Monday, May 30, 2011 Memorial Day 2011
As we relax with family and friends on this Memorial Day 2011, I also think of the client's and their families that have lost loved one over the past year. When you are an elder law attorney, no file is ever closed. Aside from our clients, we become close to the spouses, children, grand children and other family members of the client. While we help them prepare their estates, preserve their assets and prepare for incapacity, no one can be totally prepared for the loss of a loved one. We honor out clients that have passed in the last year and offer their families our continued support and prayers. Monday, July 12, 2010 HHS Launches New Consumer Focused Health Care Website
A Powerful New Information Tool That Will Give Consumers More Control Over Their Own Health Care and Allow Them to Compare Their Coverage Option
On Thursday, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unveiled an innovative new on-line tool that will help consumers take control of their health care by connecting them to new information and resources that will help them access quality, affordable health care coverage. Called for by the Affordable Care Act, HealthCare.govis the first website to provide consumers with both public and private health coverage options tailored specifically for their needs in a single, easy-to-use tool.
“HealthCare.gov helps consumers take control of their health care and make the choices that are right for them, by putting the power of information at their fingertips,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “For too long, the insurance market has been confusing and hard to navigate. HealthCare.govmakes it easy for consumers and small businesses to compare health insurance plans in both the public and the private sector and find other important health care information.”
HealthCare.gov is the first central database of health coverage options, combining information about public programs, from Medicare to the new Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan, with information from more than 1,000 private insurance plans. Consumers can receive information about options specific to their life situation and local community.
In addition, the website will be a one-stop-shop for information about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act as well as other health care resources. The website will connect consumers to quality rankings for local health care providers as well as preventive services.
“This website is unlike any government website you have ever seen or used before,” said HHS Chief Technology Officer Todd Park. “It was developed with significant consumer input and is remarkably easy to navigate. This is despite the sheer volume of content it offers consumers: billions of health care choices through the insurance finder and more than 500 pages of new content, all of which is designed to grow with ongoing consumer feedback and as our health care system improves.”
As the health care market transforms, so will HealthCare.gov. In October, 2010, price estimates for health insurance plans will be available online. In the weeks and months ahead, new information on preventing disease and illness and improving the quality of health care for all Americans will also be posted. The website also includes a series of opportunities where users can indicate whether pages were helpful to them and we will continue to seek user feedback to grow and strengthen the site.
“People need to see what choices are offered, what options cost, and how coverage works in practice,” said Karen Pollitz, Deputy Director for Consumer Support, Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. “Today HealthCare.gov takes an important first step in that direction. In the coming months and years, we will add pricing and plan performance information so that consumers can see and understand and make meaningful choices about their health coverage.” Friday, June 18, 2010 House Calls to make a Comeback?
Physician house calls -- that vestige of a bygone era in medicine -- are making a comeback, only this time with a virtual twist. Indianapolis-based health insurance giant WellPoint unveiled a new program to give its members access to doctors and other health-care providers via the Internet. The house call would be initiated by a patient logging in for a video chat from work to describe a sore throat, or a parent at home texting about a child with poison ivy. The physician will be able to review patient information, chat, prescribe medicine or suggest a follow-up visit, all while online or the telephone. WellPoint -- which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in 14 states, including Indiana -- plans to begin offering the service in select areas this fall. Company officials have not said whether Indiana will be one of the areas. "Consumers are more and more interested in convenient access to medical care, and the current model of drive-and-wait-in-the-waiting-room can create some frustration for simple medical conditions," WellPoint spokeswoman Jill Becher said in an e-mail Friday. WellPoint's plan is part of the growing effort by insurers, hospitals and doctors to use "telemedicine" to control medical costs and provide patients with quick and affordable care. WellPoint rival UnitedHealthcare of Minnesota also has unveiled new telemedicine services. Such technology has long been used to consult with patients in remote rural areas, or to access specialists such as radiologists who are in short supply.
Source: Indianapolis Star (June 15, 2010)
Full story: http://www.indystar.com/article/20100615/BUSINESS03/6130373
/1278/BUSINESS03/WellPoint-s-new-plan-The-doctor-is-online
Wednesday, June 02, 2010 Aging boomers lead charge towards legalizing marijuana
In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of the New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana. Long a fixture among young people, use of the country's most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and '70s grows older. The number of people age 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The rise was most dramatic among 55- to 59-year-olds, whose reported marijuana use more than tripled, from 1.6 percent to 5.1 percent. Observers expect further increases as 78 million boomers born between 1945 and 1964 age. For many boomers, the drug never held the stigma it did for previous generations, and they tried it decades ago. Some have used it ever since, while others are now revisiting the habit, either for recreation or as a way to cope with their aches and pains.
Source: Washington Post (May 25, 2010)
Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05
/24/AR2010052403056.html
Monday, March 22, 2010 What Does the Health Care Reform Legislation Mean to You??
