By Daniel Redman

The federal government treats same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples differently for Medicare’s delayed-enrollment option and employer-based plan coverage. This discrimination harms same-sex couples.

Federal law allows a person who is eligible for Medicare enrollment to remain on their spouse’s employer-based health plan instead of signing up for Medicare. This matters for two reasons. 

Last week we asked you if you had ever hired a private caregiver. Of those who responded, over 50% indicated that they had hired a private caregiver or anticipated having to hire someone in the future. For those who had hired someone before, we asked what some of the greatest challenges in that process were. Trusting someone to care for a friend or family member and finding someone who is the right match for everyone's schedules, needs and personalities while staying within a budget were the most common challenges mentioned.

The Spring 2013 issue of ASA’s quarterly journal Generations is set to hit member mailboxes or can be purchased from our website this week.

Guest edited by Frank Whittington and Suzanne Kunkel, and called “Our World Growing Older: A Look at Global Aging,” it answers the question: Why should we care about aging elsewhere in the world?

By Frank J. Whittington and Suzanne R. Kunkel, Guest Editors

Given the press of important issues facing professionals in the field of aging, readers of this global aging issue of Generations may well ask, “Why should we who work in aging services care about aging in other countries?” Or simply, “What’s in it for us to study global aging?”

Last week we asked you what your favorite part about the 2013 Aging in America Conference was. Many responded that the opportunity to network with colleagues was their favorite. The multidisciplinary conference community represents the diverse settings, services and backgrounds of aging services around the country, but all are connected through the common goal of improving the quality of life for older adults. So there's no doubt that when we come together each year at Aging in America, we have a lot to discuss, share and learn.

By Jane Scobie

Population aging is no longer seen as a concern only for developed economies. It is now recognized as a global phenomenon: nearly 80 percent of the world’s older people will live in emerging and developing economies by mid-century.

The World Economic Forum (WEF), founded in 1971 by German economist Klaus Schwab, was built on the idea that economic progress without social development is not sustainable. In January 2013, the WEF, a global partnership of business, political and intellectual leaders, met in Switzerland to explore global challenges and propose solutions for improving the state of the world.

Steve Lehman, the 65-year-old manager of the SCAN Senior Resource Center in Ventura, Calif., says he’s “pleased [that] my tendency to be a public servant matches my full-time employment.” As the center’s manager, he’s involved on every operational level, from setting up chairs for the elder yoga class (as he was when Aging Today caught up with him) to the more complex task of forging partnerships with other organizations to gain resources.

The Longevity Dividend model seeks to prevent or delay the root causes of disease and disability by attacking the one main risk factor for them all—biological aging. Evidence in models ranging from invertebrates to mammals suggests that all living things have biochemical mechanisms influencing how quickly they age, and these mechanisms are adjustable. It is possible—by dietary intervention or genetic alteration—to extend life span and postpone aging-related diseases such as cancer, cataracts, cognitive decline and autoimmune diseases.

In 2006, professor S. Jay Olshansky, from the School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and his colleagues began to reformulate the idea of targeting delayed aging as a way to extend healthy life. Four factors led to this reformulating effort: rapid increases in life expectancy since the late 70s; accelerated population aging; and rapid increases in chronic fatal and disabling diseases. These three occurred rapidly in developed nations, and developing nations are catching up.