About AARP

Since being launched earlier this summer, the new AARP Coffee and Conversation series has engaged hundreds of AARP members and 50+ Charlotteans on a variety of issues. As a new program coming from the new AARP office in Charlotte, it has been an exciting time for the staff and AARP volunteers who organize and facilitate those programs. With October's full offering of new sessions approaching (see below for the list of October's programs), the excitement is building even more, as October marks the beginning of the Affordable Care Act's "marketplaces" and the time when more people want simple answers to sometimes complex questions.

Congress just got back to DC, and it may not be long before Social Security is on the chopping block. With the government estimated to hit the debt ceiling by mid-October, the pressure is on for the president and Congress to make a deal.

AARP now has a new team of volunteers helping to make AARP work better for you in the Queen City! The Charlotte AARP Volunteer Network is a new group of dedicated AARP members who are volunteering their time, talents and energy to make life better for older North Carolinians and their families.

Are you confused by the Affordable Care Act? Do you wish that somebody would put aside all of the politics and fighting and simply help explain how the ACA will actually affect you, your Medicare or your family?

AARP North Carolina, a non-partisan organization serving over 1.1 million adults 50+ in North Carolina, named Charmaine Fuller Cooper, a Henderson, North Carolina, native and leader on health advocacy and justice issues, as Associate State Director for Advocacy.

By Andrew Behm, senior, Appalachian State University

By Andrew Behm

By Mary Bethel and Helen Savage

By Mary Bethel and Helen Savage

Last week, the Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission proposed a settlement of the Duke Energy rate request that would provide the company with an additional $235 million in revenue over the next two years. If the full Commission agrees with the Public Staff’s proposal, residents could be forced to pay over 11 percent more for their electricity over the next two years.