Jewish Elderly Care Organizations Slam Republican Health Proposals

B’nai B’rith International, which sponsors low-income housing for the elderly, and the Jewish Federations of North America, which advocates for funds for the poor and the elderly, took aim changes contained in the American Health Care Act, the bill Republican leaders hope to pass as a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. “Congress and the Trump Administration appear to be moving quickly to pass potentially devastating cuts to Medicaid,” JFNA said in an action alert sent this week to its constituent groups, urging them to lobby Congress against the cuts.

More

The AARP issued a statement on Tuesday declaring its opposition to the health care bill touted by GOP leadership this week. The letter — from one of the most influential groups in domestic policy — is the latest blow for a bill that has already seen opposition from many conservative leaders, media organizations and interest groups.

UK online carer-patient matchmaker HomeTouch expands nationwide

A British online service that matches elderly and disabled patients with home carers is expanding nationwide by adding another 25,000 care professionals to its database, founder Jamie Wilson said on Monday. The expansion comes as British government, at both the national and local level, seeks to increase the provision of home care to take the pressure off hospitals run by the state-funded National Health Service in looking after an ageing population.

Here’s why Republicans are finding it so hard to come up with a replacement for Obamacare

Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events Jared Bernstein, a former chief economist to Vice President Biden, is a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and author of the new book ‘The Reconnection Agenda: Reuniting Growth and Prosperity.’ In the beginning, God created a health-care system.

Cruel to be kind on Medicaid expansion?

House Republicans plan to pay for their healthcare plan by restricting tax breaks on employer health plans. “Some people just don’t care enough about their own care”, he argued, saying Republicans can provide people access to affordable insurance plans, “but whether they take it or not is like trying to legislate responsibility”.

Entitlement Reform – Medicare

Medicare, like Medicaid, has long been a reform target of congressional Republicans who seek to bend the cost curve for the program that provides coverage for more than 50 million seniors at a cost of more than $500 billion per year. Last year, Speaker Paul Ryan unveiled his proposal to convert Medicare to what is known as a “premium support” program in which the federal government would provide a payment on behalf of each Medicare recipient toward the purchase of a health insurance plan either a private plan, a similar Medicare Advantage plan or traditional Medicare.

Why US flags at pro-Park rallies?

Since the parliament voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye in early December, Park’s staunch supporters have relentlessly taken to the streets with Korean flags in their hands to oppose her removal from office. While the Korean flag has become a symbol of their movement to defend the president, a seemingly unrelated flag has also been carried by many of the — mostly elderly — participants at the rallies: the US flag.

Retirement Anxiety Is Gripping America

A few weeks after the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives moved to kill rules allowing states to create portable retirement savings accounts, a new survey found that 75 percent of Americans support just such an option. The response was a common refrain in a report that echoed the growing dread of living out one’s golden years in poverty.

ObamaCare quietly leaves mark on Medicare despite repeal push

Republican efforts to repeal ObamaCare will likely leave Medicare untouched, meaning former President Obama will leave his mark on the popular health program for more than 58 million elderly and disabled “There are changes to Medicare that are in the ACA that have taken effect that people are benefiting from today,” Juliette Cubanski , Kaiser Family Foundation Medicare policy program associate director, told The Hill Extra. “Medicare, the way it is now, is really popular.

Proposed bill would allow ‘dental therapists’ to perform dental procedures

Need a tooth pulled or a cavity filled? Forget the dentist. A number of states are allowing or considering letting “dental therapists,” professionals with a lower level of training, do the job.  In dozens of countries and a handful of U.S. states, dental therapists also sometimes called advanced dental hygiene practitioners help fill gaps in access to oral care for low-income, elderly and disabled people, and in rural areas where few dentists practice, according to many public health advocates.  In Massachusetts, a group that lobbies on behalf of dentists has for the first time signaled a willingness to embrace the concept, though its proposal is viewed as unnecessarily restrictive by sponsors of a competing bill in the Legislature.  “We are not a silver bullet for helping access to dental care, but we are a great tool,” said Christy Jo Fogarty, a dental therapist in … (more)

Elderly insurance scheme seen as ‘constructive’

An insurance scheme proposed by the Elderly Commission for long-term care of senior citizens is constructive, acting Secretary for Labour and Welfare Stephen Sui Wai-keung said yesterday. Siu was speaking ahead of the last day of the consultation period today on the commission’s third and final Consensus Building Stage of the Elderly Services Programme Plan.

Maine DHHS Issues Letter to Trump Administration Officials Previewing …

AUGUSTA – Today the Maine Department of Health and Human Services has notified the federal government of its intent to propose further reforms in its Medicaid program. In a letter to the incoming Secretary of the federal Health and Human Services, Commissioner Mary Mayhew described her intent to request increased flexibility in the program in order to build upon the current fiscal stability within DHHS and to further the Department’s efforts to prioritize our elderly and disabled.

Maine DHHS Issues Letter to Trump Administration Officials Previewing …

AUGUSTA – Today the Maine Department of Health and Human Services has notified the federal government of its intent to propose further reforms in its Medicaid program. In a letter to the incoming Secretary of the federal Health and Human Services, Commissioner Mary Mayhew described her intent to request increased flexibility in the program in order to build upon the current fiscal stability within DHHS and to further the Department’s efforts to prioritize our elderly and disabled.

aged care facilities

There are many living communities for those who are getting older or who may be suffering from some memory loss. It is important for people to realize that older people who suffer from short term memory loss do not necessarily have Alzheimers disease, a progressive illness that robs them of their cognitive abilities and eventually proves fatal, but may be suffering from other forms of dementia that are less serious.

Trump’s health pick set to defend investments at U.S. Senate hearing

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary was expected to face hard questions from a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday about his personal stock investments and proposals to dismantle Obamacare. Representative Tom Price, a Georgia orthopedic surgeon who has been in politics for more than 20 years, was chosen by fellow Republican Trump, who will become president on Friday, to head an agency that manages scores of healthcare programs.

Eventsa

A Senior Citizens, free help with Medicare claims forms and Medigap insurance forms, for appointment call Area Agency on Aging, 723-3763.

Steep Bills Surprise Patients Who Go ‘Out-of-Network’

Patients using specialists outside their health-plan network often receive surprise bills for services that cost far more than what Medicare considers a fair rate, a new study suggests. Most insurers use rates set by Medicare — the publicly funded insurance program for the elderly — as the benchmark for what they’ll pay health care providers.

A solution to fix the chaos in Medicare

… A decision about how these services were to be delivered is critical to understanding the contentious debates around health care. Could Bismarck have given vouchers for care as needed? Alternatively, should the government control the needed health …

Bloodhounds train to find missing elderly residents

Nearly 5.4 million Americans are living with with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and that number is projected to skyrocket over the next 25 years. Bloodhounds train to find missing elderly residents Nearly 5.4 million Americans are living with with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and that number is projected to skyrocket over the next 25 years.

Flu now widespread in North Carolina

… according to information from the Centers for Disease Control. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Region 5, which includes Watauga County and goes east to Guilford County, has the third-highest flu rate in the …