If you’re wondering about free local resources to help older adults, your local Area Agency on Aging is a great place to begin. Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) develop, coordinate and deliver aging services throughout the country. They serve people over 60 at every income level. In fact, they help more than eight million people a year with long-term care choices, transportation options, benefits information and caregiver issues. You can find them in almost every community.
Most Area Agencies on Aging are also Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs). ADRCs provide a hub for information on long-term services and supports to help older adults, their caregivers and families; they work to ensure that older adults are better able to live alone in their homes for as long as possible. They are government agencies that work to meet people’s long-term care needs.
To contact your local Area Agency on Aging for free local resources to help older adults receive needed health care and related services or simply to understand available benefits, call the Eldercare Locator 800.677.1116. The Eldercare Locator is a program of the Administration on Community Living. You can also visit the website at www.eldercare.gov. For additional resources for older adults, click here.
To make sure you are not paying more than you need for your care, here are six tips for keeping your drug costs down if you have Medicare, as well as two tips for keeping your emergency care costs down. Finally, if you’re shopping for a health plan, here are four tips for keeping your health plan costs down, whether you have Medicare or have commercial health insurance.