GBONEWS: Trump Immigration Plan to Imperil Long-Term Care?; His Social Security Oil Fix; What Pres. Eisenhower Said; Medicare Advantage Scrutinized; Fall Prevention in en Espanol; 7 Questions for Life’s Second Fifty; & MORE

GENERATIONS BEAT ONLINE NEWS 

E-News of the Journalists Network on Generations.  

January 16, 2024 — Volume 32, Number 1

EDITOR’S NOTEGBONews, e-news of the Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), publishes alerts for journalists, producers and authors covering generational issues. If you have difficulty getting to the full issue of GBONews with the links provided below, simply go to www.gbonews.org to read the latest or past editions. Send your news of important stories or books (by you and others), fellowships, awards or pertinent kvetches to GBO News Editor Paul Kleyman. [pfkleyman@gmail.com]. To subscribe to GBONews.org at no charge, simply sending a request to Paul with your name, address, phone number and editorial affiliation or note that you freelance. For each issue, you’ll receive the table of contents in an e-mail, and links to the full issue at www.gbonews.org. GBONews does not provide its list to other entities. 

In This Issue: Old People, the Minority Whom the Majority Will Become.

INAUGURAL SOURCES

As GBONews.org and its publisher, the Journalists Network on Generations inaugurates our  32nd year, the nooz approaching January 20, is as loud, volatile and premeditated as ever by the incoming administration. Lest the improvisational cacophony drown out the on-the-ground policy moves, GBONews.org begins Volume 32 with, well, reporting. That is, in the now-shaky realm of factual observation and expert verification of what’s before our eyes, what follows from both journalists and research sources is a series of recent articles and reports that suggest a policy agenda (and story ideas) on such issues as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, immigration, dementia care and – well, add your own pressing issue. If you have a story link for GBONews to include or favorite informed source, please drop a note about it to this editor, pfkleyman@gmail.com

1. OH-OH, HERE HE COMES

*** “Trump’s immigration plans could imperil long-term care workforce,” by Jessie HellmannCQ Roll Call(Jan. 9, 2025): The DekDemand for direct care workers will grow by 35 percent to 41 percent between 2022 and 2037, according to some projections.

The Lede: “President-elect Donald Trump’s vowed crackdown on immigration could strain an already struggling eldercare workforce that relies on foreign-born workers in nursing homes and home health settings. Industry players and experts argue that increasing the long-term care workforce requires more immigration, and Trump’s plans could further undermine efforts to shore up the workforce as need for services increases with an aging population.

A Quote: “‘Restricting entry of immigrants into the U.S. could really have a detrimental impact on long-term care for older adults,’ said David C. Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. ‘They [immigrants] play a critical role in the delivery of long-term care broadly, but especially in nursing homes.’”

In a Nutshell: “Home health aides, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants are considered the backbone of the long-term care workforce, helping people age in their homes and often making up the majority of staff in nursing homes and residential care facilities. There’s already a shortage of workers performing long-term care, and that shortage will worsen in the coming decades.”

The Stats: “People 65 and older are expected to make up more than 20 percent of the population by 2030; an estimated 75 percent will need some type of long-term care. . . In all, demand for direct care workers including nursing assistants, personal care aides and home health aides will grow by 35 percent to 41 percent between 2022 and 2037, according to projections from the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis published in November. But employment of home health and personal care aides is only projected to grow by 22 percent over the next decade. Analysts argue that immigration is part of the solution.”

What’s More: “Currently, about 27 percent of direct care workers are immigrants, but many more likely operate in a ‘gray market’ where they are paid directly by families to care for people in their homes using private funds, according to the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for direct care workers and improved quality of care.” 

Oh, No!:  “’Mass deportations or targeting immigrants would have devastating impacts on the care economy, in addition to the trauma and separation of families,’ said Arnulfo De La Cruz, president of SEIU 2015 in California, the largest union representing long-term care workers, half of whom are immigrants. . . The nursing home industry has urged the Trump administration to make its plans more clear. . .  ‘They really are the backbone of our sector,’ said Nicole Howell, director of workforce policy at LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit aging services providers.” 

