Hi again from Elaine Steward! Following, is my most recent list of things which may be of general interest to us retirees. If have something you’d like to share, please post it to the comments section at the end of this blog.
The enrollment period for 2012 Medicare Part D (prescription drug) coverage will begin on 15 October 2011 and will end on 7 December 2011. These dates are different from those used in prior years.
If you are a caregiver, you may find some support and/or ideas at this website: www.caregiving.com/
Is it time for dinner and you have 2-3 ingredients but can’t think what to make? Check out www.gojee.com/
For a checklist which asks about falling hazards found in each room of your home, including how to fix the problem go to www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/toolkit/cksafety.pdf (At the end of the checklist, you will find other tips for preventing falls); for more specific recommendations to prevent falls, go to www.mnsafetycouncil.org/seniorsafe/falls/index.cfm
If you are caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of cognitive impairment, the College of Public Health at the University of Florida has on-line support for caregivers at alzonline.phhp.ufl.edu/en/topics/
You may be eligible for help with medical and other basic needs. To find out, go to www.benefitscheckup.org/
If you want a summary of the reasons for the Social Security/Medicare Trust Fund being in trouble, go to www.urban.org/publications/1001553.html
For a look at possible models for California’s Health Benefit Exchanges, go to www.chcf.org/publications/2011/08/health-benefit-exchange-visions
[The] Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 … requires the financial services industry to report their customers' cost basis to the IRS as part of Tax Form 1099-B, beginning in 2011 and phased through 2013 … subject to … changes by the IRS.
If your Internet or cell phone provider limits the amount of bandwidth you use, tips for minimizing usage can be found at www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/technology/personaltech/tightening-your-data-belt.html?_r=1&nl=technology&emc=ctb1&pagewanted=print
For what to do in a case of identity theft, and information on how to avoid it happening to you, go to www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
For a list of the top ten ways to get your computer infected with malware, and how to prevent that from happening, go to antivirus.about.com/od/securitytips/tp/badsecurityhahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifbits.htm?p=1
1) From AARP – bulletin.aarp.org
For a list of 9 types of medications which older people should take with caution, go to www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-07-2011/medications-older-adults-should-use-with-caution.html?cmp=NLC-WBLTR-CTRL-090211-F1-1&USEG_ID=6388998522
If you get a "security alert" from a bank or credit card company, don't click on e-mail links or call the number listed, in case it's fake. Instead, use a phone number you know to be authentic.
If your Social Security number is stolen, ask the credit bureaus to freeze your credit reports.
Find programs that help save money on health care, medication, food, utilities, children’s health costs and more! Go to aarpkb.benefitscheckup.org/moreprhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifograms.cfm?subset_id=49&partner_id=22&CFID=5423451&CFTOKEN=62850227
For the five most common retirement planning mistakes, go to www.aarp.org/work/retirement-planning/info-01-2011/common_retirement_mistakes.html?cmp=NLC-WBLTR-CTRL-093011-FT2-98&USEG_ID=6388998522
If you are a traveler, you might like this site for finding hotels (complete with map) and flights www.hipmunk.com/
2) From California Healthline – www.californiahealthline.org/
Rule Requiring Insurers To Post Reasons for Rate Increases Takes Effect [At the beginning of September], a new rule in the federal health reform law took effect that will allow the Obama administration and states to require health insurers to justify proposed rate increases of more than 10%, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Institute of Medicine Finds No Link Between Immunizations, Autism There is no evidence suggesting a link between vaccines and autism, according to an Institute of Medicine report released on [1 Sept], the New York Times reports (Harris,8/25).
Health Industry Likely To Back Automatic Cuts Over New Budget Plan The health care industry likely will push for the newly formed debt panel to allow automatic spending cuts to take effect instead of developing new budget cuts of at least $1.5 trillion, according to lobbyists and health care groups, Reuters reports (Reid/Yukhananov, 9/6).
President's New Deficit Reduction Plan Includes Cuts to Health Programs On [19 Sep] President Obama released a proposal to reduce the federal deficit by $3 trillion over the next 10 years, in part by making cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. (Baker, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 9/19).
