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June is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, a good time for Alaskans to learn more about Alzheimer’s disease and talk with loved ones about options for care and maintaining love, laughter and social interaction in everyday life. Studies indicate that the ability to “to engage in meaningful time use and social behavior” is key to quality of life for those diagnosed with dementia. Among other factors, quality of life can be affected by maintaining or cultivating social relationships and a sense of community. The Alzheimer’s Association of Alaska informs...
Are you looking for resources that will allow you to maintain your independence as you age? Look no further than your local Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC). Servicing locations all over Alaska, ADRCs are the link between the individual and various services catering to seniors, caregivers and people with disabilities. "We listen to what individuals are asking for and explain and offer a variety of services such as Medicare, senior benefit programs, personal care services and more...
The Trump administration has proposed slashing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget, saying it is bloated with unnecessary expenses resulting in waste and abuse. It has also proposed to eliminate the independent status of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and absorb it into the NIH. AHRQ is a little-known agency that focuses on improving health care quality and applying it to patient safety. It is one of the true unsung heroes of the federal government, providing vital scientific research that has helped reduce...
The Senate Finance Health and Social Services Subcommittee closed out the operating budget for FY18 for the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) on Mar. 14. The Senate Subcommittee was able to reduce the DHSS budget by an additional 5 percent in general funds from the Governor’s FY18 budget with no additional reductions to many senior programs, including Senior Community Grant Services, Senior Benefits, elder protection and other services. “The committee prioritized seniors and the developmentally disabled for this year’s budge...
Imposter scams are on the rise – in fact, in 2016, according to the Consumer Sentinal Network, it ranked number two with 472 reported complaints by Alaska consumers, directly behind lottery/sweepstakes scams. Much of the time, these schemes are by phone. Scammers call consumers pretending to be from their utility company or cable company, from the IRS, law enforcement, internet or computer company (tech support scam) or from the court system. The caller claims you are behind in your utility payments, you missed jury duty and need to pay a f...
Editor's note: This is the sixth article in a series from the Diverse Elders Coalition, looking at different segments of the senior population. Cambodian American elders face many challenges similar to those of other low-income older Americans, such as poor nutrition, limited transportation and poverty. But they also face some very specific challenges as survivors of war and genocide, said Kaoru Watanabe, associate director of the Cambodian Association of Illinois (CAI). "A lot of times, as thes...
The Alaska Commission on Aging will conduct a quarterly meeting May 9 by way of videoconference and teleconference sites located around the state. Public participation is encouraged. The commission advocates for state policy, public and private partnerships, state/federal projects and citizen involvement on senior issues. Commissioners will hear presentations from and about senior service programs and agencies, including the Riverview Senior Living Community in Juneau, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Juneau Independent Senior Housing...
On Memorial Day, we honor the soldiers and service members who have given their lives for our nation. Social Security respects the heroism and courage of our military service members, and we remember those who have given their lives in defense of freedom. Part of how we honor service members is the way we provide Social Security benefits. The unexpected loss of a family member is a difficult experience for anyone. Social Security helps by providing benefits to protect service members’ dependents. Widows, widowers, and their dependent children m...
A bill introduced this session in the Alaska state legislature would require health care providers to post medical care price information. The bill, HB 123, was sponsored by Rep. Ivy Spohnholz and co-sponsored by representatives Chris Tuck, Harriet Drummond, Justin Parish, Les Gara and Geran Tarr. The goal, according to a sponsor statement from Spohnholz, is to empower consumers to make better decisions about their health care options by ensuring accessible information on medical pricing. “Alaska has the second most expensive health care c...
Anyone who’s seen what I consider the best movie ever made – “It’s a Wonderful Life” – will remember the bank run that nearly put the town of Bedford Falls six feet under. Quick thinking kept that from happening in Bedford Falls, but during that time in history, bank runs took a serious toll on towns across America. From 1930 to 1933, nearly 10,000 banks failed or were suspended. That’s why, in 1933, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was created. According to the FDIC website, consumers haven’t lost “even one penny” of FDIC-in...
Under the guise of compassion, a Physician Assisted Suicide bill (HB 54) has been filed by Representative Harriet Drummond. This so-called “Right to Die” bill is nothing less than “State Sponsored Homicide”. Homicide is the “killing of one human being by another human being”. In 1959 Alaska instituted its state constitution. Section 7 of the Alaska Constitution provides that no person will be deprived of life without due process of law and Section 22 protects a person’s right to privacy. The Alaskan Supreme Court in Sampson vs. Alaska 31P 3r...
Editor’s note: This letter was mailed in February, announcing a new arrangement for providing senior rides in Fairbanks. Dear participant, parent or caregiver: I am writing to you today to let you know about a significant change to the way we offer our high-quality recreation programs. Parks and Recreation is excited to announce that we are partnering with Van Tran’s paratransit program, which will begin providing the transportation element of the Adaptive and Senior Recreation Programs, beginning April 3, 2017. Why are we making this cha...
AARP Alaska will present a free “Secure Your Future” workshop on retirement and Medicare in Kodiak, April 21 and 22 at the Best Western Kodiak Inn. “Get Ready for Medicare,” presented by staff from the Alaska Medicare Information Office, will discuss how and when to enroll; what Medicare covers and associated costs; when and how to choose prescription and/or Medigap coverage; Q&A. It will be offered twice, first on Friday, April 21, 5:30 to 7 p.m. and again on Saturday, April 22, 9:30 to 11 a.m. “Ready to Retire,” discusses fundamentals of inve...
