On September 28, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released revised nursing facility regulations. These regulations govern most aspects of nursing facility operations, and apply nationwide to any nursing facility that accepts Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement. Read the report from Justice in Aging. David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.
At 44 years old, Dave Adox was facing the end of his two-year battle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He needed a ventilator to breathe and couldn’t move any part of his body, except his eyes. Once he started to struggle with his eyes — his only way to communicate — Adox decided it was time to die. He wanted to donate his organs, to give other people a chance for a longer life. To do this, he’d need to be in a hospital when he went off the ventilator. Adox and his husband, Danni Michaeli, made…
AARP’s newest Bulletin magazine takes a stand on attempts to cut, scale back, or diminish Medicare benefits. Currently, 57 million Americans rely on these benefits for their health care. The cover story, “Why Medicare Matters,” in the January/February issue of AARP Bulletin delves into the state of Medicare today, terms consumers need to know, and what proposed changes mean for you and your family, including the top-five questions people are asking about Medicare today. In her monthly column, entitled “We’ll Fight For Medicare,” AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins gives her take on the organization’s long history of fighting for affordable…
Finley Schroeder of Springfield has exceeded expectations in communicating with other children and adults despite the 4-year-old girl’s diagnosis of autism, her mother says. Kristen Abbott credited an expensive treatment known as “applied behavior analysis” therapy for helping keep her daughter’s emotional and intellectual development on a relatively even keel. And Abbott is thankful the therapy has been provided at no out-of-pocket cost to her the past two years from The Autism Clinic at Hope Institute for Children and Families. But because of changes to the state’s Medicaid program in central Illinois that took effect Jan. 1, Schroeder and about…
The New Mexico Human Services Department is canceling planned cuts in rates paid to behavioral health care providers treating Medicaid patients. The reimbursement rate cuts were set to go in effect Jan. 1. But state Human Services officials reversed course earlier this month on cutting Medicaid reimbursement rates for certain psychiatric and therapeutic services, according to a memo Human Services sent to providers. The move means financial relief for companies offering mental health and addiction services to patients enrolled in the state and federal program that insures health care for low-income people. But it also means more financial strain on…
The stakes confronting Republicans determined to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health care law were evident in one recent encounter between an Ohio congressman and a constituent. “He said, ‘Now you guys own it. Now fix it. It’s on your watch now,’” recalled GOP Rep. Pat Tiberi, chairman of a pivotal health subcommittee. “And this is a supporter.”Republicans have unanimously opposed Obama’s law since Democrats muscled it through Congress in 2010. They’ve tried derailing it scores of times but have failed, stymied by internal divisions and Obama’s veto power. With the Republicans controlling Congress and Donald Trump entering the White…
If you had any reservations about the power of yoga, please meet Tao Porchon-Lynch. Now 98 years old, she was declared the world’s oldest living yoga instructor by the Guinness World Records way back in 2012. She’s also the new face of Athleta’s “Power of She” campaign, which highlights the life-changing benefits of the practice. Porchon-Lynch, who is currently based in New York, started practicing yoga nine decades ago in India after she saw a group of boys doing yoga, and asked if she could join. She caught onto a very healthy habit early on: Research shows that yoga improves…
Medicare’s annual open enrollment period ended last month, but certain beneficiaries who regret their selection can get a do-over from now through mid-February. The Medicare Advantage disenrollment period runs from Jan. 1 through Feb. 14. During this time, beneficiaries in private Medicare Advantage plans can switch to Original Medicare and, if desired, select a Part D drug plan. This is the only move permitted: Those in Original Medicare can’t switch to Medicare Advantage and those already in Medicare Advantage can’t switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan. Unless those beneficiaries qualify for a special enrollment period, they will have to…
Six months after her mother died in 2014, Karen Craig opened her mailbox to find a bill for $9,530.06. It came from Medi-Cal, California’s version of the Medicaid program for low-income people, which was seeking repayment for her mother’s medical care even though she had used her coverage just once, for a routine wellness exam. (Her mother’s medical costs were primarily covered by Medicare, the federal program for seniors, Craig says.) In the ensuing months, Craig learned that Medi-Cal’s “Estate Recovery Program” could demand posthumous payback from enrollees 55 and over for a broad range of medical costs. For many…
Meals on Wheels is undergoing a dramatic overhaul as government and philanthropic funding fails to keep pace with a rapidly growing elderly population. The increased demand has resulted in lengthy waitlists and a need to find other sources of funding. And at the same time, for-profit companies such as Mom’s Meals are creating more competition. Meals on Wheels, which has served seniors for more than 60 years through a network of independent nonprofits, is trying to formalize the health and safety checks its volunteers already conduct during their daily home visits to seniors. Through an ongoing campaign dubbed “More Than…
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