The latest casualty of the Great Recession may soon be the nation’s elderly. Cuts in government payments for patient care and less construction of new nursing homes are already taking a toll. Add to this the aging baby boom generation and you have a worst-case scenario.
Will it cover your needs? Can you pay for it? Can you afford not to have it?
Don’t buy if the out-of-pocket cost for the coverage would be more than you can afford. Policies differ greatly so know what you are buying. Shop around.
Finding a high-quality nursing home is a daunting task. Fortunately, there is information online that can help you learn about nursing home quality.
Long-term care services for the elderly and disabled in Washington state are second only to those provided in Minnesota, according to a new report.
As you listen to pols argue about how deeply to cut Medicaid think about Natalie — an 85-year-old widow with heart disease and memory problems. Or Lisa — a 50-year old mother of two who has been battling multiple sclerosis since she was 20.
HHS Inspector General faults drug companies for aggressively—and illegally—marketing these products to doctors for treatment of dementia and other off-label uses.
Though most states require nursing homes to conduct criminal background checks for prospective hires, 92 percent employ at least one worker with a criminal conviction, according to a report released today by the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services.
PACE, Program for All-Inclusive Care for Elderly, provides comprehensive medical and social services to frail, low-income seniors with serious health problems.
People don’t like to think about what will happen if they become too ill or infirm to manage on their own. Experts say that partly explains why sales of long-term-care insurance policies are so anemic; only about 10 percent of seniors have such coverage. Should you buy long-term-care insurance? Consumer columnist Michelle Andrews talks about these plans in a video.
There’s one age group that’s going into nursing homes at a higher rate. And it’s not the elderly. Young people ages 31 to 64 now make up 14 percent of the nursing home population.
Ann Callan, 85, spent six days in the hospital for “observation”, now Medicare won’t cover her three-week $10,597 nursing home bill.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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