Caregiving

Michiganders 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, the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older, announced today the priority issues on its 2023 Michigan Legislative Agenda. Approximately 3.9 million residents in Michigan are 50 and over, representing 39% of the state’s population.

Vaccination Booster Rates Remain Stalled Amid Winter Surge

AARP Michigan will push for expanding support for home- and community-based care in the 2023 legislative session.

Are candidates listening to voters 50+? Do they understand their concerns?

AARP Urges Legislators to Focus on Nursing Home Safety

As lawmakers develop the fiscal 2022–23 state budget, AARP Michigan is urging them to shift the balance of long-term care funding toward home- and community-based services, with less emphasis on nursing homes and other institutional settings.

As COVID-19 cases decrease, increased boosters and reforms still needed.

AARP supports increased spending for home and community based services (HCBS), dementia awareness, telemedicine parity and a wage increase for direct care workers. The organization has strongly supported these advances, and in some cases, for several years.

COVID cases in nursing homes are concentrated among the unvaccinated: nationally, those residents were three times as likely to contract COVID-19 last month compared to residents who are fully vaccinated.