*** “Could Donald Trump fix Social Security’s biggest problem in 2025?” by Keith SpeightUSAToday / The Motley Fool (Dec. 30, 2024): The Crux: Although stipulating that “neither Biden nor Trump pushed hard for major Social Security reforms during their respective first presidential terms,” Speight writes, “Trump is about to have a second chance to do something about the federal program.”

Fact Check #1: He reports, “First, let’s address a common misconception about Social Security. The program is emphatically not going bankrupt. To officially be bankrupt, Social Security would have to be unable to pay its obligations. [However] the program’s two trust funds — the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund and the Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund — are on track to be depleted. The current timeline for the combined trust funds running out of money is 2035, according to the 2024 annual report published by the Social Security trustees.”

Say What?: The story continues, “So, does President-elect Trump have a plan to prevent future Social Security benefit cuts? Sort of. In a town hall in December 2023, Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Trump about Social Security. He responded, ‘You don’t have to touch Social Security.’

“He added, ‘We have money laying [sic] in the ground far greater than anything we can do by hurting senior citizens with their Social Security.’ Trump argued that tapping the U.S. oil and gas reserves would allow the country to solve many of its fiscal problems, including Social Security’s looming insolvency. However, Trump’s campaign never provided details on exactly how this idea would work.”

Fact Check #2: “The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget [CRFB] . . . , determined, ‘[D]edicating current oil and gas leasing revenues to Social Security would cover less than 4 percent of its shortfall, and it would be impossible to fix Social Security even if all federal land were opened to drilling operations.”

Furthermore:  “Several of Trump’s proposals would likely exacerbate Social Security’s biggest problem. The [CRFB ] determined that Social Security would run out of money three years earlier than forecast if the president-elect’s plans to eliminate federal taxes on Social Security retirement benefits, overtime and tips are implemented. All these proposals would reduce revenue for Social Security.”

And: The organization also concluded that Trump’s plans to impose steep tariffs on all imports could lead to higher inflation, which would result in higher cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) and greater cash outflows from Social Security. Further, his proposal to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants would reduce the amount of Social Security taxes paid by these workers.”

In Short: “It seems highly unlikely that President-elect Trump will fix Social Security’s biggest problem in 2025. He could even make it worse. But what about later in his second term? Politics can sometimes be surprising.” 

GBONews NoteKeith Speight’s clarification in The Motley Fool is important that it is the trust funds that would run dry, that is, without further government action. But reporters need to take care not to state broadly—and misleadingly—that Social Security is going “bankrupt” or will “run out of money” by 2035. In truth, nearly 90% of the program’s annual funding comes from payroll taxes from workers and employers. 

Social Security’s trust funds were set up as buffer in 1983 to protect generations expected to follow the super-sized Baby Boom, so the expected smaller generations, such as GenX, would not bear the brunt of supporting their elders. As Speight explains, short of congressional action to reduce costs or raise revenue, such as with higher taxes by 2035, “Social Security will be able to continue paying around 83% of scheduled benefits at first.” 

*** “The GOP Is Trying to Undermine Social Security With Zombie Lies—Don’t Be Fooled,” by Nancy J. AltmanSocial Security Works, on the website, Common Dreams (January 10, 2025):  SSW President Nancy Altman, author of several fine books on the United States public pension system, is a frequent source of background and quotes for major news media. In this piece, she volleys back at MAGA stalwart, Rep. Mike Lee, R-UT, for statements such as that Social Security “is government dependency at its worst.” The expected quote she includes by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt may be handy for some writers, but reporters may find presumptions about the Republican Party’s historical opposition to the program piqued by the citation she includes from Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Eisenhower said in 1953, “Retirement systems, by which individuals contribute to their own security . . have become an essential part of our economic and social life. These systems are but a reflection of the American heritage of sturdy self-reliance which has made our country strong and kept it free. . . . The Social Security program furnishes, on a national scale, the opportunity for our citizens, through that same self-reliance, to build the foundation for their security.” 

Noting that Lee’s current “zombie” talking points (her vernacular lift from the New York Times’  just-retired columnist Paul Krugman) echoes the 1936 arguments of GOP presidential nominee, Alf Landon. Altman writes that Eisenhower once described those opposing the program as “a tiny splinter group” that seeks “to abolish Social Security.” At the time, he remarked that “their number is negligible and they are stupid.”

