Health & Wellbeing

AARP Utah's popular Real Possibilities University will be in Cedar City on October 8 at the Hunter Conference Center on the Southern Utah University campus, featuring speakers on brain fitness and financial fraud. Dr. Kevin Duff of the University of Utah's Brain Institute will discuss how to keep your brain sharp, recognizing signs of dementia, and recent research on memory loss and how to prevent it. Keith Woodwell, Director of the Utah Division of Securities, will outline financial fraud, scams in Utah, and what to do if you suspect you are a fraud target. Time will be allotted for questions from the audience for both speakers.

Falls are a common and often devastating problem among older people, causing injuries that are sometimes life-threatening. Falls can also lead to a loss of independence or premature admittance to a nursing home. Most falls are associated with one or more identifiable risk factors (e.g. weakness, unsteady gait, confusion and certain medications) but research has shown that intervention can significantly reduce these risk factors when done properly. That's where programs like "Stepping On" can help by providing tips for people on how to prevent falls. "Stepping On" is a seven-week workshop with classes that include:

By LaRee Jones, AARP Area Coordinator

AARP Utah is a proud sponsor of the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, and the first walk is coming up soon! The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support, and research. The Alzheimer’s Association’s vision is a world without Alzheimer’s, and these walks to raise funds will make a big difference toward reaching that goal.

Social Security Turns 80, Loved by Americans of All Ages

Guess what’s turning 50? For many AARP members who know that milestone well, it’s a program that is invaluable for their health and financial independence. Medicare turned 50 on July 30. Former President Harry S. Truman received the first Medicare card immediately after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law in 1965, and since then it has helped redefine “real possibilities” for many Americans, often freeing them from the fear of devastating medical bills that could jeopardize their individual and economic survival.

AARP applauds the bipartisan action taken on July 16, 2015 on S. 192, the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA) introduced by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) with Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The Senate passed the bill the week that the OAA celebrated its 50 anniversary of providing invaluable services to older adults.

Utah Family Caregivers Provide $4.15 Billion

Notalys LLC released its report, Expanding Utah's Health Insurance Options today at a press briefing at the Utah State Capitol, outlining the differences between two plans that were under consideration by the Utah legislature during the last session. Governor Herbert's Healthy Utah plan was passed by the Utah Senate, and Utah Cares was passed by the Utah House of Representatives. Because no agreement was reached on how to cover the more than 50,000 low-income Utahns who currently fall into a health insurance coverage gap--making too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to qualify for health insurance subsidies--a committee of House and Senate leaders, the Governor Herbert, and Lt. Governor Spencer Cox set July 31 as the deadline for coming up with a plan to address this population.

In a 6-3 decision issued Thursday, June 25, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of King v Burwell that federal subsidies for people to buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act (Act) are constitutional. The issue in the case was whether subsidies would only be allowed if the subsidies were given through exchanges that the states set up themselves. Because 34 declined to set up their own exchanges and defaulted to the federal exchanges instead, the question was whether the provision of subsidies through the federal exchange was authorized by the Act. According to Utah Policy, approximately 87 percent of enrollees in the federal exchanges receive subsidies to buy health insurance, or about 6.4 million people according to the Obama administration. In Utah, 67 percent of Utahns who use the federal exchange will be able to keep their subsidies.