As of November 1, 2025, millions of Americans—including many older Idahoans—may not receive their monthly food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. This disruption affects individuals living on fixed incomes, many of whom rely on SNAP to afford groceries and maintain their health.
New AARP caregiving data, Caregiving in the U.S. 2025: Caring Across States, finds that 28% of adults in Idaho — approximately 418,000 people — are family caregivers, providing largely unpaid and unsupported care to older parents, spouses, and other loved ones.
AARP Chief Executive Officer Myechia Minter-Jordan released the statement below in response to today’s announcement of a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), or an average of $56 per month, for Social Security. Today more than 70 million Americans receive their earned Social Security, and for 40 percent of older Americans, Social Security is their primary source of income.
For the first time since AARP began publishing the Scorecard in 2011, more than half of Medicaid long-term care dollars nationwide for older adults and people with physical disabilities went to home- and community-based services instead of nursing homes and other institutions.
For the first time since AARP began publishing the Scorecard in 2011, more than half of Medicaid long-term care dollars nationwide for older adults and people with physical disabilities went to home- and community-based services instead of nursing homes and other institutions.
Mary Zarybnisky has been selected by AARP Idaho to receive the 2023 AARP Idaho Andrus Award for Community Service. Each year AARP honors the legacy of AARP founder Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus with the Andrus Award for Community Service. It represents the Association’s most prestigious and visible state volunteer award for community service.
Idahoans who provide care for veterans spend on average $11,500 of their personal income on out-of-pocket costs related to caregiving each year—1.5 times higher than what other family caregivers spend ($7,242), according to AARP data. And 43 percent of veteran and military caregivers experienced at least one financial setback such as having to take on more debt or dip into personal savings, according to research from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving.
AARP Idaho is pleased to welcome Montpelier into the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. Other participants in Idaho are all cities including Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Malad, Cascade, Preston, and Oneida County.
This past August we celebrated the 88th birthday of Social Security. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law on Aug. 14, 1935. Last month I had the honor, along with other AARP volunteers from around the country, to meet in Washington D.C. for a bipartisan discussion with members of Congress about the future of Social Security.
AARP Idaho is holding a telephone town hall with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help people make decisions about Medicare coverage during the program’s annual open enrollment period.