It's Vaccine Season!

Vaccine-preventable diseases cause significant illness, hospitalization, pain, disability, and death in the United States, particularly when it comes to older adults. Unfortunately adult vaccination rates in the U.S. are dangerously low and falling short of national targets, despite the devastating effects vaccine-preventable diseases can have. Protecting our loved ones as they become adults is also critical however, each year our country spends nearly $27 billion treating adults for diseases that could have easily been prevented through vaccinations. Chronic health conditions can increase your risk of serious complications from certain vaccine-preventable diseases, including long-term illness, hospitalization, and even death. This is true, even if you feel healthy and your condition is under control. You can do a lot to manage your condition and getting vaccinated is an important step in staying healthy.

 

  • One in three seniors each year skips the flu vaccine, recommended annually for everyone over 6-months-old
  • Four in 10 seniors are not vaccinated for pneumonia
  • Nearly half of seniors are not immunized for tetanus
  • The shingles vaccine has the lowest adoption rates by older adults regarding those leading preventives — 76 percent of them had not received it as of 2013, the latest year that data is available

What vaccines are most important?

ALL OF THEM!
While all vaccines are important the CDC recommends that individuals 60 and older receive the following vaccines:
  • Flu vaccine – A yearly flu vaccine to protect against flu and its serious complications. Studies show that flu vaccination is associated with reduced hospitalizations among people with diabetes
  • Pneumococcal vaccines (PCV13 and PPSV23) –  Pneumococcal vaccines, once as an adult before 65 years of age and then two more doses at 65 years or older, to protect against pneumococcal disease
  • Hepatitis B vaccine – Hepatitis B vaccine if you are unvaccinated and younger than 60 years of age to protect against hepatitis B.  If you are 60 years or older, talk to your healthcare provider.
  • Tdap vaccine/Td vaccine – A one-time dose of Tdap to protect against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (also known as whooping cough). After that, adults need a Td booster shot to protect against tetanus and diphtheria every 10 years.
  • Shingles vaccine– Two doses of shingles vaccine if you are 50 years of age or older to protect against shingles and its complications

What We Are Working On 

  • How can RetireSafe educate their members on what exactly are their insurance costs? 
  • How can RetireSafe educate the population on accessible services to provide food and other delivery services such as prescription medications?
  • What are all the options and measures that can be taken is someone has Medicare, Medicaid, another private health insurance, or no health insurance at all?
  • How can RetireSafe educate their members on what exactly their insurance costs? What insurances do
  • How can we educate the RetireSafe population on taking necessary precautionary steps that would help them to be financially sound as they continue to age maturely? 
  • How can the gap between persons of color and non-persons of color be diminished when it comes to fair Medicaid coverage and living expenses?

   

What's New with Social Security?

President Trump has proposed a dramatic change to how Social Security is financed. But Trump’s controversial proposal to fund Social Security with income taxes rather than payroll taxes opens the door to reforms that both Democrats and Republicans might support.

 

What's happening in the US?

Biden leading President Trump by nine points in the crucial state of Pennsylvania, 53 percent to 44 percent. But it also finds Trump leading by 10 points on who will best handle the economy, 51 percent to 41 percent.

 

COLA UPDATE

Despite the dour outlook this spring, Social Security recipients could be seeing a slight increase in their benefits next year — if inflation continues at its current rate or increases over the next few months.

COVID-19 and Seniors

The coronavirus pandemic has brought new anxieties to seniors and their younger family members according to a new survey published by ValuePenguin.com by LendingTree. And rather than worrying about falling sick, seniors are grappling with loneliness, and deep worries about the safety and health of their families.