Seniors News and Research

RSS

New model of care for rural-dwelling adults

A novel project set in a rural community near Rochester, N.Y., to screen elderly people for unmet needs showed that, indeed, there is a great opportunity to match older adults with professional assistance. This new model of care for rural-dwelling adults is described this month in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

11 Nov 2010

MobileHelp introduces new mobile Personal Emergency Response System

MobileHelp today announced the introduction of their new SOLO system, a mobile, Personal Emergency Response System (M-PERS). Operating on AT&T's nationwide cellular network and enabled with GPS location technology, SOLO is redefining the caregiving and medical alarm industry. SOLO provides the flexibility of a wireless device with the convenience and capability of a PERS system.

11 Nov 2010

Physical activity level decreases among college students

During college years, students become more sedentary and as their physical activity levels decrease, Body Mass Index and weight increase. Basically, students came out of college significantly less active and heavier compared to the start of their freshman year, said Jeanne Johnston, assistant professor in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

11 Nov 2010

AMA, MOAA call upon Congress to protect health care for America's military families and seniors

This Veterans Day, with Medicare and TRICARE physician payment cuts of 25 percent looming, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) are calling on Congress to act immediately to protect health care for America's military families and seniors. The organizations are asking lawmakers to take action during this month's "lame duck" session to prevent a crisis in access to care for military families.

11 Nov 2010

Experts develop new screening test to detect dementia in elderly patients

Dementia and cognitive impairment are widespread among elderly individuals in the United States, affecting more than 8 million people to some degree.

10 Nov 2010

Sodexo reports 3.9% increase in revenues for fiscal 2010

Sodexo: At the Board of Directors meeting held on November 8, 2010 and chaired by Pierre Bellon, Sodexo CEO Michel Landel presented the Fiscal 2010 performance.

10 Nov 2010

Survey says majority of voters want some or all of health law repealed

The Washington Post: "A new Kaiser Family Foundation post-election poll suggests that a majority of people who voted on Nov. 2 favor repealing some or all of the health-care legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law by President Obama earlier this year. ... Political strategists continue to debate just how much of an impact healthcare had on the 2010 midterms.

10 Nov 2010

Doctors urge Congress to delay pay cuts — again

Doctors are renewing their campaign to get Congress to block a 23 percent cut to Medicare reimbursements that would begin Dec. 1, the Los Angeles Times reports. The cuts — part of a 1997 law designed to control Medicare costs — are a lingering issue that Congress and doctors typically address at least once a year.

10 Nov 2010

Changes in Medicare policies may hamper supply of power wheelchairs

Will power wheelchairs continue to be available to Nevada's Medicare patients following a series of federal regulatory and policy changes?

9 Nov 2010

Feds crack down on fraud by issuing new Medicaid rules, helping medical students catch fraud

The Hill Healthwatch: "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday proposed new rules for the use of private contractors that work for states to audit Medicaid payments. The Recovery Audit Contractors will function similarly to the way they do in the Medicare program, where they audit payments that may have been underpaid or overpaid, and recover overpayments or correct underpayments. … Under the new law, states must establish Medicaid RAC programs by submitting state plan amendments to CMS by December 31" (Pecquet, 11/5).

9 Nov 2010

Seniors need to check options as Medicare advantage plans change, drop out

The exodus of dozens of Medicare Advantage plans from various counties or from the state entirely is leaving 40,588 seniors across Washington to wade through charts in search of new plans.

9 Nov 2010

On health law, election postmortems continue

In an analysis in The Washington Post, Chris Cillizza asks: "How much did the health-care law passed this year have to do with Republicans winning back the House and gaining six seats in the Senate?" Polls shed a little - deeply contradictory - light on the question. A Democratic strategist argued it was a neutral issue in an election-night memo, saying only 18 percent of voters believed health care was the most important issue, and that Demcorats won those by an eight percentage point margin.

8 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 8, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include more post-mortem reports about the health law's impact on the election.

8 Nov 2010

BCAM to provide public relations services to LifeSpan Network

Award-winning Lutherville agency, Barb Clapp Advertising & Marketing (BCAM), is pleased to announce the addition of a new client for the growing firm. BCAM will provide the LifeSpan Network, based in Columbia, MD, with public relations services.

8 Nov 2010

Industry experts speculate, strategize on what election means for business and reform

The Wall Street Journal: "Health-care companies see the Republican win as a chance to chip away at aspects of Mr. Obama's health overhaul least favorable to the industry. Insurance companies, drug manufacturers and hospitals say they will press to peel away the law's new taxes on health-care companies, pass tougher medical malpractice curbs and knock down a new board that recommends Medicare spending cuts" (Adamy, 11/3).

8 Nov 2010

Party leaders stake out individual positions for new debate on health overhaul

Individual Republicans and Democrats began staking out their positions on the health overhaul quickly after the elections.

8 Nov 2010

Risk pools, drug prices and other issues in health law implementation

A health law program that directs $5 billion for coverage of otherwise uninsurable people through state-run high-risk insurance pools has attracted only 8,011 people according to health department enrollment figures, The New York Times reports. That's a paucity compared to the hundreds of thousands of people government actuaries predicted would flock to the program causing it to run out of money too early.

8 Nov 2010

Medicaid pooled trusts keep seniors out of nursing homes

The New York Times reports on Medicaid pooled trusts: "[T]here is a little-known way for some people in certain states to receive home care through Medicaid, without requiring them to impoverish themselves first. Here's how it works: a federal law established in 1993 allows disabled people to put their monthly income or assets — above the amounts Medicaid allows them to keep — into a special type of pooled trust.

8 Nov 2010

What's next for health law? Repeal efforts, 'compromise,' congressional conflict

Health on the Hill features Mary Agnes Carey and Marilyn Werber Serafini talking about the GOP gains, what they mean for state implementation to health reform and what possibilities there are for major changes being made to the health law.

8 Nov 2010

Research Roundup: Basing insurance on results, not cost; Americans skeptical of public health efforts; seniors' comprehensive care

Copayment Reductions Generate Greater Medication Adherence In Targeted Patients. As health care costs have increased, some patients have sought to save money by cutting down on their medications.

8 Nov 2010