A Maryland woman convicted of submitting $7 million in fraudulent claims to the District of Columbia Medicaid program has been sentenced to more than six years in prison, states the Washington Post Fifty-five-year-old Jacqueline Wheeler of Chevy Chase, Md., was also ordered to pay $3.17 million in restitution at sentencing Friday.
Does the normally tidy house now seem neglected? Is there hoarding? Do you notice memory problems, confusion or physical unsteadiness? Discovering that a parent's physical or mental health is declining can be heavy on the heart. It also can be hard on your finances, states the Wall Street Journal. "The first thing is don't panic. "Come up with a plan." Feeling overwhelmed may prompt you to spend money on the wrong things, such as full-time care, when your parent just needs delivered meals or someone to run errands a few times a week. Here are some tips: 1. Assess needs…
“He didn’t have a will, he didn’t have a trust, he didn’t have anything set up,” said Yvonne Prettner Solon, who followed her husband to serve the western part of Duluth in the state Senate and now is Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, states the Deluth News Tribune. Prettner Solon vowed to not leave her children in the same situation. Within three months, she had set up a trust and purchased long-term-care insurance, she said in an interview on Thursday. Now in her official capacity, she’s urging Minnesota’s baby boomers to take similar steps. Prettner Solon is spearheading the state’s “Own Your…
Considering what just happened in New York and New Jersey, I think we all need to adopt the Girl Scout motto and BE PREPARED…….. Emergency preparedness is never easy when there is an impending threat. Imagine what it would be like if you were dealing with a senior….. medication, oxygen, limited mobility – the thought of this and many more obstacles makes me shudder. Download this link and be prepared. http://www.redcrosstbc.org/pdf/DisasterPreparednessSeniors.pdf
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,…
Scientists have drawn up a shortlist of candidates which they believe are likely to slow the disease and reduce its symptoms. They now want to fast-track full clinical trials of the drugs which, because they are already approved to treat other conditions, could be available for those with Alzheimer’s in five to 10 years. Pharmaceutical companies are constantly testing new compounds for Alzheimer’s, which affects about 500,000 in Britain alone. However, recent results have proved a little disappointment, and drugs which attack the underlying cause of the disease remain something of a Holy Grail. Consequently, scientists have collaborated on a…
As the baby boom approaches its Social Security years, it is turning the decision about when to start collecting benefits from an automatic move into a major planning and research opportunity. Having intensively looked into car seats and college admissions for their kids and tried to map out careers and 401(k) plans, boomers now will focus attention on squeezing Social Security for all it is worth. "Baby boomers are the first generation that isn't going to put up with crappy advice," says William Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of Social Security Solutions, Inc., one of a number of new companies selling…
Representatives of Attorney General Kamala D. Harris have said the state will begin aggressively building more criminal cases statewide. Harris' office is forming three specialized teams –one in Sacramento, two in Southern California– to pursue criminal charges against nursing home administrators and employees where deep, systemic problems are suspected. "Elder abuse is a particularly tragic crime because it targets a beloved population –our aunts and uncles, our parents– at what can be a vulnerable time in their lives," said Harris in a prepared statement, referring to these crimes as ‘serious and often hidden.’ “We know abuse of our elders is…
The sandwich generation could soon be further squeezed. Already caught between spiraling college tuition and care for aging family members, baby boomers could also become liable for their parents’ bills. This on top of worries concerning their own retirement. In approximately 30 states, “filial support” statutes make adult children legally responsible — on paper — for their parents’ expenses. In recent times, most jurisdictions have chosen not to enforce such laws, but that could change. A Pennsylvania court recently found an elderly woman’s son liable for her $93,000 nursing-home bill. But states are observing the Pennsylvania scenario with interest. While…
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