AARP Kansas

Nearly 16,000 Kansans reported they were victims of fraud in 2015, according to the Federal Trade Commission, but consumers can learn how to protect themselves, thanks to the AARP Fraud Watch Network.

On February 23, the Kansas Senate voted 38-1 in favor of the Kansas Lay Caregivers Act (SB 68 as amended), otherwise known as the CARE Act. The CARE Act would require Kansas hospitals to give each patient the opportunity to designate a caregiver when they enter the hospital so the caregiver's name can be recorded, the caregiver is informed when the patient is transferred or about to be discharged, and the caregiver is given instruction on how to take care of the patient when he or she returns home. Some patients return home needing complex medical and nursing tasks as they recuperate. The CARE Act helps ensure that the caregiver knows what to do and how to do it giving the patient a better chance of getting well and not being readmitted to the hospital.

With Americans losing tens of billions of dollars annually to investment fraud schemes, what mindsets and behaviors are common among those who fall victim? A new survey by the AARP Fraud Watch Network finds that the most susceptible typically exhibit an unusually high degree of confidence in unregulated investments and tend to trade more actively than the general investor population. More of the investment scam victims also reported that they value wealth accumulation as a significant measure of success in life and acknowledged being open to unsolicited telephone and email sales pitches.

At AARP, we believe Medicare is a deal with the American people that must not be broken.

AARP FOUNDATION TAX-AIDE VOLUNTEERS IN KANSAS WILL PROVIDE FREE TAX ASSISTANCE AND PREPARATION THROUGH APRIL 18--FIND A LOCATION NEAR YOU

On February 1, 2017, the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, chaired by Senator Vicki Schmidt, heard testimony on Senate Bill 68, the CARE Act. This proposed legislation would support the 345,000 Kansas caregivers who are providing unpaid care to a family member or loved one. The CARE Act, (Caregiver, Advise, Record, Enable Act) is another tool to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations by ensuring that caregivers are acknowledged and instructed on how to care for their loved one when he/she returns home from the hospital. It is a NO COST, commonsense solution to help formalize important discharge practices.

What could have been a $4.54 per month rate increase, was reduced to a $1.25 a month increase for Kansas Gas Service customers as a result of a settlement agreement approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) in November.

Join AARP on Thursday, January 26 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. CT for AARP’s free Online Career Fair: Spotlight on Part-Time Work. This live event is a great way for job seekers to:

AARP Kansas is pressing state lawmakers to introduce a bill in 2017 that could help more private-sector workers save for retirement. The proposal, called “work and save,” would create a payroll-deduction plan that small businesses could offer to their workers. Participation would be voluntary for both employers and employees, and the plan would be portable when a worker changes jobs.

In the legislative session that begins Jan. 9, AARP Kansas once again will be backing a bill that could help family caregivers when a loved one comes home from a hospital stay.