In the latest update to its COVID-19 Nursing Home Dashboard, AARP Public Policy Institute reports that there were nearly 20,000 COVID-19 deaths and more than 200,000 new confirmed cases in nursing homes in the four weeks ending December 20—by far the highest numbers since the federal government began collecting and reporting data last May.
When long-term unemployment is widespread, as it is now, the effects on the labor force can be long-lasting and influence economic recovery more broadly. Widespread long-term unemployment can lead to more discouraged jobseekers dropping out of the labor force—and for older workers, these dynamics are compounded.
Nongroup health insurance—that is, coverage that people purchase on their own—is crucial for many older adults ages 50 to 64. Yet over 40 percent of all older adults in the nongroup market have “unaffordable” coverage, based on how much of their income goes toward premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Making individual coverage more affordable for those in the market, including older adults, is critical to encouraging enrollment and ultimately in ensuring the significant coverage gains of the Affordable Care Act are not lost.
Through their leadership roles with the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action—an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—two nursing leaders are working to advance health equity by diversifying their field’s workforce. Among the efforts of the committee they lead: contributing to a Health Equity Action Forum series and rolling out the Campaign’s
innovative mentor program developed with historically black colleges and universities to Hispanic- and Native-American-serving institutions.
The new world of mobility where ride hailing businesses like Uber grow in popularity—and apps enable seamless multi-mode trip planning and execution—threatens to be inaccessible to a large swath of people who currently depend on paratransit buses. Human services transportation must be a part of the new mobility ecosystem. A recently published common format for data sharing can be a key to making that happen.
The coronavirus pandemic dominated our Thinking Policy blog in 2020, just as it dominated everyone’s lives. Our experts wrote on a full range of areas surrounding the pandemic: public transit and meal services as lifelines, how to process grief and navigate hospital visitor restrictions, what the economic fallout means for older workers and SNAP enrollees, and so much more. Here are the 10 most read of these posts.
