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If you are not a caregiver, chances are you will be one in the future, or maybe you know someone who is currently caring for their loved one. In 2015 in Massachusetts, family caregivers provided 786 million hours of unpaid care valued at approximately $11.6 billion annually. These family caregivers have a huge responsibility and, fortunately, there is a new state law to help them. AARP Massachusetts is thrilled to announce that the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act is now law. The CARE Act recognizes the critical role family caregivers play in keeping their loved ones at home, and out of costly institutions. Currently, Massachusetts is the 38th state to enact the CARE Act.

The U.S. Senate recently found itself in a mad rush to beat the clock and repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before Sept. 30. It was an act of desperation to support a bill that simply kicked the problem down to the states. Here is the background:

Some of the detrimental effects of heavy alcohol use on brain function are similar to those observed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although alcohol use may be a risk factor for AD, it is difficult to study this relationship because of similarities between alcoholic dementia and AD and because standard diagnostic criteria for alcoholic dementia have not yet been developed.

One day in a bookshop, I overheard a six-year-old girl and her four-year-old brother discussing which is better, movies or books. He said movies. She said books. “Movies,” she explained, “turned your brain into a potato.”

My friend Bob is 73 years old. He lives alone with his dog Moxie in a small town in western Massachusetts. For all his adult life, Bob has worked as a builder and carpenter. When things were going well, Bob had a construction crew that could repair anything from roofs to basements. Bob can no longer climb up ladders, or exert himself. His gait is unsteady, and he has survived a bout of cancer that doctors said would kill him years ago. His income now is $16,000 a year from Social Security, which puts him about 133 percent over the federal poverty level.

AARP Massachusetts is hard at work fighting for the interests of older adults across the Commonwealth, and is proud to announce our support of two bills currently under consideration in the legislature.

Region - Lyme disease is one of the most misunderstood and controversial diseases across our country. Getting properly diagnosis and treatment options are extremely difficult. I quickly found this out after losing my Mom, Jeanne to complications from untreated late-stage Lyme disease. Mom was full of life until she developed a rash on her upper back while spending the winter in Florida in early 2011. The non-blistering rash was quickly diagnosed as shingles and she was prescribed a steroid. Her health would never be the same after that.

I have been working in affordable housing for over 25 years. I know about aging and disabilities.  I also know about reasonable accommodations and modifications. I know that not all limitations are obvious to others and I know that many disabilities cannot be seen.

How often do we get to see elected officials voting on Nothing? That’s what it came to in Congress the other day. The U.S. Senate could not muster the votes to even discuss “repealing and replacing” the Affordable Care Act. But they exerted more pressure on their members, and finally managed to vote 51-50 to begin to debate some version of repealing the Affordable Care Act. They came up with a replacement bill that would have allowed insurance companies to offer cheap, “stripped down” policies that did not meet federal standards. But that bill lost by a vote of 43 to 57. With conservatives and moderates balking at the “replacement” bill, the leadership turned to a new option: repeal Obamacare. No replacement, just what they called a “clean repeal.”

Massachusetts ranks 11th in the nation when it comes to meeting the long-term care needs of older residents and people with disabilities, and even more must be done, at an accelerated pace, to meet changing demographic demands. Specific areas of concern in Massachusetts include affordability, the quality of life and quality of care, and effective transition dimensions.