Posted in November 2010 …

Another Great MedicareBlogger Post

MedicareBlogger has another posted interesting post, this time focusing on a man who wants a cheaper Medicare Advantage plan when he really needs a Medicare Supplement plan.  Medicare Advantage Selling Season, a November 18, 2010 post, conveys a lot of information in a few short paragraphs.

Senior Parents and Long Term Insurance Changes

During the time we cared for my husband’s mother and even before that when we helped a bit with his father’s care, we were continually frustrated by their long-term care insurance policies. Despite several years of required care for his two senior parents, the long-term care policies, purchased in early 1991, covered only skilled nursing facilities … Continue reading →

Medicare Part D – It’s Time to Make Choices

It’s that time of year again. I’ve  just been chatting with my mother about her annual task of choosing a Medicare Part D option for herself and my dad. Each year she looks at charts, chats with friends, consults with her pharmacist, studies web sites, and finally, after a great deal of thought, makes the … Continue reading →

Media Literacy and Seniors: Repetitive Ads Construct Reality

Many people say they pay no attention to advertisements. However, television watchers, especially seniors, are continuously exposed to questionable advertising selling medications, insurance, political issues, and doubt about Medicare. Content grows more and more familiar as ads repeat over and over each day — first creating questions, then worry or doubt. Though viewers feel like … Continue reading →

Alzheimer’s: Helping a Parent Manage Financial Issues

Interesting article in the November 5, 2010 New York Times describing how adult children can get started helping with finances when a parent has Alzheimer’s. In Stepping in for a Parent With Alzheimer’s reporter Tara Siegel Bernard consults with financial planners, shares their ideas, makes specific suggestions about getting started, and offers tips about how to be … Continue reading →

Seniors and Media Literacy: Voting, Fear, and Manipulation

For years I have read articles by Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Saul Friedman — an experienced journalist who writes engagingly on just about everything. His pieces are well-researched and timely, and often I recommend them to friends and family. When Freidman — I really think of him as Saul — left Newsday we mourned, but then suddenly … Continue reading →

Protecting A Senior Parent’s Online Privacy

Every time I visit my parents, I check their computers to be sure the privacy controls are on the maximum settings. Since we all use computers all the time, significant privacy concerns exist, but seniors have even more concerns, because they welcome and enthusiastically use the added communication opportunities that the Internet provides. Moreover, few … Continue reading →

Seniors and Whooping Cough Vaccine

With a pertussis epidemic in California and cases on the rise in other states, experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are recommending that elderly parents, especially those who have grandchildren or are around infants, get re-immunized against the disease. According to the LA Times report on the October 27th CDC panel … Continue reading →

Green House Home Video Tour

Head over to the always information-filled and sometimes wonderfully provocative ChangingAging blog to see a guided video tour of a Green House Home. Led by elder advocate Dr. Bill Thomas, the walk-through is a must-see for anyone who wants to understand exactly what a Green House looks like as well as learn more about this … Continue reading →

Great Interview With Dr. Berwick at JAMA

An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Medicare Head Donald M. Berwick, MD, Takes on Mission of Health System Reform, should put to rest any doubt about his commitment to high quality medicine and to seniors’ access to it. The article is free and can be downloaded as a PDF. Some … Continue reading →