Altman adds, “Unfortunately, that tiny group now controls the Republican party.” She references Lee’s “lengthy Twitter threadElon Musk, the soon-to-be shadow President of the United States, amplified the thread, calling it ‘interesting.’” 

2. GOOD SOURCES

*** KFF Health News (Kaiser Family Foundation): Besides their daily email feed showing KFF’s own stories and a roundup of related news from other sites, be sure to click on “More Topics” just under the logo to locate links to current news under: Aging, Medicare, Medicaid and other categories, some translated into Spanish. Recent examples are: “Trump’s Return Puts Medicaid on the Chopping Block”“Doctors, Nurses Press Ahead as Wildfires Strain Los Angeles’ Health Care,”“LGBTQ+ People Relive Old Traumas as They Age on Their Own,” which is by veteran generations-beat columnist for KFF, Judith Graham

*** The Commonwealth Fund is an operating foundation that both finances studies and pursues its own research on health care issues across all ages. Examples of recent blogs and fact sheets describe studies by their staff and grantees, as well as other important research.

Among their posted recent items are, “Older Adults in U.S. More Likely to Struggle to Afford Health Care, International Survey Shows”“How Affordable Is Health Care for Medicare Beneficiaries?”;  and “The State of Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S.” The latter summarizes results from the Commonwealth Fund 2024 Biennial Health Insurance Survey. (Disclosure note: Commonwealth Fund is among the foundation sponsors of the Journalists in Aging Fellows Program, our project with the Gerontological Society of America.) 

*** Gerontological Society conference highlights aging story ideas for 2025,” by Liz Seegert, Association of Health Care Journalists blog on Aging (Dec. 13, 2024) — The Lede: In November, Seegert writes, “nearly 4,000 people (experts, researchers and journalists) gathered in Seattle for the Gerontological Society of America’s annual scientific meeting on aging, [featuring] over 600 presentations, hundreds of poster sessions, a huge exhibition hall (including a therapy horse) and panels on topics including neuroscience and public policy.”

Reporters’ 2025 Planning: “Journalists may want to consider focusing on some of the issues highlighted below, as shifts in health care funding, research dollars, institutional priorities, private and public program funding, and other factors could significantly affect nearly 58 million people 65 and older and their families.”

Topic Areas: Seegert provides an overview of potential stories on “What will happen to the National Institute on Aging?” and “Trump’s Cabinet Picks.” Under her heading, “Key topics for 2025,” she noodles over developments in such subject areas examined by conference researchers and policy experts as dementia, social isolation and loneliness, age-friendly health and hospital systems, and ageism. She also adds suggestions on other tangential topics, for example, global aging, family economics, longer lifespans, and LGBTQIA aging. 

3. THE STORYBOARD

***  “Medicare Advantage is popular with NC seniors, but the program has come under increased scrutiny,”Series Part 1 by Grace VitaglioneNC Health News (North Carolina, Dec. 6, 2024): The Dek – “Some companies that offer Advantage plans are facing push-back for forcing patients to jump through hoops for care and allegedly gaming the system to receive higher government payments.”

The Lede: Linda Duffy, 83, got sick of the ‘games’ that she says UnitedHealthcare played with health care providers over negotiating contracts. Duffy, who lives outside Raleigh, was enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan under UnitedHealthcare.”

Who’s Affected: “Over half of the 2.2 million Medicare-eligible North Carolinians are in Medicare Advantage plans, and that number is growing. Instead of traditional Medicare, where the federal government pays . . . on a fee-for-service basis, the government pays private insurance companies to create Medicare Advantage plans, and pays the insurers a set monthly amount for each patient to administer their care. Many older adults like the extra benefits associated with Medicare Advantage plans, such as hearing and dental coverage, or even gym benefits.”

Plan Reactions: “But some [beneficiaries] are nervous about the possibility of their doctor leaving the networks created by the plans. Some companies that offer the plans are also seeing pushback for forcing patients to jump through hoops for care. And some critics say that the insurance companies are gaming the system to receive higher payments from the federal government. And sometimes they’ll drop patients altogether when they get too expensive — or patients leave on their own. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a pattern of the sickest patients in Medicare Advantage plans dropping their plans just as their health needs soared.”

A Quote: “The array of plans to choose from can be a ‘mixed blessing,’ said Tricia Neuman, senior vice president of KFF [Kaiser Family Foundation] and executive director of its Program on Medicare Policy. While people like choice, beneficiaries need to think about the tradeoffs of signing up for Medicare Advantage versus traditional Medicare.”

