Health & Wellbeing

If you have Original Medicare, your costs for outpatient care can vary depending on the type of provider you see. For cost purposes, there are three types of providers, meaning three different relationships a provider can have with Medicare.

Telemedicine – or telehealth – could soon take firmer hold in Texas under legislation recently sent to the governor that would help patients meet with physicians via smartphone, tablet or computer.

AARP’s purpose is to empower people to choose how they live as they age. Many policy changes enacted this legislative session will help Connecticut residents do just that.

Written by AARP NH Volunteer Dane Peters

Stress – or the body’s response to any demand – may not be all that bad in small doses. It can help us get through a short-term crisis, such as the first few days of a pandemic. But chronic stress -- the ongoing kind, such as weeks’-long interruptions to our normal rhythms due to the coronavirus outbreak -- is the stuff that can be a mental killer.

As we continue to navigate these challenging times, it’s essential to prioritize mental well-being. This is especially true for older adults, who may be reluctant to seek support due to stigma, misconceptions about mental health services, and lack of awareness about available resources. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers multiple programs aimed at improving the mental health and well-being of all ages.

Texas lawmakers today finalized a measure that gives important new rights to millions of unpaid family caregivers. A priority for AARP, House Bill 2425 (companion to Senate Bill 1417) would help Texans when their loved ones go into the hospital and as they transition home. The legislation goes next to the governor’s desk.

AARP Texas Director Bob Jackson today praised the Legislature’s final passage of House Bill 3276. Filed by Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, HB 3276 would help protect consumers from surprise medical bills at freestanding emergency rooms. Earlier today, the Texas Senate approved the measure, sending it to the governor’s desk. Jackson said:

In Texas alone, there are more than 3.4 million unpaid family caregivers, many of whom provide complex medical and nursing tasks for their loved ones, and sometimes without adequate explanation or training. It’s not unusual for their tasks to include managing multiple medications, providing wound care, overseeing special diets, and operating high-tech medical equipment and monitors.

With the scheduled end of the 2017 Texas legislative session approaching, AARP continues to fight for passage of several bills that aim to improve nursing home quality, ease the stress of family caregivers, protect older Texans from financial exploitation, and help consumers avoid and respond to surprise medical charges.