Advocacy

RALEIGH, NC — Throughout 2023, AARP advocates in North Carolina helped push for improvements and funding that will help protect the health, wealth, and personal well-being of the state’s growing population of older adults. These improvements are critical when it comes to meeting the needs of older adults, who will soon outnumber residents in the state ages 18 and younger.

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The North Carolina Institute of Medicine Task Force on Healthy Aging, on which AARP holds a seat, is slated to release a report this summer on ways the state can promote healthy aging.

During the 2023 legislative session, volunteers advocate on behalf of North Carolinians 50-plus for bills to help workers save for retirement, to improve access to health care and to prevent unnecessary guardianships.

RALEIGH -- Today, roughly half of North Carolina private-sector workers don’t have a way to save for retirement through their job. That’s roughly 1.8 million residents who are unprepared to support themselves in the future and more likely to have Social Security as their only source of retirement income. And those who work for our state’s small businesses are even less likely to have a savings plan. N.C. State Representatives Jarrod Lowery, Jeffrey McNeely, Jon Hardister, and Harry Warren introduced a new bill in March to help change this.

Latest AARP research attaches monetary value to the estimated hours of unpaid care that North Carolina family caregivers provided in 2021.

Updates are needed to improve North Carolina's guardianship laws

RALEIGH -- When Frances Williams, a Raleigh native, sought healthcare for pain in her leg, her internist did not even touch her to assess the issue. Desperate for a more engaged caregiver, Williams took a suggestion from a nurse to visit Schquthia Peacock, a family nurse practitioner in Cary.

Medicaid expansion in North Carolina progresses

RALEIGH -- Joining Our Voices: Envisioning the Future of Serious Illness Care is a weeklong free virtual symposium that brings together policy professionals, advocates, and peers in conversation to share experiences, innovations, and opportunities for the future of North Carolina’s serious illness care.