Poll: People Aware of Long-Term Care Needs but Are Not Prepared Many Californians are highly aware of their future need for long-term care, but few are preparing financially for it, according to a poll commissioned by the California Partnership for Long-Term Care, HealthyCal reports.
Caregivers' Stress Remains Hot Topic UCLA researcher Geoff Hoffman is a little alarmed. His study took a look at the health risks of caregivers in California and found that http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifthe emotional and financial load of stress on caregivers in California may be causing the caregivers themselves to develop chronic health conditions
Blue Shield of California To End Coverage of Avastin for Breast Cancer Blue Shield of California no longer will pay for the drug Avastin for treatment of breast cancer, making the company the first large health insurer to end coverage for the drug, the New York Times reports
3) From Carepages – www.carepages.com
For suggestions on how to rebuild your social life after the loss of a partner, go to cms.carepages.com/CarePages/en/ArticlesTips/FeatureArticles/Contributors/rebuilding-your-social-life-after-loss.html?xid=nl_EverydayCaringFromCarePages_20110929
4) I do hope you are all following the (USC) Dean’s Council on Health Reform at www.healthreform.usc.edu/ It is a very rich site
5) From iHealthBeat - www.ihealthbeat.org/
Groups Launch Website, Campaign To Engage Patients on Care Quality The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has teamed up with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to launch a new project called "Care About Your Care" to help consumers better understand health care quality issues, Government Health IT reports (Mosquera, 9/1).
ONC Releases Final Version of Federal Health IT Strategic Plan On [12 Sep] the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released an 80-page final version of its Federal Health IT Strategic Plan for 2011 through 2015, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 9/12). The agency issued the final plan after receiving about 240 public comments on the draft plan that it released in March.
Measure Would Create Digital Smartcards for Medicare Beneficiaries Lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation to create a smartcard system for Medicare. The program would issue digitized cards to beneficiaries and health care providers in an effort to reduce fraud, cut costs and increase efficiency. InformationWeek et al.
FCC Seeks Comment on Expanding Mobile Phone Use During Emergencies [The week of 19 September] the Federal Communications Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for a next-generation 911 system that would allow mobile phone users to contact emergency responders using pictures, videos or text messages, Computerworld reports.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Researchers Modify iPhone for High-Quality Medical Imaging The Optical Society of America recently announced that University of California-Davis researchers have modified Apple's iPhone and transformed it into a low-cost, high-quality medical imaging device for analyzing blood samples, United Press International reports.
6) From Kaiser Health News – www.kaiserhealthnews.org/
For Many Seniors, There May Be No Retirement Many older people are finding themselves in a position they never expected to be in at retirement age: still working or in need of a job. … More than three in five U.S. workers in their 50s and 60s plan on working past 65 -- and 47% of that group say they'll do so because they'll need the money or health benefits, according to a 2011 study from the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (Wall Street Journal, Ensign, 8/21).
Administration May Give States Second Chance To Avoid Federally Run Insurance Exchange The Obama administration said Tuesday that states that have not adopted their own insurance exchanges may get a second chance to avoid getting one run solely by the federal government. Only 11 states have fully embraced the idea of taking federal money to set up their own state-run insurance exchange, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official said Tuesday. The exchange, a key part of Obama’s health care overhaul, is designed to help uninsured people buy coverage from a choice of plans with federal tax credits (Asociated Press/Washington Post, 8/23).
NIH Finalizes Financial Conflict Of Interest Rules The National Institutes of Health has finalized rules to reduce financial conflicts of interests among federally funded researchers who also receive payments or stock from drug and medical device companies. The rules, which will affect more than 40,000 researchers, come after a string of high profile cases in which federally funded researchers failed to disclose millions of dollars from companies with a financial interest in the outcome of their work (Washington Post, Vastag, 8/23).
WellPoint’s New Hire. What Is Watson? WellPoint Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. are set to announce a deal on [12 Sep] for the health insurer to use the Watson technology, the first time the high-profile project will result in a commercial application. WellPoint said it plans to use Watson's data-crunching to help suggest treatment options and diagnoses to doctors. It is part of a far broader push in the health industry to incorporate computerized guidance into care, as doctors and hospitals adopt electronic medical records and other digital tools that can record, track and check their work (Wall Street Journal, Mathews, 9/12).
