Facing Financial Devastation
Kris Schultz, a political campaign worker in New Hampshire, was doing fine until she became sick at age 34.

Disability Turns One Woman’s World Upside Down

"I became disabled 5 years ago. I had to leave my great paying position. Now, on Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare, I receive $726 a month. My Medicare costs $92 a month and my Part D with extra insurance costs me $172 a month.

My monthly debt, which I’ve accumulated while working (credit cards), is $400 a month. Doctors’ co-pays are $25 a month. That leaves me $37 for my medication. When I reach my donut hole for Medicare Part D, I cannot take two of my medications because they do not come in generic form. I just do not have enough money. One of the scripts costs $482 for a month’s supply. It’s crazy.

My husband returned to work after retiring after 34 years of teaching because we could not afford to live. I never expected to become so ill that would be disabled at the young age of 54. I don’t know about anyone else but the stress of it all seems to make me sicker. It just has to change. I worked hard all of my life and to lose everything because I am ill just makes no sense to me."
Susan G.
Lincoln, RI

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

Celebs Speak Out on Health and Financial Security
Hollywood’s leading nonprofit organizations, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) and the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF), have joined Divided We Fail to bring attention to the domestic issues that worry Americans most: health care and financial security. This unprecedented three-year collaboration between the entertainment world and AARP seeks bipartisan cooperation in finding solutions.

A TV public service announcement (PSA) featuring a diverse lineup of celebrities echoing the need for affordable, quality health care for all Americans is the initial step. It will air nationally on broadcast and cable channels.

The PSA features Ben Affleck, Eva Mendes, Reese Witherspoon, Garth Brooks, Dakota Fanning, Morgan Freeman, Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Piven and urges viewers of all ages to let their voice be heard on the issues we all have in common: the need for affordable, quality health care and peace of mind about financial security.

Republican Candidate Issue Forum
AARP and IPTV held its second Presidential Candidate forum on October 25th at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City, Iowa. Senator John McCain and Governor Mike Huckabee shared the stage as well as their ideas and solutions to our nation's top domestic issues before a crowd of caucus-going Western Iowans.

AARP National President Erik Olsen, AARP members and volunteers from five states traveled to Sioux City to attend the forum. Olsen opened the program and explained Divided We Fail's goal of greater discussion of these issues with nation's leaders and the Presidential candidates.

Visit our website to view the webcast of the event.

NFIB Joins Divided We Fail
Top executives of the groups that make up Divided We Fail – AARP, Business Roundtable and SEIU – announced on November 1st that the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) joined the effort to make access to quality, affordable health care and long-term financial security top issues in the national political debate.

"NFIB's alliance with Divided We Fail demonstrates that we're taking all the steps necessary to change the political climate to fix our nation's health-care system," said Todd Stottlemyer, President and CEO of NFIB. "Small business owners, their employees and dependents make up the largest segment of the uninsured population and we simply can't say that health care is our top priority and be content with the stalemate over reform. As a member of this coalition we plan to raise the national debate to a new level and get policymakers focused on providing solutions to address what has become a national crisis for America's job creators." More

Taking a Stand in Your Communities

Divided We Fail: Faith Week
From November 17 through the 25, AARP will be reaching out to more than 200 diverse communities of faith to ask them to reflect on the importance of health care and lifetime financial security issues.

In conjunction with Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference and the National Council of Churches, Faith Week activities will reach more than 100,000 individuals across the nation in more then 50 cities.

"America's faith communities have always led our nation through times of uncertainty," said Nancy Leamond, Group Executive Officer of Social Impact at AARP. "Our churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples provide hope and inspire us to transform ourselves, our communities, and our country. They challenge us to rise above narrow self-interests and become stewards for future generations."

AARP has consulted with faith and community leaders across the nation and will be working throughout the week to open a dialogue in numerous communities. Members of these communities will be able to hear the Divided We Fail message during services and will have access to materials so they can create change in their homes and communities by sharing their stories and learning what they can do to improve the health and financial longevity of their communities. More

New Hampshire Mayors Sign on to Divided We Fail
AARP was joined by the mayors of Concord, Manchester, Portsmouth and Nashua to highlight the enormous importance of health care and financial security issues to citizens across New Hampshire.

Ally McNair, AARP New Hampshire State President noted that "quality, affordable health care and life-long financial security are issues that reverberate on the local level as well as the national level. Voters are looking for bipartisan solutions for these problems." More

Divided We Fail. Together We Can Do Anything.
 
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