* Series Part 2 – Clash of the Titans’: Disputes between Medicare Advantage plans and health care providers can leave older adults stuck in the middle,” by Grace Vitaglione, NC Health News (Dec. 9, 2024): The Dek – “Contract disputes are one of many factors that can make the choice between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage a daunting one.”

The Lede: “Marian Spicer, 72, was treated for a kidney stone at Duke Health in late October. During the procedure, the doctor accidentally tore her bladder, and she didn’t get out of the hospital until early November. The pain of the experience was compounded by stress over the possibility of losing her insurance coverage. Spicer was on a Medicare Advantage plan from UnitedHealthcare,” which was “in the midst of a months-long tussle [with Duke] over contract negotiations. . . Worried she would lose coverage in the middle of the treatment, Spicer switched to a Humana plan.”

A Quote: “UnitedHealthcare and Duke Health came to an agreement at the last minute, but it was too late for Spicer. . . ‘I don’t understand why Duke and United Healthcare waited so long to decide what they were going to do,’ she said.”

The Upshot: “Insurance companies and health care systems playing games of chicken over contract negotiations is common. . . . It’s one of many factors — such as costs and risk — that can complicate the choice between Medicare Advantage plans and original Medicare for older adults. Original Medicare — administered by the federal government rather than private insurance companies — is accepted by far more providers, while Medicare Advantage can often be cheaper and add other perks, like dental coverage or gym membership.”

A QuoteGina Upchurch, executive director of Durham-based Senior PharmAssist, said older adults and those with disabilities already have to make difficult choices each year about their coverage. . . . ‘This isn’t blaming Duke. This isn’t blaming United. But that system needs to change. You cannot have consumers be in the middle of that battle. . . Upchurch, who was recently chosen to sit on a Congressional advisory board that focuses on Medicare,said] ‘It’s extremely stressful and off-putting.”’

*** “Early onset dementia is making the caregiving crisis worse,” by Ellen Eldridge, GPB (Georgia Public Broadcasting) (Dec. 17, 2024): The Lede —  Nancy Treaster has been taking care of her husband, Kim, for the last decade since he was diagnosed at age 60 with dementia.”

The Upshot: “When Treaster broke down over lunch with friends one day, she learned her friend, Sue Ryan, was caring for her husband who had dementia. . . The women started a podcast called The Caregiver’s Journey to share their knowledge and tips for dementia caregiving.”

The Crux: “People with early onset Alzheimer’s and other dementias, who require long-term care services, face high out-of-pocket expenses that, depending upon their age and financial circumstances, may not be covered by Medicaid, Administration on Aging programs or other programs that pay for long-term care services for some people aged 65 and over with dementia. Early-onset dementia rates are increasing, but there isn’t enough data available on the number of affected people or their conditions.” 

The Stats: “Almost 20% of Georgia’s population is older than age 60, and about 10% of the state’s seniors are living alone, but only about seven caregivers exist for every 100,000 residents, according to data analyzed by The Mesothelioma Center. There are not enough caregivers available for the Baby Boomer demographic group, whose members over age 65 grew from 41 million people in 2011 to 71 million in 2019 — a massive 73% increase. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates this number will keep rising, projecting it will reach 82 million by 2030.” 

A Solution: “Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha is an associate professor of family and preventive medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and the lead author of a study on undiagnosed cognitive decline. . . Kulshreshtha also works as an advisory board member for Georgia Memory Net, a state-funded program led by Emory [University]. . . . ‘As a clinician, I find when patients are forgetting to take their medication, their other conditions get worse,’ he said. ‘Their heart failure gets worse; their diabetes gets worse.’ The Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) model supports people with dementia and their unpaid or family caregivers.” 

*** “Hamptons hospital adapts fall-prevention classes for aging Spanish-speaking population,” by Ashley Milne-Tyte, The World (5:18 minute public radio recording plus written story,  Dec. 10, 2024): The Dek —  “The number of foreign-born older people in the US is increasing fast: It’s expected to reach 23% of the total older population by 2060. But the US health care system is not always well prepared to cater to aging immigrants. In an increasingly immigrant community in the Hamptons, in New York, a local hospital is offering fall-prevention classes in Spanish.” 

