Palliative Care Likely To Become Important As Population Ages

Monday, 30. April 2007

The “little-known but fast-growing field” of palliative care, which seeks to treat symptoms and improve the quality of life in patients with cancer and other serious illnesses, likely will continue to become more important as the U.S. population ages and develops more illnesses, according to experts, USA Today reports. [click link for full article]

The Danish Model of “Flexicurity”

Monday, 30. April 2007

MEP Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, former Prime Minster of Denmark and current President of the Party of European Socialists, describes his highly successful “flexicurity” labor policy.

Rep. Stark To Introduce Bill To Reduce Reimbursements For Medicare Advantage Plans

Monday, 30. April 2007

House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) on Wednesday announced that by July he plans to introduce legislation to reduce Medicare reimbursements for private Medicare Advantage plans to help fund other health care proposals, CQ HealthBeat reports. [click link for full article]

Health Care in Wisconsin: An AARP Survey of Residents Age 18 to 64

Monday, 30. April 2007

While 95 percent of age 18 to 64 Wisconsinites in this March 2007 AARP telephone survey consider themselves to be in relatively good health, 49 percent feel the stateÂ’s health care system isnÂ’t, and 13 percent say itÂ’s in critical condition and needs intensive care. (22 pages)

In Brief: Assisted Living In Unlicensed Housing: The Regulatory Experience Of Four States

Monday, 30. April 2007

A succinct summary of the similarly titled AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Bernadette Wright about the experiences of Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey and North Carolina with a new services model in which assisted living services are provided in unlicensed housing and its implications for consumers. (2 pages)

Women & Long-Term Care

Monday, 30. April 2007

The need for long-term care among older women, their ability to pay for care, and the special challenges they face in their roles as caregivers are reviewed in this AARP Public Policy Institute Fact Sheet by Ari Houser. (2 pages)

Receipt of Entitlement and Other Safety-Net Program Benefits Among Families in 2004

Monday, 30. April 2007

How government income assistance, health, education and other forms of aid to individuals and households were distributed among American families in 2004 through work-related and need-related (or means-tested) programs is analyzed in this AARP Public Policy Institute Data Digest by Ke Bin Wu. (8 pages)

2006 AARP Texas Survey: Comparing Awareness of Non-Hispanic and Hispanic AARP Texas Members

Monday, 30. April 2007

The concerns, priorities and interests of Texas Hispanic and non-Hispanic AARP members are explored and compared in this late 2006 mail survey of 1,153 Lone Star State AARP members which also defines their awareness of AARP. (57 pages)

Coalition Launches National Debate On Future Of Long-term Care Funding, UK

Monday, 30. April 2007

One in five of the UK population will develop long-term care needs, yet the care system is still not fit for future generations of pensioners, says a new 15-strong coalition, which launched a major public debate on the future of long- term care funding on 26 April. [click link for full article]

Recent Editorials Address Medicare Trustees’ Report

Monday, 30. April 2007

Two newspapers on Thursday published editorials related to a study released Monday by the board of trustees for Medicare and Social Security that found the Medicare hospital trust fund will become insolvent by 2019, one year later than estimated in 2006. According to the report, Medicare expenditures in 2006 totaled $408 billion and accounted for about 3.1% of U.S. gross domestic product and by 2030 will account for more than 6.5% of GDP. [click link for full article]