, countries with low poverty risk rates for older people have social safety nets in the form of basic pensions (e.g., the Netherlands) and/or strong redistribution in the earnings-related contributory pension schemes (e.g., Austria).

VI. PERSPECTIVES ON POLICY: ROB HUDSON, EDITOR, PP&AR

The Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program: Building a Network of Future Leaders

We are delighted to devote the current issue of PP&AR to the work of the Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program, which was established in January 2008 with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies. Directed by Harold Alan Pincus, MD, and his deputy Phuong Trang Huynh, PhD, MPH, the program seeks to provide professionals in health and aging with the experience and skills necessary to understand and impact policy and create a cadre of leaders who will serve as change agents for policies that ultimately will improve the health of older adults. The program embodies (literally) the goals of PP&AR and the National Academy on an Aging Society, which houses the publication. Our ongoing intent is to analyze policy options related to aging and make those analyses available to the widest possible audience in order that positive policy changes might result. By placing highly qualified fellows in national legislative and administrative offices, the Health and Aging Policy Fellows are able to work in all three arenas: analysis, dissemination, and impact.

To purchase the current issue of PP&AR, or to subscribe, click here, and then click on "Public Policy & Aging Report."

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Newsletter Editors: Sarah Frey and Greg O'Neill, National Academy on an Aging Society; Andy Achenbaum, University of Houston.

The Public Policy and Aging E-Newsletter is supported in part by a grant from the AARP Office of Academic Affairs.