Advocacy

Want to become an advocate for 50+ issues?

By Michelle R. Davis

AARP Maryland is holding an exclusive telephone town hall on Wednesday, November 29 at 10:00 AM (ET) to talk about the healthcare concerns of Marylanders aged 50+ and their families, including the latest updates on Medicare. We will be joined by United States Senator for Maryland, Chris Van Hollen, to discuss this important issue.

The General Assembly is set to convene Jan. 10, and AARP Maryland is gearing up to advocate on several issues important to Marylanders age 50-plus.

Updated August 7: The bad health care bill was voted down during the early morning hours of July 28! We thank Maryland Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen for voting no to proceed with the "skinny repeal," and for keeping older Marylanders 50+ and their families in mind. Find out how your Senators voted on the bill, and send them a message to tell them what you think! Additionally, read AARP's August 3rd letter to Congress to urge them to work on bipartisan, commonsense solutions to keeping health care affordable.

Maryland ranks 12th among the 50 states when it comes to meeting the long-term care needs of older residents and people with disabilities, up from the 23rd spot just three years ago, but AARP warns more must be done to meet changing demographic demands. While the state posted gains in support for family caregivers with measures such as 2016’s passage of The Caregiver, Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act, Maryland continues to lag in the provision of services for adults with ADL disabilities. This, according to a new, comprehensive state-by-state Scorecard from AARP with support of the nation’s leading organizations behind quality long-term care, the Commonwealth Fund and the SCAN Foundation.

Updated May 22 2017: The Spring Food Drive for 2017 is now over, and was a huge success! 30 stores across the state participated, with volunteer and food donors giving their all for this important cause. Read our special wrap-up blog for final drive numbers and to find photos from the various stores and volunteers. Thank you to all who helped in 2017! If you would like to be on the Harvest for the Hungry event planning team for 2018, please email Joy Hall at jhall@aarp.org.

By Thomas Ferraro

This Op-Ed originally ran in the March 24th 2017 edition of The Daily Record.

Marylanders overwhelmingly (81%) want the legislature work to maintain affordable, reliable, and high quality traditional telephone service, according to a recent AARP Public Policy Institute survey.