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New Yorkers 50+ Concerned About Retirement, Taking Care of Relatives, AARP Finds

Advocates for older New Yorkers will be pushing Albany this year on new laws that might help with retirement, monthly utility bills and caring for relatives.  

Many people told AARPthey don’t think they can ever retire…and they’re worried about taking care of older relatives.  So the group has released a 2015 legislative agenda focused on the concerns that came from their survey.  Legislative Director Bill Ferris starts with the CARE act to help the four million family caregivers in New York.

“Once you care for an elderly person, a family member, you’re keeping them in the community, you’re keeping them independent, and you’re not sending them to a nursing home.  So once a family member stops caring for that person, there’s no other choice than to send them to a nursing home.  In New York State the majority of all nursing home care is paid for by the Medicaid Program.”

The CARE act would support caregivers more to postpone the need for a nursing home – and save taxpayers money.  AARP is also pushing a way to gain more security in retirement…Ferris says the Work and Save program would be similar to college savings plans.

“And if you look at the numbers, we have 3.6 million people between the ages of 18 and 64 years old who do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan.  We think people should do the same thing they do with 529 (college savings) plans, help people save for their retirement.”

The group will also continue to push for a utility consumer advocate…to give financially stretched ratepayers a voice.

MORE DETAILS ON THE 2015 AARP PRIORITIES (from AARP.org/category/new-york)

WORK & SAVE

More than a quarter of New York’s working 50+ are not confident they’ll ever be able to retire, while another third are only “somewhat confident,” AARP’s surveys found.

Meantime 54 percent of all New Yorkers working in the private sector –over 3.6 million people ages 18 to 64 – lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. A state-administered “Work & Save” payroll-deduction IRA (Individual Retirement Account) plan, modeled on the highly successful 529 college savings program, could help millions save for retirement and reduce the need for taxpayer-funded safety-net programs.

ENSURING FAMILY CAREGIVERS ARE ADEQUATELY PREPARED

More than nine of every 10 New York voters 50 and older support legislation to ensure hospitals properly instruct family caregivers – before their loved one is discharged – in how to perform necessary medical or nursing tasks at home, such as administering medications, dressing wounds and handling other important procedures.

With most of New York’s hospitals exceeding the national average in penalties for preventable re-admissions, AARP believes the legislation, known as the CARE Act (Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable), could help reduce costly hospital re-admissions.

More than 4.1 million family caregivers in New York provide care valued at $32 billion a year – and help keep many frail elderly out of expensive, taxpayer-funded nursing homes.

A VOICE FOR UTILITY CONSUMERS

About seven of every 10 of New York’s 50+ voters are concerned about paying their utility bills, with three quarters saying the cost of heating their households poses a financial strain.

New Yorkers consistently pay among the highest average residential electric rates in the continental U.S. – including more than $10 million a year to underwrite their utility companies’ expenses to press for rate hikes and other regulatory changes. Yet New York is one of just 10 states that don’t provide utility consumers with their own independent advocate.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.