Advocacy

Ensuring that Nebraska’s nearly 200,000 family caregivers know how to safely look after their loved ones when they’re discharged from the hospital tops the list of measures AARP will champion at the State Capitol during the 2016 legislative session.

At a Jan. 20 hearing before the Legislature’s Revenue Committee, AARP expressed support for a pair of bills that impact the financial security of older Nebraskans.

Nebraskans age 45-plus strongly support proposals to help family caregivers when their older parents, spouses or other loved ones go into the hospital and as they transition home, according to a new AARP statewide survey of 800 registered voters.

To recognize their work in support of Nebraska’s family caregivers, AARP has named Gov. Pete Ricketts, and State Sens. Kate Bolz and Sue Crawford as 2015 “Capitol Caregivers,” a bipartisan group of state legislators, lieutenant governors and governors from 25 states. These elected officials have advanced policies to help family caregivers who are making it possible for older Nebraskans to live independently at home – where they want to be.

The following letter to the editor from AARP Nebraska State Director Connie Benjamin was recently published in several Nebraska newspapers.

AARP Nebraska recently honored family caregiver, Teresa Thompson from Lincoln, during the annual Nebraska Caregiver Coalition luncheon held at the Governor’s Mansion.

The Aging Nebraskans Task Force invites the public to attend upcoming town hall meetings on Alzheimer’s Disease in Kearney on Aug. 27, Omaha on Sept. 15 and Alliance on Sept. 29.

About 33,000 older Nebraskans currently have Alzheimer’s disease. That number is expected to jump by more than 20 percent in the next ten years as the population ages and the oldest boomers turn 80.

Family caregivers in Nebraska provided 182 million hours of care—worth an estimated $2.5 billion—to their parents, spouses, partners, and other adult loved ones in 2013, according to AARP Public Policy Institute’s new report, Valuing the Invaluable: 2015 Update. The total estimated economic value of uncompensated care provided by the nation’s family caregivers surpassed total Medicaid spending ($449 billion), and nearly equaled the annual sales ($469 billion) of the four largest U.S. tech companies combined (Apple, Hewlett Packard, IBM, and Microsoft) in 2013.

AARP Nebraska will host listening sessions on key legislative issues affecting older Nebraskans in eight communities across the state from June 16 to June 26.