Millions of Voices for Change
Millions of Americans are faced with difficult decisions concerning their health care and financial security every day. Here are just two stories we´ve heard recently.

Health Policy Shame
"We knew early on we had to be responsible for our own retirement funds and we worked so, so, so hard to accomplish that. We are now 59 and 61 and have the means to enjoy a few years of retirement while we are very physically active, etc. BUT, because of health insurance issues, one of us has to work to provide group coverage. The policy we could get has a $10,000 deductible and $1,000 monthly payment and, once we accepted it and got the actual policy, there were many huge discrepancies from what we were told by the company. This is a shame."
Carole L.
Summerville, SC
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Afraid to Retire
"I'm a 51-year-old woman who is afraid of retirement. I make a fairly good living now but don't have much in savings. I contribute to a 401K but that is all the "retirement planning" I have done. I am afraid of what would happen if something happened to me and I were not able to work until I'm 70, when I can go on Social Security with the maximum benefits. My mother is 77 and will soon be moving in with me and I'll have the added responsibility of taking care of her. The future should look rosy but is, frankly, frightening me."
Pamela W.
Humble, TX

Are you concerned about the cost of health care? Or worried about financial security in your retirement? We´d like to encourage you, your friends, family members, neighbors and coworkers to visit www.dividedwefail.org/share to share how these issues are impacting you and your families.

Learn More About the Issues

The Quiet Crisis: The Rising Costs of Health Care
If Ben Franklin was alive today, he might write that “nothing is certain but death, taxes and rising health costs.’ Whether we have good health benefits or not, it seems that insurance premiums, deductibles, and co-payments always seem to rise faster than our paychecks. When experts and politicians talk about the health care system, they often make the issues so complicated its hard to understand what they really mean. Sometimes, it just seems like they are talking about someone else´s problems. For most of us, the real issues are about keeping our families healthy and making sure we can get the care we need when we need it.

Known as the “quiet crisis,’ the number of people with health insurance who might be bankrupted by a medical crisis is growing. We have heard a lot about the 45 million without any health insurance, but we´ve heard less about the tens of millions of middle-class Americans who are underinsured. More than half of underinsured adults go without needed medical care. Even while scrimping on care, more than half of America´s underinsured have debt due to medical expenses.  More

Share Your Thoughts
We want to hear from you. Tell us if you´re struggling to pay for your health care and how you and your family are coping with the skyrocketing costs.

Election Issue Surveys
Divided We Fail just released its first Election Issue Survey of AARP members in the five early caucus and primary states. The survey found that two-thirds of those polled are likely to change their candidate preference once they learn more about the candidates´ positions on health and financial security.

New Ads and Music Video
Have you seen our new Divided We Fail ads that have been running on national television? They feature children delivering frank declarations on the state of healthcare and financial security and delivering messages to the candidates. You can also see our new music video In America that tells the story of a real American family pushed to the brink of financial ruin by a personal health crisis.

Taking a Stand in Your Communities

AARP Sponsors Candidate Debates in Iowa
The day before the Iowa Straw Poll, more than 250 AARP members, Divided We Fail Champions for Change, and general fairgoers jammed the Maytag Variety Theater at the Iowa State Fair to hear five Republican presidential candidates. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, who finished first and second in the straw-poll, as well as John Cox, Duncan Hunter, and Tommy Thompson, who later resigned from the race, were all given 20 minutes to address the crowd and answer questions on health and financial security. Attendees were enthusiastic about the opportunity to hear candidates speak on these critical issues that affect all Americans. The event attracted local and national media, including a spot on NBC´s Today Show.

Champions for Change Greet Romney During Oklahoma Visit
A group of red-clad Divided We Fail Champions for Change gathered at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center in Oklahoma City last week to hear from presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor focused on the need for health care reform during an hour-long public forum. After the forum, Romney greeted all of the Champions for Change, thanking them for their participation in the forum and AARP´s ongoing commitment to engage the presidential candidates on the campaign trail.

Divided We Fail. Together We Can Do Anything.
 
AARP
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