Welcome to the Aging Beat

 

 Based out of Richmond, Virginia, Mac McLean is a freelance writer with more than a decade of experience producing articles, blog posts, and other types of long-form content about older adults and the issues that impact their daily lives.

His work has appeared in:the:

  • AARP Bulletin’s Oregon state news section.
  • the estate and financial planning website PlanningCommunities.org and
  • the Bend Bulletin, a community newspaper serving Central Oregon.

McLean has written for Arbor Builders and Cascara Vacation Rentals through a contract with the marketing firm ProQ Solutions. He also produces a weekly local government monitoring reports for clients in the municipal solid waste industry for Waste Alert.

 

The AARP Bulletin


OregonSaves
Ready for Launch

One million Oregonians don’t have access to a retirement savings plan through their employer. AARP has worked closely with members of the legislature to create a state-managed plan called OregonSaves. So far, it’s been well received. (Oct. 2017)

 

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AARP Oregon Seeking Virtual Volunteers

Travelling to meetings has become a thing of the past thanks to one positive to come out of the coronavirus pandemic—going virtual. The group switched to online meetings last year to accommodate Oregon’s social distancing guidelines. And the council will likely stay that way to make sure members from the state’s far-flung areas will be able to play a more active role in the organization and have their voices heard. (Dec. 2021)

 

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Job Security, Financial Well-Being Key Issues in Gubernatorial Race

AARP Oregon’s 500,000 members will have a chance to learn about key issues in Oregon’s upcoming gubernatorial election and be heard at virtual town hall meetings the state office will hold soon after the Tuesday, May 17, primaries.. (May 2022)

 

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OregonSaves
Ready for Launch

One million Oregonians don’t have access to a retirement savings plan through their employer. AARP has worked closely with members of the legislature to create a state-managed plan called OregonSaves. So far, it’s been well received. (Oct. 2017)

 

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Caregiver, You
Deserve a Break Today

AARP Oregon hopes to ease the burden unpaid, family caregivers face by working with state officials to create a Medicaid waiver program that would use $3 million in state and federal funds to help people who don’t receive Medicaid benefits pay for respite care services. (Dec. 2018)

 

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Pandemic Compels Oregonians to Shift to Telehealth

But the rise of telehealth also sheds new light on the state’s disparities. Nearly 319,000 Oregonians (about 8 percent of the state’s population) lack access to an internet connection fast enough to run the video needed for telemedicine. (July 2020)

 

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The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon)


Retirement-community brewers take on Alzheimer’s

Aspen Ridge, Worthy Brewing and the Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization teamed up to make 300 gallons of Machine Gun Maggie, a potent, hoppy beer (11 percent ABV, 100+ IBUs) that won “Best in Show” at the Deschutes County Fair and several other awards this summer. They’ll be selling the beer in pints and bottles  to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association. {Nov. 2014)

 

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Reverse mortgages on the rise in Deschutes County

According to records obtained by The Bulletin, 62 Deschutes County homeowners, including the Byrums, took out a reverse mortgage on their homes in 2014. This represents a 59 percent increase from the total number of reverse mortgages the county’s homeowners took out in 2013, and comes after a few years of slight decreases in the county’s total reverse mortgage volume since 2010.

 

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Piping a hero’s farewell

Founded in 2013, Military Honors by the Pipes is a Prineville-based nonprofit that honors veterans by playing one of the world’s oldest instruments at their gravesides. The organization’s pipers played at 51 services in 2013, the year they incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and 84 services by the end of 2014. So far this year, its pipers have graced 300 services.

 

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