A First Look at Older Americans and the Mortgage Crisis
This first-ever analysis of mortgage data by age shows that older Americans have been significantly impacted by the mortgage crisis, with more than 684,000 homeowners age 50+ in delinquency or foreclosure during July-December 2007, according to this Insight on the Issues by Alison Shelton of AARP’s Public Policy Institute. (6 pages)

Determining Whether 401(k) Plan Fees are Reasonable: Are Disclosure Requirements Adequate?
Excessive fees on 401(k) plans can drastically reduce a retirement nest egg. The current regulatory framework does not require that plan participants receive adequate information on fees, and they are typically poorly informed. This Research Report, by Sandy Mackenzie of AARP’s Public Policy Institute, finds that a reform of the framework is needed to provide them with the basic information necessary to understand the costs of different investment options.

Millions of Low-Income Americans Can’t Get Medicaid: What Can Be Done?
The poorest adults in this country do not have access to the Medicaid program unless they are pregnant, caring for dependent children, severely disabled, or age 65 or older. This publication describes options for changing the federal law that bars this needy group from the Medicaid program.

Increasing Home Access: Designing for Visitability
Visitability initiatives that support aging independently in one’s home and community are the subject of this AARP Public Policy Institute Research Report. Authors Jordana Maisel and Edward Steinfeld of the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA) and Eleanor Smith of Concrete Change discuss the barriers to visitability implementation and opportunities for further acceptance of these design parameters in the construction of new homes.

Improving Access to Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Limited English Proficiency: Can Medicare Do More?
Large numbers of Medicare beneficiaries are unable to communicate effectively with their health care providers, creating opportunities for medical errors and poor health outcomes. This Insight on the Issues report, by Lynda Flowers of AARP’s Public Policy Institute, concludes that while the Medicare program has taken some steps to address the problem, more can be done.

What Should Our Next President Do About Health Care Costs?
This AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) Insight on the Issues publication by Sarah Thomas summarizes the discussion at a AARP Solutions Forum on June 13, 2008, that focused on health care costs and solutions the presidential candidates’ advisors propose to address them.

Sources of Income for Older Persons
This series of AARP Public Policy Institute reports, written by Ke Bin Wu, examines income sources for persons age 65 and older and the distribution of each income source by gender, race/ethnic group, age, and income quintile. The data in the most recent report, drawn from the March 2007 Current Population Survey, show that older persons with low income depend heavily on Social Security and that earnings have become a more important income source for the older population over the last 11 years.

A Balancing Act: State Long-Term Care Reform
This AARP Public Policy Institute research paper examines the extent to which states have balanced the delivery of Medicaid-funded long-term care services and supports to older people and adults with physical disabilities in their homes (or in more home-like settings in their communities) and in institutions.

Reassessing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
This review of the existing research on age discrimination in employment assesses how successful the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) has been in achieving its goals. While hiring enforcement has lagged behind termination enforcement under the ADEA, it will become more important as baby boomers seek post-retirement employment, according to this AARP Public Policy Institute report by David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine.

Generations of Struggle
The average age for filing bankruptcy has increased, and the rate of bankruptcy filings among those ages 65 and older has more than doubled since 1991, according to this Public Policy Institute paper by Deborah Thorne, Elizabeth Warren and Teresa A. Sullivan.