The Lede: Marleny Nieto, an immigrant from Colombia, has lived in East Hampton, NY, for decades — working as a hotel housekeeper until her retirement, while raising two daughters. The 68-year-old was active until she fell down the stairs and broke one of her vertebrae. . . But things turned around for her after she signed up for a free class for Spanish speakers on fall prevention at a local church, which has been a big boost for her — she said that her fear has gone, and she’s ready to socialize.”

The Demographics: “In East Hampton, a quarter of the local population is Latino. Some of those people are now over 65 and don’t speak English well. . . Sarah Cohen is with the Center for Parkinson’s Disease at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. She teaches “A Matter of Balance” in English. She . . . and her colleagues got some extra funding to expand the program to Spanish speakers. . . The hospital partnered with a local advocacy group, OLA of Eastern Long Island, . . Cohen and a colleague trained two of OLA’s employees — Wally Ramirez and Alma Tovar— so they could teach the program themselves, in Spanish.”

The Issue: “This fall-prevention class is what the medical world describes as culturally competent care. Fernando Torres-Gil is a professor emeritus at UCLA who has advised various administrations on aging policy.

“He said that this type of care, where language and culture are shared and understood, is vital to immigrants ‘because that way, they’ll age healthier and be less of an economic health burden on the community.’

“But [Torres-Gil] is concerned that it may be difficult to fund these programs in the next few years, given the incoming administration’s attitude toward immigrants and migrants. ‘That’s going to make it very hard to provide culturally competent care,’ he said, ‘because in many communities, the nativist, anti-immigrant sentiments are going to translate to, Why doesn’t everybody speak English?’” 

*** “Vinculan la diabetes como factor de riesgo para demencia” [English: “Diabetes linked as a risk factor for dementia,” by Aiola VirellaMetro.pr (Puerto Rico), Nov. 25, 2024): The Dek: “Un nuevo estudio va sobre diversos factores y su correlación con la demencia.” (English: “A new study analyzes various factors and their classification with dementia.”) 

The Lede (en Español): “Nueva evidencia científica apunta a que los niveles elevados de azúcar en pacientes de diabetes están correlacionados con un mayor riesgo de demencia. Así lo dio a conocer hace unas semanas, la organización AARPcomo parte del Proyecto de Reducción del Riesgo de Demencia, una colaboración con el Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative (AD Data Initiative) y el Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) de la Universidad de Washington.”

English: “New scientific evidence suggests that elevated blood sugar levels in diabetes patients are correlated with an increased risk of dementia. This was announced recently by AARP, as part of the Dementia Risk Reduction Project, a collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative (AD Data Initiative) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Assessment (IHME) at the University of Washington.

*** “Caregiver Care: How To Manage Feelings Of Guilt, Stress ,” by Jatika HudsonOrlando Times (Oct. 1, 2024): The Lede: “Taking care of a loved one as they age is one of the most challenging tasks for any caregiver. And many times, once the job becomes too much for the mental, physical or emotional health, the option of submitting to the idea of a nursing facility become real. . . Jeanna McKnight [is] founder of Graceful Living. . . . With the increase of those of advanced age and experiencing health issues entering, one of the areas McKnight’s company assists with is being a safe space where caretakers can learn to cope and walk through the process of possibly making difficult decisions.”

The Challenge: “Numerous reasons that nursing facilities are considered include physical challenges of possibly moving and bathing the family member and some may become combative; caregivers can have jobs outside of the home that cause them to not be able to give adequate care; the stresses that come with distributing medications; and many other causes.”

GBONews’ publisher, the Journalists Network on Generations, and our partner, The Gerontological Society of America, are grateful to this year’s nonprofit funders for supporting year 15 of the Journalists in Aging Fellows Program. They include the Silver Century FoundationJohn A. Hartford Foundationthe Commonwealth Fundand the NIHCM Foundation, plus a generous contribution from Dr. John Migliaccio. 

4. THE BOOKMOBILE

*** The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond, by Debra Whitman, PhD, W. W. Norton (Fall 2024): Among all of the self-help consumer books coming my way – how to age sexier, healthier, wealthier – sexier – this title came to my inbox with particular interest. That’s not only because The Second Fifty is by AARP’s chief public policy officer, who has led serious economic and social research on those seven big issues in the title, but also because, well, my daughter, who is among Debra Whitman’s fellow Gen Xers, expressed interest for the first time last year, as she turned 51, in knowing more about issues she’s experiencing at midlife. 

