What Should Our Next President Do About Health Care Costs?
This AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) Insight on the Issues publication by Sarah Thomas summarizes the discussion at a AARP Solutions Forum on June 13, 2008, that focused on health care costs and solutions the presidential candidates’ advisors propose to address them.

Sources of Income for Older Persons
This series of AARP Public Policy Institute reports, written by Ke Bin Wu, examines income sources for persons age 65 and older and the distribution of each income source by gender, race/ethnic group, age, and income quintile. The data in the most recent report, drawn from the March 2007 Current Population Survey, show that older persons with low income depend heavily on Social Security and that earnings have become a more important income source for the older population over the last 11 years.

A Balancing Act: State Long-Term Care Reform
This AARP Public Policy Institute research paper examines the extent to which states have balanced the delivery of Medicaid-funded long-term care services and supports to older people and adults with physical disabilities in their homes (or in more home-like settings in their communities) and in institutions.

Reassessing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
This review of the existing research on age discrimination in employment assesses how successful the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) has been in achieving its goals. While hiring enforcement has lagged behind termination enforcement under the ADEA, it will become more important as baby boomers seek post-retirement employment, according to this AARP Public Policy Institute report by David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine.

Generations of Struggle
The average age for filing bankruptcy has increased, and the rate of bankruptcy filings among those ages 65 and older has more than doubled since 1991, according to this Public Policy Institute paper by Deborah Thorne, Elizabeth Warren and Teresa A. Sullivan.

Update on the Aged 55+ Worker: 2007
This fact sheet by Sara E. Rix of AARP’s Public Policy Institute highlights the employment situation of workers aged 55 and older and those under age 55 in 2007, reporting on employment gains and losses, the growth in full-time employment, age discrimination in employment, and labor force projections.

State Handbook of Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Indicators 2008
Up-to-date state-level data on population, poverty rates, per capita state personal income, state tax rates, property tax relief programs, and state and local government revenues and spending programs are provided in this seventh edition of AARP Public Policy Institute’s easy-to-use, biennial reference book by David Baer.

Quick Health Facts 2008: A Compilation of Selected State Data
This publication provides a snapshot of each state’s health care landscape by providing comparable state-level and national data for over 30 indicators. Data are presented for each state and the District of Columbia in regard to demographics, Medicare, Medicaid, and health insurance coverage. Limited data are presented for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

How Prescription Drug Use Affects Health Care Utilization and Spending by Older Americans: A Review of the Literature
The impact of prescription drug insurance and drug use on health care utilization and spending by older Americans is assessed through a review of the professional literature in this AARP Public Policy Institute report by Cindy Parks Thomas of Brandeis University.

Energy and Telephone Assistance in the States II: Public Programs that Help Low-Income Households
Programs to help low-income households initiate and maintain energy and telephone service, which federal and state governments have mandated, funded, or approved, are identified and described in this AARP Public Policy Institute report by Ann McLarty Jackson and Neal Walters. The report facilitates comparisons between and among states and across services.