Many of you are probably wondering what the new health plan voted on in Washington has in it and how it might affect you and your family. The Independent Agents and Brokers of America has provided an excellent outlineof the new plan’s initiatives and I commend it to your attention. I have been reviewing this new law and its implications and I found this report extremely helpful and hope that you will too!
http://va.iiaa.org/PDF/PatientProtectionAct1.pdf Saturday, March 06, 2010 79 year old law grad lands job in ... yes, elder law firm!
At a time in life when many attorneys have either retired or are putting the brakes on their careers, Alice Thomas is revving hers up. Now 79, she completed her course work at McGeorge School of Law in December and has already lined up a job working with elder law issues at a Reno, Nev., firm, reports the Sacramento Bee. That should help her start making a dent in the $70,000 of student loans she racked up pursuing her dream of becoming an attorney and taking a "nibble" at some of the world's injustices. She will be at least 80 by the time she passes the bar exam, which she expects to take either in California or Nevada in July. Significantly older than all of her fellow students and all but one of her professors, Thomas struggled to contend with the demands of law school while also caring for a longtime companion with Alzheimer's. "Most of the time, the other students acted like I wasn't even alive. Some of them asked if I was really serious," she tells the newspaper. "I told them I could take a first-class trip around the world and not spend as much money and not have to work as
Source: ABA Journal (February 23, 2010)
Full story: http://www.abajournal.com/news/article
/woman_79_finishes_law_school_lands_1st_job_in_practice
It just goes to show, you are never to old to set new goals and to achieve them!
RwH Monday, February 08, 2010 Obama Administration Announces Intention to Increase Support for Family CaregiversOn Monday, January 25, the Obama Administration’s Task Force on the Middle Class announced a recommendation for increased support for family caregivers. A proposed $102.5 million increase in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services would include $52.5 million for caregiver support programs that provide temporary respite care, counseling, training, and referrals to critical services and $50 million to programs that provide transportation help, adult day care, and in-home services, such as aides to help seniors bathe and cook, help which eases the burden for family members and helps seniors stay in their homes.
Find more information about the initiative here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/Fact_Sheet-Middle_Class_Task_Force.pdf. Tuesday, January 26, 2010 Caregiver Stress Raises Risk of StrokeThe stress of caring for a disabled spouse increases the risk of stroke substantially, and the increased risk is greater for husbands than for wives. "We followed 767 people out of a large study who were caring for a spouse with any disabling condition," said William E. Haley, a clinical psychologist who is a professor in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida in Tampa. "The spouses who had the highest scores for strain had the highest risk scores for stroke." Strain was measured on a standard score by asking the participants how many days during the past week they had felt depressed, lonely, sad or had crying spells. The answers were matched to the Framingham Stroke Risk Score, which measures risk factors such as age, blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, smoking and diabetes. The study is published in the Jan. 14 online edition of Stroke. A high score on the measure of strain was associated with an overall 23 percent higher risk of stroke. The association was stronger in husbands than in wives. It was highest in black men with high care giving strain, with a 26.9 percent increased risk of stroke in the next 10 years. "For the most part, when men are caregivers they use more paid services," Haley said. "It's likely that men who are not getting help, African-American men in particular, experience tremendous strain. Women are more prepared to be caregivers, and show less risk tied to strain." It's not clear whether the high-risk scores will result in an increased incidence of stroke, he noted. "We haven't followed enough people for long enough to do that analysis," Haley said. "Over the next several years, we will have the ability to see whether high degrees of strain lead to a higher incidence of stroke and mortality." Caregivers who feel the strain can and should seek help, he advised. "We do know already that caregivers can benefit from all sorts of counseling," Haley said. "We encourage those caregivers to get additional assistance."
Source: Business Week (January 14, 2010)
Full story: http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/634967.html)
Journal article: http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/36/10/2181?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=caregivers&searchid=1&
FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT Wednesday, July 08, 2009 Boomer tattoos: Get the facts firstWith the stigma of tattoos diminishing, more baby boomers are heading to tattoo salons to add colorful designs to their bodies. "One of my best clients got his first tattoo after he retired," says Dan Conner, co-owner of Mid Air & Ink, a Des Moines tattoo studio. "He worked for the government and felt he couldn't do it then. He was 60 when he retired, and he really went nuts. But he had a great plan (for getting tattooed)." Conner says he does a lot of tattoos for clients who are in their late 40s to mid-50s. "With some, they felt it wasn't socially acceptable 15 or 20 years ago to get a tattoo," Conner says. "And some are getting close to retirement, and they don't give a dang." A 2008 Harris poll showed that about 20 percent of adults between the age of 40 and 64 reported having one or more tattoos. People are becoming more comfortable and curious about body art, tattoo artists say. Dr. Ava Feldman, a Clive dermatologist, says she has seen a slight increase in the number of baby boomers with tattoos at her office. One woman had a blue rose tattoo on her in remembrance of her late mother. Another had a little angel tattoo near where she had melanoma, Feldman says. Improving laser techniques are helping with tattoo removal, but it is still a long process, she says. People on certain medications, such as blood thinners, are not good candidates for tattoos, Feldman says. Others are allergic to certain types of tattoo dyes, she says.
Source: Des Moines Register (5 June 2009)
Full story:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com |