Ina Jaffe
Ina Jaffe is a veteran NPR correspondent covering the aging of America. Her stories on Morning Edition and All Things Considered have focused on older adults' involvement in politics and elections, dating and divorce, work and retirement, fashion and sports, as well as issues affecting long term care and end of life choices. In 2015, she was named one of the nation's top "Influencers in Aging" by PBS publication Next Avenue, which wrote "Jaffe has reinvented reporting on aging."
Jaffe also reports on politics, contributing to NPR's coverage of national elections since 2008. From her base at NPR's production center in Culver City, California, Jaffe has covered most of the region's major news events, from the beating of Rodney King to the election of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She's also developed award-winning enterprise pieces. Her 2012 investigation into how the West Los Angeles VA made millions from illegally renting vacant property while ignoring plans to house homeless veterans won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media. A few months after the story aired, the West Los Angeles VA broke ground on supportive housing for homeless vets.
Her year-long coverage on the rising violence in California's public psychiatric hospitals won the 2011 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award as well as a Gracie Award. Her 2010 series on California's tough three strikes law was honored by the American Bar Association with the Silver Gavel Award, as well as by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Before moving to Los Angeles, Jaffe was the first editor of Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon, which made its debut in 1985.
Born in Chicago, Jaffe attended the University of Wisconsin and DePaul University, receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy, respectively.
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When is an inpatient in the hospital not an inpatient in the hospital? When that patient is on observation status. Patients who are termed on observation can have trouble getting Medicare to pay if they need to go to a nursing home. The practice has sparked lawsuits and legislation. -
The National Senior Games taking place in Cleveland have some sports in common with the Summer Olympics, like track and field, basketball and swimming. There's also shuffleboard and horseshoes. And this year, there's a new sport, pickleball — a tennis/pingpong/whiffle ball hybrid — that's growing fast. -
Swimmer Graham Johnston, who's in his 80s now, is competing in the Senior Olympics in Cleveland. He's been swimming all his life, including competing at the 1952 Olympics for his home country of South Africa. Even at his age, he still trains five to six times a week. -
Some famous writers, painters and musicians have done some of their best work in their later years. But at a pair of retirement communities in California, older people are proving that you don't have to be famous — or even a professional artist — to live a creatively fulfilling life in old age. -
Democrats who want to change the dynamics in Texas are turning to California for inspiration. Here's a look at how things went so wrong for the Republicans in the Golden State. -
Pansy Greene, 73, is still in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She and her husband, Winston, describe their "journey," a term they use to refer to much more than Pansy's struggle with the disease. -
Southern California Edison announced Friday morning that it will not restart the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant. The facility has been offline for a year and a half after a leak in a steam tube created safety concerns.
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Studies show that when participation in a retirement plan is automatic, more people save. President Obama has proposed automatic IRAs for some employees, a version of which was adopted in California. But business groups argue that requiring employers to implement them is not the right way to go.
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Sometimes you can't retire even if you want to. For Dian Sparling, a nurse midwife, there's no one to take over her practice. But at 71, delivering babies on call is harder than it used to be. "It would be horrible if I had to do this and stay up all night and I didn't love what I do," she says.
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Elected in 1956, Wisconsin state Sen. Fred Risser is the longest-serving state lawmaker in the country. He may not use Facebook, Twitter or email, but he's gotten a lot done over the years. Considered an "institution within an institution" by some, he was just re-elected for another four years.
