Whereas, Healthcare Decisions Day is an important day of awareness and education focused on encouraging everyone, including those who are healthy and in their prime of their lives, to think about and document care treatment preferences before a crisis; and Whereas, Advance Directives (living wills) allow individuals to document end-of-life wishes in the event that they become terminally ill or critically injured and unable to talk or communicate, and thus helps ensure that loved ones and healthcare providers know how to honor individual care decisions; and Whereas, A recent study suggests that increasing the number of…
President Barack Obama renominated one of his top health care advisers to lead the federal agency responsible for overseeing Medicare, Medicaid, and the implementation of his 2010 health care reform law. If confirmed by the Senate, Marilyn Tavenner would become the first official head of the CMS since 2006. She currently leads the same agency as acting administrator. As part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CMS runs the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs that serve about 100 million elderly, disabled, and low-income people at a cost estimated at $885 billion for this year. Both programs…
CBO has issued a reminder of the need to cut Medicare spending. Health care programs are quickly outgrowing their historical share of the federal budget, CBO said, and the cost of those programs will only grow faster as more baby boomers reach retirement and underlying health care costs continue to soar. CBO's latest figures confirm what Republicans and Democrats acknowledge only selectively —that health care is a huge part of what's driving federal spending and debt. Health care programs are eating up an ever-increasing share of the economy, while tax revenues and other domestic spending are holding relatively steady, CBO…
Protecting Medicare BenefitsUnder the new health reform law, your existing Medicare-covered benefits can’t be reduced or taken away. As always, you will be able to choose your own doctors. Fighting FraudThe health care law helps stop fraud with tougher screening procedures, stronger penalties, and new technology. Thanks in part to these efforts, we recovered $4.1 billion in taxpayer dollars in 2011, the second year recoveries hit this record-breaking level. Total recoveries over the lastthree years were $10.7 billion. Prosecutions are way up, too: the number of individuals charged with fraud increased from 821 in fiscal year 2008 to 1,430 in…
President Obama believes affordable health care you can rely on is part of the middle class bargain whether you’re working or retired. The Affordable Care Act strengthens and protects Medicare for seniors who have earned and paid for the guaranteed coverage it provides. Nearly 50 million older Americans and Americans with disabilities rely on Medicare each year, and the new health care law makes Medicare stronger by adding new benefits, fighting fraud, and improving care for patients. The life of the Medicare Trust Fund will be extended to at least 2024 as a result of reducing waste, fraud, and abuse,…
Why would you ever consider giving someone else the power to manage your health and financial affairs? After all, you’re healthy and don’t have any concerns. However, if you have a heart attack, stroke or an accident that leaves you suddenly incapacitated, who will carry out your affairs? Consequently, you should consider a power of attorney. A few simple steps can relieve you of worry and your family from the burden associated with the difficult decisions that come with aging. What is a Power of Attorney? A power of attorney is a legal document allowing someone to act on another’s behalf….
In upholding the President Obama's health reform law, the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court ensured the preservation and continued roll-out of improvements and protections for older adults. These improvements include the extension of Medicaid’s spousal impoverishment protections to those seeking long-term care in the community, financial incentives for states to keep long-term care recipients out of institutions, the gradual closing of Medicare Part D’s infamous “doughnut hole,” expanded access to preventive services for Medicare beneficiaries, and the Elder Justice Act. The Court did, however, scale back the Medicaid portion of the law, which could mean that fewer near-elderly will…
There is no easy way for a family to deal with a senior grappling with a cognitive mental disease like dementia or Alzheimer's. Like any health problems faced by loved ones, a family's initial reaction is to try to get the senior the help they need. However, at our Elder Law firm we understand that cognitive conditions are tricky, because the injury is not physical and often the senior may not be fully aware that they are even suffering from the problem at all. One elder law advocate recently discussed this challenge in response to a reader question explaining her…
This phase begins at age 70 and lasts as long as you are able-bodied and high-functioning. Despite your good health, it is helpful to begin looking at what steps you would like your family to take should your condition decline significantly. In most cases your ability to make all your own decisions, care for yourself, engage with the world on your terms, and manage your affairs does not vanish in a split second. The loss of abilities is the natural consequence of the aging process and often happens gradually. At the same time, it is our nature as human beings…
In a study in the journal Health Affairs, that expansion of home-based care can save states money over the long run. The paper looked at Medicaid data from 1995 to 2005. States incurred extra cost when they spent to create new social service programs to care for people at home, but that expense, over time, paid for itself because it was cheaper to care for people at home. Policymakers often cite the "woodwork effect" as a reason to worry about expanding home-based care. This is the argument that if states provided people what they want — home-based care — then…
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