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.

More seniors in Washington state are facing financial strain or even losing their homes and seven local organizations will expand support for them with help from new grants.

Funds from AARP Washington's Community Challenge grants support quick projects to create more age-friendly communities.

Lauren McGowan, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation Puget Sound, one of the grant recipients, said the $15,000 will help seniors get property tax relief, for which many do not realize they qualify, or need help in applying.

"We want to make sure that families have access to those resources so that they can stay in their homes, age in their homes healthy and well, and then pass along their homes to the next generation," McGowan outlined.

The group expects to help more than 5,000 low- and moderate-income older adults in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. McGowan noted the average household can save thousands of dollars a year if they qualify for property tax relief.

Marcelo Pratesi, development director for Habitat for Humanity in Whatcom County, another grant recipient, said they will use the money to help 10 low-income homeowners over age 50 with repairs they cannot afford or manage. The project will enhance accessibility, health and safety, enabling them to age in place.

Pratesi added in North Whatcom County, the need is high.

"They don't have anywhere else to go to," Pratesi pointed out. "For us to be able to walk in there and build a wheelchair ramp or put in grab bars, or make bathrooms more accessible in general, it's going to be really great."

The Community Challenge Grants awarded more than $63,000 for projects across Washington state this year, part of AARP's national community investment, which has awarded more than $4 million to hundreds of organizations.


get more stories like this via email

A former Wisconsin mayor said the new federal budget will only worsen the current aging crisis families like hers have already been facing.

Analysis from the Congressional Budget Office suggests President Trump's budget bill will trigger automatic cuts to Medicare due to an expected increase in the national deficit.

Judy Karofsky, a former mayor of Middleton, said it would affect hospice services and end-of-life programs already in need of greater funding. She explained when her mother was 99, the local hospice agency determined she was not dying soon enough and abruptly discontinued her services. She explained how it also triggered her eviction from the assisted living facility where she was at the time.

"This happens in this country," Karofsky emphasized. "My mother was 99-and-a-half when that was decided. We were on our own for a matter of months. She did die within the next six months, just before she turned 100. It was cruel!"

Karofsky stressed cuts to Medicare would rob many of the most vulnerable Americans, like her mother, of their right to a dignified death.

Hospice provides patients and families with pain relief, medical equipment, nursing care and spiritual support. Studies show hospice saves Medicare and families money by reducing overall health care spending. Karofsky said without it, families are faced with financial burdens few can bear.

"I thought before I was involved with my mom's hospice care, that hospice was a charity," Karofsky noted. "I understand now that every hour of help, every service, every product that's brought to a hospice recipient is reimbursed through Medicare and every hospice agency is beholden to Medicare."

The number of Americans aged 65 and older is expected to more than double over the next 40 years.

Karofsky argued the issue of underregulated assisted living facilities will worsen the current aging crisis across the country. In her book, "DisElderly Conduct, The Flawed Business of Assisted Living and Hospice," Karofsky recounted her mother's negative experience at six assisted living facilities in Wisconsin and called for action to address the ongoing crisis.


get more stories like this via email

The nation's largest advocacy group for people age 50 and older is investing more than $4.2 million, including more than $75,000 in Colorado, to help make communities more livable for people of all ages.

AARP Colorado Associate State Director Marissa Volpe said the city of Fort Collins won a $20,000 AARP grant to host a series of hands-on workshops, in both English and Spanish, to make it easier for low-income residents to remain in their homes as they get older.

"This is going to focus on plumbing 101, water conservation for mobile homes and senior apartments," said Volpe. "And the event aims to really build do-it-yourself skills, reduce maintenance costs and support aging in place."

AARP's Livable Communities initiative has invested more than $24 million in some 1,700 projects since 2017, including 40 in Colorado.

The program funds innovative projects meant to inspire change in public spaces, housing, transportation and more.

This year marks AARP's most substantial investment in rural communities to date, with 45% of grants going to these areas.

The grassroots group Commún was awarded more than $18,000 to develop an emergency disaster plan for the Loretto Heights Resilience Hub in Southwest Denver.

Volpe said this community-driven effort will help empower local navigators, known as promotoras, to deliver disaster preparedness and other critical information to older residents.

"It's the idea to capacitate those on the ground," said Volpe, "the folks you might see at church on Sunday, the folks you might see in the supermarket - with the necessary information."

Bike Durango won a grant of more than $12,000 to install a temporary bike lane on Junction Creek Road.

Volpe said the lane will promote a safer environment for walking and cycling, and help people access multiple municipal amenities.

"Expanding pedestrian safety, walkability, and bikeability in communities," said Volpe. "This is a big point of making communities livable and reducing car traffic."