Actuaries To ‘Super Committee’: Slow Overall Health Spending, Not Just Medicare Now on KHN’s news blog, Marilyn Werber Serafini writes: “The deficit reduction “super committee” should act to slow the growth of health care spending overall – not just in Medicare – as it rolls up its sleeves, says the American Academy of Actuaries. “Achieving long-term sustainability for Medicare will require slowing the growth in overall health spending, not simply shifting costs from one payer to another,” said senior health fellow Cori Uccello.“
Long-Term Care Program In Doubt The Obama administration said it may not enact a long-term-care insurance program included in last year's legislation that overhauled health care. The initiative, known as the Class Act, was designed to help Americans cover the cost of aid for daily living needs such as bathing and using the toilet should they become too old or sick to care for themselves. It became law when President Barack Obama signed the health-care overhaul in 2010, though the program hasn't begun operating. Amid mounting concerns about its fiscal sustainability, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday said they may not go forward with the program. "It is an open question whether the program will be implemented," the agency said (Wall Street Journal, Adamy, 9/23).
If you’re a Medicare patient admitted to the hospital, the odds are about one in six that you’ll end up back in the hospital within a month. And there was very little progress made in reducing that rate between 2004-09. That’s the not-so-good news from a new report by the folks at the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which tracks variations in medical care across the U.S. The report also found that more than half of Medicare patients who left the hospital didn’t see a primary-care doctor within two weeks of discharge — identified as a contributing factor to the revolving-door problem (Wall Street Journal Hobson, 9/28).
In New Term, Supreme Court To Tackle Divisive Issues The constitutional challenge to President Obama's health care overhaul almost certainly will be decided this term, but at this point it has not formally made it onto the docket. Also making their way to the court are cases involving almost every hot-button issue in America: immigration; affirmative action; gay marriage; and the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law barring federal recognition of gay marriage even in states where it is legal (NPR,Totenberg, 10/3).
Gray Market Threatens Drug Supply Shortages in critical drugs have tripled in the past five years, killing some patients, delaying surgeries and disrupting chemotherapy treatments at hospitals around the country. There are several causes, and they’re all complicated: The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t have enough resources to enforce strict regulations; there are manufacturing disruptions in aging facilities; and slim profit margins may discourage production in the first place (Politico Norman, 10/3).
U.S. Panel Says No To Prostate Screening For Healthy Men Healthy men should no longer receive a P.S.A. blood test to screen for prostate cancer because the test does not save lives over all and often leads to more tests and treatments that needlessly cause pain, impotence and incontinence in many, a key government health panel has decided (New York Times Harris, 10/6).
7) From My Medicare Matters – www.mymedicarecommunity.org/
My Medicare Matters offers Webinars (live on-line training) for those who are Medicare advocates. If you are interested in being notified of training sessions, please contact me at esslady@gmail.com
8) From NCOA – www.ncoa.org
[NCOA/s] Reverse Mortgage Counseling Services Network is one of five national counseling groups approved by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. To schedule a counseling session, call toll-free (800) 510-0301.
Don’t forget the six-week on-line course for managing chronic diseases at selfmanage.org/BetterHealth/SignUp http:
For a chart which shows newly free (no co-payment) Medicare benefits, see www.centerforbenefits.org/downloads/Medicare-Preventive-Benefits-chart.pdf
For information on hhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifow to detect and report Medicare fraud (and save all taxpayers money) go to www.cms.gov/Partnerships/04_FraudPreventionToolkit.asp#TopOfPage
For the top ten money saving tips for seniors, go to www.ncoa.org/enhancing-economic-security/economic-security/top-10-things-all-seniors.html?utm_source=NCOAWeek_111004&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=NCOAWeek
For an overview of Affordable Care Act changes already in effect, go to www.healthcare.gov/law/resources/reports/patients-bill-of-rights09232011a.pdf
9) From The New York Times – nytdirect@nytimes.com
For an article on distinguishing normal cognitive function as we age from cognitive impairment, see www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06brody.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
For an informative article about telling men the truth about sex and prostate cancer (especially the letters at the end) see well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/telling-men-the-truth-about-sex-and-prostate-cancer/?ref=healthupdate&nl=health&emc=healthupdateemb2
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment