AARP Utah

In its "50 Heroes, 50 States" list, MONEY magazine selected AARP Utah Area Coordinator Art Sutherland to be Utah's representative as a person doing creative and extraordinary work to help the finances of others in their state. Art was nominated by Coalition of Religious Communities Director Linda Hilton and AARP Utah Communications Director Laura Polacheck for his outstanding work on predatory lending issues in the state.

Medicaid expansion is still a hot potato issue in Utah, with the Utah Legislature failing to agree what if any expansion should occur in the state for the program. Medicaid is a federal program run by the states that provides health care coverage to the lowest income Americans. In order to qualify in Utah, you not only have to be low income, but you must also fall into a category of eligibility such as being a pregnant women, a child, a senior or disabled. Unfortunately, there are many lower-income adults and parents in Utah who don’t qualify for coverage because they don’t fit into one of the categories. They also don’t qualify for a subsidy on the new health insurance marketplace because they don’t earn enough. These roughly 57,000 Utahns fall into the “coverage gap” and would benefit from a Medicaid expansion.

(Midvale, UT) Utah ranks 39 th overall among the 50 states and the District of Columbia when it comes to meeting the long-term care needs of older residents, indicating more must be done, at an accelerated pace, to improve long-term supports and services in the state. This, according to a new, comprehensive state-by-state report, Raising Expectations 2014: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers Scorecard from AARP with support of the nation’s leading organizations behind quality long-term care, The Commonwealth Fund and SCAN Foundation.

Salt Lake City is a relatively safe place to walk, ranking 33rd out of 51 major metro areas in a report issued by the National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America. But more can be done to improve pedestrian safety in the city and in Utah.

By Elaine Ryan, Vice President of State Advocacy and Office Integration, AARP

When Are You Over the Hill? Try Age 24

Biologic drugs are often used to treat health conditions that affect older populations, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Derived from living organisms, biologics have an estimated average cost of $35,000 a year — far more than traditional, chemically derived drugs.

If you need more evidence that payday loans can be a debt trap, look no further than today’s report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In breaking news, the Senate passed legislation allowing Governor Herbert to negotiate with the federal government for a block grant that would essentially cover people up to 138 percent of poverty. Though not an expansion of the Medicaid program, this grant would allow those up to the full expansion category to purchase private insurance with federal funding. The House has yet to vote on this plan, and passed an expansion version in committee that would use a much smaller amount in state dollars to cover fewer people. Though the federal government must give Utah a waiver for the Governor's plan, it is a breakthrough on receiving federal funding.

AARP is fighting for older Americans and their families in states across the country, focused on the key issues they are facing, front-and-center, in their daily lives. Our state advocacy work is driven by AARP’s state offices – located in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands – where we work with governors, state legislators, other policymakers and in collaboration with numerous community partners. In 2014 AARP is focusing on: