Foes of the new health care law spend a good deal of time circulating misinformation. To check your knowledge of the health reform law take this quiz at the Kaiser Family Foundation website. After you take the quiz, share it with others, to see if they really have accurate information. And don’t forget to see … Continue reading
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Does Part D Stand for Deficit? Read Medicare and More Column
Many of us appear to want to as much as we can get without planning or paying for it. We hate taxes, but we want a lot done for us anyway. A distant relative says about Medicare, “I deserve every penny I get, I paid for it.” My answer, yes she deserves every penny she … Continue reading
Signing Up for Medicare Online #1: Getting Started
A member of my family is about to turn 65, so he applied online for Medicare a few weeks ago. He learned about the online application process because we happened upon this Medicare public service video with people from the distant past — the Patty Duke Show cast (including both identical cousins — Patty and … Continue reading
Many Seniors Don’t Know About Medicare Extra Help Subsidy
According to a January 4, 2011 Kaiser Health News (KHN) article, many American seniors who qualify for a Medicare Part D subsidy that reduces prescription costs have not signed up. The article, 2 Million Medicare Beneficiaries Missing Out On Discounted Drug Coverage, explains that the program, called Extra Help, lowers medication costs and reduces money spent … Continue reading
Be Proactive With Atrial Fibrillation!
It’s been a year and a day or two since my husband’s mother died, and frequently we think about her stroke and its effect on the last 30 months of her life. To support the health of our other senior parents and to be sure we know enough to be advocates for our own health, … Continue reading
Medicare: 2011 Updates and Innovations
If a senior parent in your family is on Medicare, or if a family member is an adult who will turn 65 in 2011, significant changes are coming in 2011 as a result of the healthcare overhaul. A total of 21 healthcare changes are supposed to be implemented, beginning January 1; however, a smaller number … Continue reading
When Social Security Says the Wrong Person is Dead
The Medicare and More column over at the Tuscon Citizen posted a December 13, 2010 story describing how the social security administration mistakenly recorded a man’s death when it was really his wife who died. In the blog post, Social Security to Local Senior: You’re Dead, MedicareBlogger explains how the problem seemed to expand in information-changing concentric … Continue reading
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.
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
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
More Senior Emergency Departments are Opening
More emergency rooms designed expressly for seniors are opening, according to an October 25, 2010 article in the Detroit News, Hospitals Designing Senior ERs to Cater to Needs of the Elderly. The report, by Detroit News reporter Melissa Burden, describes how hospital systems in Michigan are are opening senior ERs for the good of older … Continue reading
Health Care Law and Medicare
A Kaiser Health News (KHN) article written in collaboration with a reporter at the Washington Post analyzes some of the campaign claims about the health care bill, including Medicare changes and potential changes in our coverage. The piece identifies, with clear explanations, what assertions are true and what are false (or at least strongly exaggerated). … Continue reading
Medicare Doughnut (Donut) Hole: $250 Sent Automatically
According to an August 10, 2010 press announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 750,000 rebate checks for $250 have already been mailed to Medicare beneficiaries who have already entered the doughnut hole this year because of prescription costs. Adult children need to be sure that a parent reaching the doughnut … Continue reading
Andy Griffith Likes Medicare Too
Andy Griffith, of timeless Mayberry fame, stars in a new video celebrating the 45th birthday of Medicare, today, July 30, 2010. On this date in 1965 President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law. Griffith, now 84 years old, shares his enthusiasm for Medicare and for the upcoming improvements that will occur over the next several … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Comprehensive Medicare Prescription Information
My favorite medical information source, Medline Plus, is maintained jointly by The National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Medline Plus adds new features or highlights old ones just about every week, and today I discovered the Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage page, a comprehensive, “one-stop-shopping” site with links to important Medicare information about … Continue reading
Aging Parents, Aging Boomers, Shingles Vaccinations
Shingles is an illness we all need to think about — aging parents, adult children, and anyone who is approaching a 60th birthday. In yesterday’s New York Times Health section (June 10, 2010), Dr. Pauline Chen writes about the expense of the shingles vaccine and how the cost has contributed to a low number of people age … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Medicare Part D Doughnut Hole Savings in 2011
According to a May 21, 2010, press release from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in 2011 Medicare Part D beneficiaries will see a 50 percent savings on applicable drugs in the doughnut (donut) hole coverage gap. CMS has issued new guidelines to ensure that these savings occur. The discount will apply to brand … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Best Doughnut (Donut) Hole Explanation
I’ve been searching for a news article that best explains how the new health care legislation changes the doughnut (donut) hole prescription medication problem. The most comprehensive explanation that I have found was published by the LA Times on March 26, 2010. Written by Christopher Weaver, the article, Health Plan Closes the Medicare Doughnut Hole, … Continue reading
Elderly Patients: Nurse Practitioner? Physician’s Assistant?
Last night, April 13, 2010, the Associated Press article, Doctor Shortage? 28 States May Expand Nurses’ Role, by Carla K Johnson, appeared online, discussing the changing roles of nurse practitioners in the delivery of today’s health care. The article reminds me that my parents and others their age can be confused about the roles and … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Post About Medication Management
Medication Support Information Check out Dale Carter’s post, Important, Little-known Resource for an Aging Parent, at her Transition Aging Parents blog. She writes about Medication Therapy Management (MTM), a service my husband and I wish we had known about for his mother, who died in January. It looks like an amazing service, one that I plan to learn … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 