Advocacy

Hurricane Michael devastated much of Florida's eastern Panhandle region on Oct. 10, inflicting billions of dollars in damages in a few hours. For Floridians age 50-plus, for family caregivers and for North Florida communities, recovery will take years.

In the wake of multiple deaths of frail older people after Hurricane Irma, AARP Florida called Wednesday for a thorough review of state and local emergency management procedures, state law and state funding for frail older Floridians, those living with disabilities and family caregivers.

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St. Petersburg, Fla. – America’s grayest state ranks a disappointing fourth from the bottom in the nation in meeting the long-term care needs of older residents and people with disabilities, according to a new, comprehensive state-by-state study.

Budget Showed Progress But Too Many People Still Wait for Help

AARP Florida urged its members this week to pay close attention to votes by Florida legislators on a controversial proposal that would allow certain Florida electric-power companies to finance risky out-of-state natural-gas exploration projects with ratepayers’ money, and charge their customers for financing the ventures.

March 2017

In the short span of just three weeks, AARP Florida volunteers' combined efforts helped defeat a plan in the U.S. Congress that would have weakened Medicare and cost older Americans thousands more every year, AARP's Florida state director, Jeff Johnson, said.

St. Petersburg, Fla. – AARP Florida Advocacy Manager Jack McRay said AARP is disappointed in a 9-6 House committee vote Tuesday to allow Florida investor-owned utilities to shift the cost of out-of-state natural-gas exploration and development projects to ratepayers, while simultaneously collecting a return for itself on ratepayer-funded costs.

Under the current U.S. House plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), about 454,000 Floridians age 50-64 enrolled and receiving tax credits in the ACA Marketplace would see higher health-coverage premiums than they pay under current law, more than in any other state, an AARP analysis shows.