For my kid’s now-aged generations-beat journalist Dad, knowing something of this or that midlife concern is not so much the issue as – where to begin. For me, that dilemma is closely followed by, where to stop. Handing my very busy daughter, a UX web-designer and Mom to a pre-teen Little Leaguer, a book to read usually has brought only a shrug. But this got a more enthusiastic response when she unwrapped it for the holidays, and not only for the bookmark in its pages, a Bloomingdale’s gift certificate. 

The Second Fifty well meets my expectations for a thorough and clearly-written overview of prime concerns for general readers wanting to know where to begin. Whitman proffers a better understanding one’s lifespan, healthspan, memory, work, money, housing, and managing life’s end.

Her chapters offer the usual checklist items, but she also goes more deeply based on her own socioeconomic surveys, on studies by leading gerontologists – and on her personal experience of caregiving for her mother and, in one harrowing account, for her middle-aged husband.

Whitman’s personal stake in the multigenerational challenges of aging threads throughout the book from its introduction. Raised in small-town Washington State, her mother brought her Mom into their home in Grandma Pfeifer’s final years.

She writes, “Growing up with my grandmother taught me a lot—about mental illness, and the emotional, logistical, and financial demands of caregiving; about how vulnerable aging and ill health can leave us; and about how reliant we can become on others.” 

Whitman goes on, “I saw that older people have value no matter their health. I later came to understand that the policies and program we have in this country determine our options, which affect successive generations. . . . If my grandmother had not had her Social Security and Medicaid, my parents likely would have struggled to send my brother and me to college.” Her career started as a researcher at the Social Security Administration, then a decade on Capitol Hill, especially the Senate Special Committee on Aging, before moving to AARP for the past decade. 

More Informed and Nuanced

Far from incidental biographical details of an author, Whitman’s middle-class background and deep knowledge of age-based policy concerns afford readers a more informed and nuanced grasp of the possibilities – and difficulties – lying ahead, amidst the rapid aging of America. As she notes, for instance, “Children today have a 50 percent chance of living to a hundred. The number of American centenarians is expected to quadruple by 2054.” 

Throughout the book, Whitman cites the great potential in advances in aging research and progress in the social-behavioral science of aging, while she never shys away from explaining today’s deficits. The includes the poor health outcomes in the United States, especially for lower-income minorities, compared with other advanced countries, and the looming negative impacts ahead, if this country fails to heed the warning signs of its systematic fragmentation and failures. 

But also Whitman describes successful solutions developed in recent decades, such as the Green House and PACE models for long-term care, although these operate only in limited areas due to tight policy limitations. 

Only a handful of retirement-finance authors and columnists have proffered a comparably nuanced volume for average readers. 

Whitman’s caregiving experience also reached into her at midlife in 2017, when her husband, Glenn, 46, “fit and trim, a lifelong athlete,” felt the onset of a heart attack while hiking alone in the mountains of Colorado. Fortunately, he met a couple, who reached Boulder Mountain Rescue, which “raced” him to an ambulance. 

Whew! Whitman found, “Glenn’s heart attack forced me to confront the fact that even when the odds are in our favor, longevity is an uncertain business. . . . The close call didn’t turn me into a fatalist, though. Instead, it set me on a mission. I wanted to know what determines how long we live, and why some of us live much longer and healthier lives than others. How much of a role do genes play? What factors are within our control, and which ones are beyond it? And how do governmental priorities, like the support for health care in Colorado that helped save Glenn’s life, shrink or extend life expectancy?”

To find out the answers, journalists may request a complimentary press review copy from Ilse ZunigaAARP, Director of External Relations, Health Policy Communications, email: izuniga@aarp.org; office – (202) 344-9132; cell – (702) 324-5563.

The Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), founded in 1993, publishes Generations Beat Online News (GBONews.org). JNG provides information and networking opportunities for journalists covering generational issues, but not those representing services, products or lobbying agendas. Copyright 2025 Paul Kleyman. For more information contact GBO Editor Paul Kleyman. 

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