A new report found three of four Michigan voters 50 and older take one or more prescription drugs on a regular basis, but many find it difficult or impossible to pay for them.

The AARP study of Michigan drug prices found one-fifth of those responding have not filled at least one prescription in the past two years because it was too expensive. Others say they have delayed buying a drug, rationed the medicine by skipping doses, or replaced it with an over-the-counter product.

Melissa Seifert, associate state director for AARP Michigan, said despite some recent progress on lowering drug costs, Michigan seniors said they are still paying too much.

"We know that Americans pay three times more than other countries pay for their prescription drugs," Seifert pointed out. "Michiganders are sick and tired of paying these high prices when in other places in the world, their costs for the exact same medication are lower."

Seifert reported about 75% of those surveyed pay about $50 a month for prescriptions, while about 25% paid $100 or more. A majority of those surveyed supported the state negotiating drug prices, requiring drug companies to disclose how prices are set, and putting a cap on out-of-pocket drug costs.

Seifert noted seven of 10 seniors support the state of Michigan establishing a wholesale drug import plan and back the creation of a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which she believes sends a clear message to Michigan lawmakers.

"Two-thirds of our respondents, which is about 64%, said that they support elected officials doing more to reduce the cost of prescription drugs," Seifert explained. "That is going to be a top priority for AARP Michigan in this upcoming legislative session in 2023."

In addition to health care expenses, Seifert added there are societal costs to high drug prices, leaving many seniors unable to own homes, pay taxes or contribute to Michigan's economy.

"One thing that we always say time and time again is that prescription drugs do not work if you can't afford to take them, "Seifert stressed. "And so, we want to make sure that we are holding these drug companies accountable for these increases that we see time and time again."

On Wednesday, Xcel Energy customers will have a chance to tell the Colorado Public Utilities Commission what they think about the company's request - to raise base electricity rates 8.2%, and bring in $312 million more in revenue.

Bill Levis is a former director of the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel and AARP Colorado volunteer.

He said this is the fifth request to raise rates in as many years - and low and fixed-income Coloradans who are already spending up to 30% of their budget on utility bills, can't afford another hike.

The PUC is also considering alternative rate proposals.

"The Utility Consumer Advocate has determined that Xcel should actually reduce its proposed net increase by $26.6 million," said Levis. "So instead of an increase, there would be a decrease."

To join the virtual hearing at 4 p.m. Wednesday, visit 'PUC.colorado.gov,' or call 303-869-3490 to leave a comment in English or Spanish.

Xcel is also asking the commission to bump up their authorized profits to just over 10%. The company has argued that increased revenue is needed to transition to clean energy, and that base electricity rates in Colorado are lower than the national average.

Levis said 10% is a big payout, considering anyone who has money in a savings account earns 0.5% to maybe 1%.

He added that the company's rate claims are largely based on the fact that Colorado uses less energy on average than states like Arizona, where air conditioners run many more months of the year.

"Well if you look at what's happened in the last five years, those rates have creeped up," said Levis. "AARP is very concerned that the rate creep is something that consumers on fixed incomes just can't absorb."

Levis said he believes public engagement can make a difference, pointing to the uproar over last winter's high utility bills.

Colorado lawmakers recently passed Senate Bill 291, which prohibits Xcel from passing certain costs on to its customers, including advertising and lobbying.

Levis said that's significant because Xcel currently boasts the largest lobbying force in the state.

"I think that's a big win," said Levis, "because in the last couple of legislative sessions, the General Assembly passed bills that actually benefited the company to the detriment of consumers."

Phone scammers are now using artificial intelligence to steal money from victims with realistic-sounding facsimiles of loved ones.

Scammers take existing recordings uploaded to social media and use AI to create a dynamic version of the voice that can read a script, and is then used to trick others out of cash. Seniors are often targeted, and when AI voice cloning is coupled with phone "spoofing," which falsifies the caller ID to appear as a familiar and trusted phone number, these calls become very convincing frauds.

Katie Shilton, associate professor of information science at the University of Maryland, said raising awareness is currently the best defense.

"People should know that this is a growing kind of crime and should be a little bit suspicious of frantic, threatening phone calls," Shilton advised. "One of the best countermeasures right now is to try to call the person back on their number."

Phone spoofing can also be used to mimic the phone number of a government agency or reputable organization. The Federal Trade Commission reports scammers may use an intermediary posing as an authority figure such as a fake lawyer or police officer.

Scammers will often ask victims to pay or send money in ways making it difficult to recover, including wire transfers, buying gift cards and sending them the number and PIN, or cryptocurrency. If you encounter a scam, you can report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Shilton said the AI enabling scammers was originally developed for beneficial purposes.

"AI-powered phone scams are powered by a form of AI development that was meant for prosocial purposes," Shilton explained. "Originally, the voice mimicking was for art or for film; a lot of this work has been about accessibility to create voice assistants. Some of this work was to create voice assistants for business purposes."

The National Science Foundation has established an institute for Trustworthy A.I. in Law and Society. The institute is a partnership between the University of Maryland, George Washington University and Morgan State University, and seeks to develop mechanisms to ensure AI trustworthiness via both technological and public policy responses.

Shilton pointed out one area of innovation for researchers is the concept of watermarking AI output.

"Watermarking is a really promising area of research for generative AI in general, including voice mimicking technologies," Shilton emphasized. "The idea that we should have some sort of way for people to tell when something has been generated by AI as opposed to naturalistic recordings of people or something like that. "

Shilton noted one approach the institute is using to improve public trust in AI is including stakeholder communities in the design process.

"We have participatory design projects with the teachers union in Baltimore, to talk about tools for the classroom," Shilton said. "These are frequently designed outside of classrooms. Could we design them with teachers and parents and teenagers? Or we have accessibility design projects with blind communities to do object recognition."


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A new Master Plan for Older Adults is being developed in Pennsylvania.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order Thursday, directing the Pennsylvania Department of Aging to develop the plan.

The Keystone State is home to almost 3.5 million people over age 60. The current State Plan on Aging ends next year.

Jason Kavulich, Secretary of Aging, said the new plan will be an updated roadmap, so older Pennsylvanians can live safely and with dignity, helping them "age in place" in their homes.

Kavulich emphasized the importance of having the community's voices reflected in the plan.

"We can't do this without them, and this is really for them," Kavulich explained. "They're empowering us to help shape this plan and make sure that it becomes a reality. This is a living document that will live with us for the next 10 years, and it requires all of us to give input to, so that we can feel ownership."

He noted in the development stage, they will be convening stakeholders and getting ideas from the public. The Department of Aging, Area Agencies on Aging, AARP Pennsylvania, and Centers for Independent Living will host listening sessions over the summer.

Kavulich added the master plan will include five core tenets to help the state transform its infrastructure and better coordinate services for older adults as well as people with disabilities. He explained the tenets include diversity, to reflect the state's population.

"Transparency and inclusion, that is something that is in everything that we do," Kavulich stressed. "We want to make sure that people feel that they know what's going on, that they see what's going on, and that they're included in what's going on. And we want to make sure that diverse communities feel that they have their voice in this plan as well."

Kavulich said the goal is to hold at least one session to get feedback on the plan in each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. The department's goal is to finalize the plan by February of next year.