Advocacy

RALEIGH -- AARP North Carolina has serious concerns about the state Senate budget proposal that reduces funding for key services that help the needy, support older adults who want to stay in their homes as well as support their family caregivers . A proposed $969,549 reduction* from the Home and Community Care Block Grant will result in cuts to services that already have waiting lists of over 16,000 people for services including home-delivered meals and in home aide.

AARP has published a 2014 North Carolina Family Caregiving Guide ( 222086_NCguide_Screen) that will assist the estimated 1.7 million family caregivers in the state when they are seeking information and resources to help them take care of individuals who need assistance.

RALEIGH -- Listen to "Real Life" radio this weekend and learn more about what lies ahead during this year's short session of the North Carolina General Assembly. Guests Mary Bethel of AARP, and Alexandra Sirota of the N.C. Budget and Tax Center, discuss the state budget and other big issues as they predict what policy changes may be debated or put into law by the legislature this spring. Listen to this weekend's show on the link below, or on your radio dial on one of the Real Life radio stations.

There is a growing and often silent epidemic that is touching more and more North Carolinians everyday – the burdens of family caregiving. From the financial or time strains it’s taking on people who are balancing the needs of caregiving with work or family, to the health toll it takes from the stress and uncertainty of providing the appropriate amount of care that loved ones need, caregivers often feel alone in their challenges.

RALEIGH - Older North Carolinians overwhelmingly support bipartisan legislation to combat age discrimination in the workplace, a new AARP survey shows.

By AARP NC Director Doug Dickerson

- AARPNC Members to Ask NCGA to Better Support the Needs of NC's Aging Population -

RALEIGH –To help make North Carolina a better place to live, work and retire, the state’s largest social change organization, AARP, released its priorities for 2014 and beyond. AARP has over 1.1 million North Carolina members representing one-third of the 50 plus adults in the state.

As North Carolina lawmakers look at changes to the state's Medicaid program, AARP's Mary Bethel provided the following testimony to the Medicaid Reform Advisory Group

North Carolinians age 50 and older face choices and pressures unlike those of any other age group – choices few could have prepared for. Rising health care costs, low personal savings, unemployed workers, and caregiving pressures are just some of the concerns people have when it comes to their daily lives and when preparing for retirement.