Senior Independent Living
How to Sign Up for Medicare Benefits
March 30th, 2010
Filed under category: Government & Legal, Medical Insurance
As the first boomers approach retirement age, health insurance is a big concern, and Medicare is a big part of that picture.
The first thing one needs to know is — how to sign up.
New Advice About Prostate Cancer Screening – Talk to Your Doctor
March 17th, 2010
Filed under category: Health and Wellness, Medical Insurance, Medical Research
We’ve been hearing conflicting advice about getting cancer screening recently. There has been waffling on breast cancer screening, and the advice about prostate cancer screening seems to be changing too.
NPR’s health blog, Shots, reports that the American Cancer Society is advising men, not to get tested, but to talk to their doctor about getting tested.
…continue reading New Advice About Prostate Cancer Screening – Talk to Your Doctor
California Health Care Price Increases May Be Caused by Doctors
March 5th, 2010
Filed under category: Medical Insurance, News
Doctors and hospitals may be at the root of the increase in health care costs. That’s the conclusion of Health Affairs, as reported by Scott Hensley in NPR’s health blog.
…continue reading California Health Care Price Increases May Be Caused by Doctors
Ethical and Medical Dilemmas For End of Life Care
March 5th, 2010
Filed under category: Health and Wellness, Medical Insurance
We here at Senior Independent Living are all about letting people decide for themselves what kind of health care, housing choices, and retirement options are good for them. In a word, it’s “independence.” The problem with a lot of the proposals made for insurance and medical reform is that these “reforms” involve a bureaucracy deciding what’s good for an individual without that individual’s input or consent.
As we give up our power over our health-care decisions to a bureaucracy (whether that bureaucracy be public or private — government or insurance), we give up the right to decide for ourselves.
This approach to end-of-life questions is not really addressed in the New York Times article. But it’s the underlying belief of everybody who says anything about these issues — we ought to be able to decide, or at least have an input.
…continue reading Ethical and Medical Dilemmas For End of Life Care
Health Insurance Rates About to Go Up
February 14th, 2010
Filed under category: Medical Insurance, News
Americans have this love/hate relationship with insurance companies. We can’t live without them while we hate to pay their premiums.
One of the impetuses for health care reform is the health insurance industry. Americans don’t understand how insurance really works, they resent insurance companies making money, and they don’t understand why rates go up. Consequently insurance companies are highly regulated (as they should be) and Americans hate them until it comes time to make a claim. And then they hate them even more when the claim is denied in part or in whole.
New California H.M.O. Rules May Drive Up Health Care Costs
February 12th, 2010
Filed under category: Government & Legal, Medical Insurance, News
I say “may” in the title. But one needs only a rudimentary understanding of economics and the play of market forces to know that these rules must drive up health care costs.
The article below (see link after the jump) is from the New York Times, and relates the recent implementation of rules designed to reduce some of the bureaucratic horrors faced by patients encountering modern medical practices.
…continue reading New California H.M.O. Rules May Drive Up Health Care Costs
Quality of Care Problems in Long-Term Care Hospitals
February 12th, 2010
Filed under category: Government & Legal, Medical Insurance
In the last 25 years, a large number of acute-care hospitals intended for patients who need long-term care have opened. These are a sort of cross between nursing homes and hospitals.
These hybrid institutions have been created by the arcane mysteries of Medicare reimbursement rules: hospitals are penalized for keeping patients too long, so they have to get patients out the door as soon as possible in order to have an acceptable “length of stay” for Medicare.
And nursing homes aren’t necessarily equipped for treating patients who need long-term acute care.
…continue reading Quality of Care Problems in Long-Term Care Hospitals
The Value of Long-Term Care Insurance for Staying Out of Nursing Home
February 1st, 2010
Filed under category: Independent Living, Medical Insurance
According to the good folks at California Elder Abuse Blog, you are a lot more likely to be able to receive long-term care at home if you have insurance to pay for it.
So do you want to stay out of the nursing home? Buy some long term care insurance, and you’ll be a lot more likely to get in-home care.
This is important, of course, for many of us who would rather maintain a certain amount of independence, dignity, and avoid the hospital or nursing home.
…continue reading The Value of Long-Term Care Insurance for Staying Out of Nursing Home
California Elderly May Have Limited Independent Living Options
January 18th, 2010
Filed under category: Independent Living, Medical Insurance
In the difficult economic circumstances we find ourselves in, state governments have been especially hard hit by significant reductions in tax revenue. When businesses and individuals make less money, income tax collections go down.
The state of California is in a big financial jam, and Governor Schwarzenegger is proposing cuts to various budget items that may have a big impact on where seniors get their health care.
For many seniors, the preference is to stay at home if possible. But the cuts proposed by the governor may make that less likely. According to California elder Abuse Blog, these cuts will result in more seniors going to nursing homes.
…continue reading California Elderly May Have Limited Independent Living Options
New Approach to Treating Tinnitus – Listen to Music!
January 10th, 2010
Filed under category: Health and Wellness, Medical Insurance
As long as I can remember from my growing-up years, my father dealt with a constant ringing in his ears. It was sometimes enough to make it difficult for him to hear conversation.
And as I have grown older, the ringing has started in my ears as well. Oh joy.
But there may be some hope for a non-surgical non-pharmaceutical treatment for tinnitus. The New York Times reports on a new approach to treating tinnitus that some German researchers have been working on. The method involves listening to certain types of music.
Don’t expect any relief from the ringing in your ears just because you plug in your favorite opera … or Beatles album.
…continue reading New Approach to Treating Tinnitus – Listen to Music!