Interested in learning more about businesses and agencies providing senior services in the Anchorage area? Want to get the word out about your own service? The monthly Interagency Breakfast, sponsored by Older Persons Action Group, is an opportunity for all of the above. Informal, early and free, with breakfast provided. The April meeting is April 12, hosted by AARP. Begins at 8 a.m. RSVP by calling Older Persons Action Group for more information on these events or to be added to our e-mail reminder list, 276-1059....
Keep track of senior-related bills, budget decisions and other issues by listening in to the Alaska Commission on Aging Legislative Teleconferences. Hosted by local agencies statewide, and available by toll-free call-in, the teleconferences provide a convenient forum for seniors and advocates across Alaska to share information about issues and specific bills of concern, including Medicaid, state budget and funding, senior assistance and more. Teleconferences are scheduled 9:30 to 11 a.m. every other Thursday and weekly during the last month of...
North Star Council on Aging, Fairbanks Senior Center and Senior Corps are very proud to announce the startup of our local Senior Companion Program. We were awarded a grant which makes this outstanding program possible and are currently rolling out in Fairbanks, closely followed by Delta Junction, and then we will expand to North Pole and Two Rivers. We are recruiting folks, age 55 and older, to volunteer helping seniors and disabled adults remain in their own homes as long as possible. The volunteers should have an income below $29,680 per...
In the fall of 2015, Martin Shkreli, the founder and former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, ignited a firestorm when his company raised the price of a little-known drug to treat toxoplasmosis to $750 a tablet from $13.50. Earlier that year, Valeant Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to a pair of life-saving heart drugs, Nitopress and Isuprel. The same day as the purchase, the company jacked up their list prices by 525 percent and 212 percent respectively. Last year, Mylan, supplier of roughly 95 percent of the nation’s EpiPens, an e...
Editor’s note: This press statement was received on Feb. 13, 2017. AARP has launched a comprehensive campaign to protect Medicare in the face of proposals by some in Congress that would hurt hardworking Alaskans who have paid into the program their entire working lives. Over the next few weeks, AARP staff and volunteers will meet with members of Congress to underscore the importance of Medicare to Alaska’s beneficiaries and the workers who currently pay in to the program. Congressional proposals to change Medicare into a voucher system wou...
In the sixth grade, my daughter was working on a school project and began asking a series of questions about family economics: “How much is our house payment? What does it cost to heat the house? What do we spend on groceries?” Our family records are in QuickBooks so I offered to run a report for her. She studied it carefully and said, “This doesn’t make sense, there’s more money going out than coming in! How does that work?” I asked her, “Well, what would you cut?” After looking over the report again she replied, “Cut all my brother’s stuff!...
I love the Senior Voice. However, I have a question regarding the January 2017 edition, page 25 statement: “The opioid crisis has hit nearly every corner of the country, with nearly 80 million Americans dying every day from heroin or opioid overdoses.” Google reports that the 2017 population count for the United States is 325,482,678 people. With 80 million of them dying every day due to heroin or opioid overdoses, the United States will run out of living people in five days approximately. We will be burning towers of dead Americans from overdo...
SENIOR VOICE STAFF Keep track of senior-related bills, budget decisions and other issues by listening in to the Alaska Commission on Aging Legislative Teleconferences. Hosted by local agencies statewide, and available by toll-free call-in, the teleconferences provide a convenient forum for seniors and advocates across Alaska to share information about issues and specific bills of concern, including Medicaid, state budget and funding, senior assistance and more. Teleconferences are scheduled 9:30 to 11 a.m. every other Thursday and weekly...
Interested in learning more about businesses and agencies providing senior services in the Anchorage area? Want to get the word out about your own service? The monthly Interagency Breakfast, sponsored by Older Persons Action Group, is an opportunity for all of the above. Informal, early and free, with breakfast provided. The March meeting is March 8, hosted by Serendipity Adult Day Services. Begins at 8 a.m. RSVP by calling Older Persons Action Group for more information on these events or to be added to our e-mail reminder list,...
Like most professions, financial advisors come in all varieties from great to self-serving and greedy. Before you trust your financial future to someone, make sure you’ve got a good one. White-collar prisons are full of people, male and female, each of whom appeared respectable and trustworthy, while bilking clients out of their savings. Many worked far harder to create a façade of success than they ever did to actually succeed at investing client money. That’s why it can be difficult even for sophisticated investors to detect the fraud at t...
The Alaska Commission on Aging Legislative Advocacy Committee has identified these three advocacy priorities for this legislative session: Preserve the senior safety net. This priority will focus on protecting funding and appropriate policies to the greatest extent possible in order to maintain existing core services for seniors. Specifically, this priority addresses (1) long-term support services (senior grant-funded services, Medicaid and Medicaid optional services, telemedicine/telehealth,...
Keep track of senior-related bills, budget decisions and other issues by listening in to the Alaska Commission on Aging Legislative Teleconferences. Hosted by local agencies statewide, and available by toll-free call-in, the teleconferences provide a convenient forum for seniors and advocates across Alaska to share information about issues and specific bills of concern, including Medicaid, state budget and funding, senior assistance, retirement, Pioneer Homes and more. Teleconferences are scheduled 9:30 to 11 a.m. every other Thursday and...
