Blog

• KFF Health News: Honey, Sweetie, Dearie – The Perils of Elderspeak

  May 09, 2025: A prime example of elderspeak: Cindy Smith was visiting her father in his assisted living apartment in Roseville, California. An aide who was trying to induce him to do something —  Smith no longer remembers exactly what — said, “Let me help y...Read more >

• Alliance Marks Older Americans Month

  May 09, 2025: Thursday, May 1 was the first day of Older Americans Month. Historically, this month commemorates older Americans and provides an opportunity for us to reflect on their contributions. It can also be a time to reflect on the consequences of ageism....Read more >

• Retirees Congratulate Jan Schakowsky on Exceptional Career in Congress

  May 09, 2025: Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL) announced on Monday that she will not seek another term in Congress. She has represented Illinois’ 9th congressional district since 1999. Following the announcement, the Alliance thanked her for always fighting for seniors....Read more >

• Alliance Protects Voting Rights With Key Victory in North Carolina

  May 09, 2025: North Carolina state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin conceded his loss to Justice Alison Riggs on Wednesday, ending a lengthy fight in which he attempted to void 60,000 ballots with allegedly incomplete registration information as well as ...Read more >

• Senate Confirms Frank Bisignano as SSA Commissioner Despite Controversy Over His DOGE Connections, Lack of Relevant Experience

  May 09, 2025: The Senate confirmed Frank Bisignano to head the Social Security Administration (SSA) along party lines on Tuesday, with a 53-47 vote. His term – set to expire in January 2031 – coincides with a tumultuous period for the agency, as Elon Musk and...Read more >

• KFF Health News: At Social Security, These Are the Days of the Living Dead

  May 06, 2025: Rennie Glasgow, who has served 15 years at the Social Security Administration, is seeing something new on the job: dead people. They’re not really dead, of course. In four instances over the past few weeks, he told KFF Health News, his Schenecta...Read more >

• KFF Health News: Trump Administration Retreats From 100% Withholding on Social Security Clawbacks

  April 30, 2025: The Social Security Administration is backing off a plan it announced in March to withhold 100% of many beneficiaries’ monthly payments to claw back money the government had allegedly overpaid them. Instead, the agency will default to withholdin...Read more >

• KFF Health News: Why Cameras Are Popping Up in Eldercare Facilities

  April 25, 2025: The assisted living facility in Edina, Minnesota, where Jean Peters and her siblings moved their mother in 2011, looked lovely. “But then you start uncovering things,” Peters said. Her mother, Jackie Hourigan, widowed and developing memory pro...Read more >

• KFF Health News: Trump HHS Eliminates Office That Sets Poverty Levels Tied to Benefits for at Least 80 Million People

  April 11, 2025: President Donald Trump’s firings at the Department of Health and Human Services included the entire office that sets federal poverty guidelines, which determine whether tens of millions of Americans are eligible for health programs such as Medicaid...Read more >

• KFF Health News: ‘If They Cut Too Much, People Will Die’: Health Coalition Pushes GOP on Medicaid Funding

  April 03, 2025: Tina Ewing-Wilson remembers the last time major Medicaid cuts slashed her budget. In the late 2000s, during the Great Recession, the pot of money she and other Medi-Cal recipients depend on to keep them out of costly residential care homes shrank....Read more >