With several months remaining before the 2022 Midterm Election, older Ohioans have an opportunity to have their voice be heard on the issues that matter the most to them.

The AARP Ohio Deciding Voices Listening Tour will be held in five cities, starting tomorrow in Cincinnati. AARP Ohio Manager of Advocacy and Outreach Kalitha Williams said candidates need to understand the challenges older Ohioans face.

"It's important that everyone know the importance of the 50 plus voter," said Williams. "In the last couple of elections the 50 plus voter has been the most consistent and largest voting bloc in Ohio."

Listening sessions will be held in the coming weeks in Cleveland, Portsmouth, Columbus and Lima. There is also an online survey for those who can't attend in person.

AARP Ohio will present the findings to candidates and policymakers in the early fall. Learn more online at aarp.org/ohvotes.

Williams said at the listening sessions, participants can share their experiences and views about what they need to thrive.

"The small focus group conversations are an opportunity to really get to the issues of concern for Ohio's 50 plus," said Williams, "health care, retirement savings, housing and other issues."

Williams contended that the issues impacting older voters should be addressed at the highest level. Many older Ohioans are on fixed incomes, and she explained they're struggling to make ends meet with rising prices at the grocery store, gas pump and pharmacy.

"The average American takes four to five life-saving prescription drugs," said Williams, "and the cost of Healthcare in our country has just been soaring."

Relief may be on the way for many older Nevadans who need hearing aids but can't afford to pay $3,000 to $5,000 for a pair.

The Food and Drug Administration has just cleared the way for hearing aids to be sold without a prescription or a visit to the audiologist.

Favil West is founder and chairman of the board of the nonprofit Foundation Assisting Seniors in Henderson, which helps older folks get durable medical equipment.

"I think that in my judgment, this is a great boon," said West, "if it's quality equipment, if it's equipment that's going to last seniors."

The Biden administration predicts this could save people up to $3,000 per pair. The less-expensive hearing aids could hit pharmacy shelves as early as October.

West said people need to keep quality top of mind and thinks many people will stick with higher-end models, if they can afford them.

"They last longer," said West. "The batteries are readily accessible and then they can tune them. They use the TV, you can turn down the volume, you eliminate crowd noise. So these are the kinds of things that really make a hearing aid effective."

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders estimates that one third of people ages 65 to 74 have hearing loss, and that rises to more than half of people older than 75.

President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law Tuesday, providing a means for making prescription drug prices more affordable in the future.

Along with $370 billion for clean-energy programs, the legislation helps cap drug costs in a number of ways, including allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and limiting those paid out-of-pocket to $2,000 per year for people with Medicare Part D.

Andrea Meyer, director of government relations for AARP Oregon, applauded the measure.

"AARP is so pleased to finally see this legislation pass," Meyer stated. "It revolutionizes the prescription-drug market and will finally hold drug companies accountable for their prices."

Meyer pointed out the Inflation Reduction Act has other provisions aimed at drug prices, including penalizing drug companies raising their prices faster than inflation and capping copays for insulin at $35 a month for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Republicans, who opposed the bill, say it will expand the deficit and increase the size of government.

Meyer noted many people on Medicare have to ration their prescriptions because prices exceed what they can afford. She emphasized cost increases have dwarfed even the highest rates of inflation.

"If consumer prices had risen as fast as drug prices over the last 15 years, gas would now cost over $12 a gallon and milk would be $13 a gallon," Meyer asserted.

Many of the legislation's prescription-drug provisions will be phased in over the next few years.

As parts of Southern California suffer with triple-digit temperatures, state lawmakers are set to vote today on two bills to study and mitigate heat waves.

Assembly Bill 2238 would create a heat-ranking system like we already have for tornadoes and hurricanes. David Azevedo, associate director of AARP California, said heat is the leading weather-related cause of death in the country.

"Older people are more susceptible to heat-related illnesses due to weakened cardiovascular systems, pre-existing health conditions," said Azevedo, "and the fact that many prescription medications used by older people impact temperature regulation and hydration."

California's Fourth Climate Change Assessment, in 2018, predicted that excess deaths due to extreme heat could hit 4,300 per year by 2025, and 11,000 in 2050 if trends continue.

Azevedo said a second bill - Assembly Bill 2076 - would fund projects to increase tree canopies, build shaded bus shelters, install so-called "cool pavement" and retrofit buildings to make them more heat-resistant.

"AB 2076 would also create an extreme heat and health reporting system," said Azevedo, "which will receive and analyze data from local health departments, clinics and hospitals to better identify where extreme heat is most negatively harming communities."

The bill also would create the country's first "chief heat officer." The two bills are in the committee's "suspense file," which means they could get an up-or-down vote without a hearing.