OWL Executive Director Bobbie Brinegar with YWCA CEO 


 

 

Covered California has  voted to impose out-of-pocket caps on prescription drugs for Californians enrolled in exchange plans in 2016 -- the first exchange in the nation to do so.   

 

 

  


A new report from the National Alliance for Caregiving finds that while the "typical" family caregiver is a 49-year-old woman who takes care of a relative, caregivers on the whole are becoming as diverse as the American population.  



Ranking leaders of key U.S. House Committees and the co-chairs of the U.S. House Seniors Taskforce are 

urging the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Social Security Administration to develop a system to ensure that all individuals nearing Medicare eligibility receive timely and complete notice about Medicare enrollment. 



The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a new web page up with information designed to help low-income and economically vulnerable consumers make informed financial decisions.
 


 

The EPOCH study, a clinical research study that evaluates the safety and effectiveness of an investigational medication to see if it may help slow the progression of mild to moderate Alzheimer's diseaseis seeking participants.  More information about the study, which is being conducted by Merck, is 

available here.


 


 

The STOP Obesity Alliance has created a new website to help health care professionals initiate effective conversations about weight and health with their patients.

 

Why Medicare Needs to Cover Hearing Aids

 

This year, as Medicare turns 50, it's a good time to look back on its half-century of success in providing access to health care for hundreds of millions of older Americans. It's also a good time to look forward at ways we can strengthen this essential program for generations to come.

 

One critical way is to allow Medicare to cover hearing aids. Surprisingly, America's original safety net for seniors doesn't cover hearing aids or routine hearing exams. 

 

If you have a loved one who suffers from hearing loss, you know how important a hearing aid can be to quality of life. And chances are, you do: hearing loss is one of the most common chronic conditions in the U.S., affecting nearly 20 million Americans over the age of 45.

 

Left untreated, it can have serious social and emotional consequences: a National Council on Aging study found that those with untreated hearing loss were more likely to report depression and less likely to participate in social activities than those who wear hearing aids.

 

Yet, because of the lack of Medicare coverage, many seniors who need them go without. The average price of a pair of hearing aids is around $4,500 -- a heavy burden or entirely out of reach for many older Americans.  Congress is currently considering legislation that would remove the barriers in the Social Security Act that prevent Medicare from covering hearing aids. 

 

H.R. 1653 -- the Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2015, introduced by Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, is an important step toward bringing Medicare into the 21st century and improving access to hearing aids and exams. Read our whole article at Huffington Post.

 

 Preparations Underway for Once-in-a Decade White House Conference on Aging

 

 

OWL will be one of the organizations in attendance when the White House holds its 2015 Conference on Aging, designed to be a national conversation  how we can look forward to the next decade. The four broad policy areas around which discussion will take place are Healthy Aging, Long Term Services and Supports, Elder Justice and Retirement Security. 


 
These conferences, held once every ten years, hold particular significance for OWL. It was 35 years ago around the 1980 conference that OWL founder Tish Sommers realized women's particular concerns weren't being addressed and set out to do something about it. Read more about the conference here.

 

OWL Welcomes New Board Member

 

OWL is excited to welcome Charlene Fike, entrepreneur extraordinaire, to its board of directors. Charlene  has spent the last decade networking with women weavers primarily in Central America and Asia, creating marketing platforms, developing products to provide meaningful employment, and conducting business skills training.

 

Last January, inspired by The Shriver Report on high rates of poverty among women in the US, she, her daughter and daughter-in-law have started a training program for D.C. women transitioning out of homelessness, giving them the basics of sewing, marketable skills, and potential employment opportunities. To raise money, they are creating scarves based on her husband's unique photographs; every 12 scarves purchased from Kilometer66.com will train one woman.

 

Women and Health: Short on Time, 

Short on Trust 

 

A recent survey from the Center for Talent Innovation says that while women make the majority of health care decisions for themselves and their families, they don't have time to keep themselves healthy. They also don't trust many sources of health-related information:   Seventy-eight percent do not fully trust their insurance provider; and 83 percent do not fully trust pharmaceutical companies. Only 65 percent trust their physicians, even though physicians are considered  the most trusted representative in healthcare.

 

The survey also found that women define health more broadly than "freedom from illness and health risks."  Seventy-nine percent of women said health means "having spiritual and emotional well-being;" 77 percent cited "being physically fit and well rested."
 

The report says part of the problem stems from the lack of women holding high-ranking positions in health care companies. "Without women in power, women's ideas don't get the audience they deserve, because leaders only see value in ideas they personally relate to or see a need for."

 

"Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments." 

Rose Kennedy 


OWL is the only national nonpartisan organization that focuses solely on issues affecting the economic security and quality of life for the nation's estimated 78 million women over 40. 

www.owl-national.org

1627 Eye Street NW, Suite 600 
Washington, D.C.  20006

 202-450-8986