Advocacy

To recognize his leadership and support of older South Carolinians, caregivers and their families, AARP named Lt. Governor Henry McMaster as a 2015 “Capitol Caregiver.” He joins 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 adults to live independently at home—where they want to be. Specifically, Lt. Governor McMaster worked to secure funding for respite care vouchers, additional dollars for home and community based services, and help for vulnerable adults.

Dr. Bill Thomas, one of the most innovative and creative thinkers working in medicine today, brings a radical new approach to growth and aging through his modern day American Chautauqua movement the Age of Disruption Tour. Barnstorming the country in a rock n’ roll tour bus, Dr. Bill Thomas is engaging with communities passion building new and vastly more rewarding visions of aging.

With the holiday giving season approaching, a new survey from the AARP Fraud Watch Network found that 62% of South Carolina consumers failed a quiz about how to stay safe from common holiday scams, and many are regularly engaging in risky behaviors which could leave them at risk of being victimized by con artists.

Join AARP SC for a Day at the State Fair on Wednesday, October 21, 2015. The AARP Pavilion will be located in Rosewoods. You'll find information from the AARP Fraud Watch Network, resources for caregivers, and the exciting Life Reimagined photo booth will capture your creativity. Several state agencies that provide resources to older adults will join us as well.

South Carolinian's can’t afford another SCE&G rate hike. Forcing current consumers to pay for future power plants is simply unjustified. Since January 2009, SCE&G residential rates have increased more than 27%. This includes general rate hikes, revised rate schedules, and changes in rates due to fuel costs.

Senior citizens in South Carolina will soon benefit from a program that will help them better manage their utility bills by making their homes more energy efficient, thanks to a $1 million donation from Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC). In the DEC 2013 rate case settlement agreement, the utility agreed to make a shareholder contribution of $1 million to support senior-citizen outreach.

Adults who reside in nursing facilities are usually in very poor health; they are often unable to care for themselves and to protect themselves from harm. Family members or caretakers sometimes suspect mistreatment when they begin noticing unexplainable bruises or missing personal items.

When you mention the word Ethics in South Carolina you can get many different definitions of this word. This year the General Assembly has been fixated on this issue attempting to come up with a solution to improve the state’s ethics laws and how they are enforced.

It is urgent and important that you contact your Senator now to save ethics reform in South Carolina! Tell your Senator that:

Utility customers here in South Carolina and across the country are being affected by phone scams, and we want you to be aware and prepared are being affected by phone scams, and we want you to be aware and prepared. Customers have reported instances of individuals portraying themselves as utility employees over the phone and warning them that they’re late on their utility bill or might need a new meter. The scammer then says that their service will be cut off if they don’t pay immediately, instructs the customers to purchase a prepaid debit card and tells them to call back with the numbers on the card.