Two bills are being pushed by the AARP in Indiana during this session of the General Assembly and they look to help two different issues.
About half of Americans aged 50-years and older have less than 25-thousand dollars in retirement savings. To help solve this problem, the AARP is proposing the Hoosier Employee Retirement Option, otherwise known as the “HERO Plan.”
AARP Indiana State Director June Lyle says the HERO Plan would create a state approved savings vehicle.
“That would just enable people who don’t currently have a workplace retirement option, to tap into one that is backed by the state of Indiana, giving them some choice and some opportunity to do the saving that they probably want to do, but are just really struggling to be able to do,” says Lyle.
About 1.4-million Hoosier State workers don’t have access to a retirement savings plan at work.
Although the bill has not been assigned to committee, the AARP remains hopeful that movement on the HERO Plan and a second bill should be seen in the coming weeks.
That second bill – which assists with the delivery of medical information and medication checklist to caregivers – also needs to be moved to committee. The Caregiver, Advise, Record, Enable Act, or CARE Act, would require hospitals additional responsibility. Lyle says the change is common sense.
“It just really helps that caregiver do a good job which we know all caregivers want to be able to do, make sure they have the information to provide the very best care they can, to be able to keep their loved-one at home,” says Lyle.
The CARE Act would also require hospital discharge information and demonstrations of medical care once the patient is home.
