Aging News Alert

New Hampshire

 

(LEGAL) New Hampshire's Medicaid Lawsuit Could Portend More to Come

In what could be a common pratice in all states if Medicaid cuts are too severe, 10 New Hampshire hospitals filed suit against the state in federal court, claiming that cuts in state Medicaid support are so severe that facilities are either closing or are going to be unable to treat Medicaid patients.

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(MYTH-BUSTING) Concern Continues to Grow about Seniors Being Duped in the Healthcare Debate

There is growing concern among policymakers and care providers alike about the amount of misinformation being heaped upon the nation's seniors regarding the ongoing effort to reform the healthcare system. "We're hearing a lot of horror stories," says Gordon Walker, CEO of the Charlottesville, VA-based Jefferson Area Board of Aging (JABA). "Many of the seniors we see are asking us about Medicare and whether the reform efforts will somehow limit their access to health care. Of course, we're telling them that we don't see anything in the legislation that leads us to believe that's the case."

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NIA to Fund Research on Older Cancer Patients

The grants will support translational research in the overlapping areas of aging and cancer, linking basic and clinical research relevant to older cancer patients through both bench to bedside and bedside to bench approaches.

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Medicare Changes Can Compliment Healthcare Reform

System-wide reform of healthcare financing and delivery is key both to controlling Medicare expenditures and to slowing the growth of health care costs in the private sector, say analysts at Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, a liberal-oriented think tank in Washington, DC.

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DMEPOS Audio Conference/Q&A Session Slated

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on July 15, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT. will host an audio conference and question & answer session regarding Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) supplier accreditation. This audio conference is the third in a series of four designed to provide guidance to DMEPOS suppliers regarding accreditation.

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Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program Supports Scholars In Geriatric Social Work

The Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program in Geriatric Social Work, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and administered by the Gerontological Society of America, is aimed at bringing outstanding, talented, skilled people into the field of gerontological social work to train practitioners, research best practices and set future directions.

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NH Gov. Lynch Signs Senior Investor Protection Legislation Into Law

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has signed into law HB 1274, making his the first state to legislatively adopt provisions based on the North American Securities Administrators Association's Model Rule on the Use of Senior Certifications and Professional Designations.

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Study Seeks Long-Lived Families for Answers

More and more people are living longer. But living to extreme old age is unusual and tends to run in some families. A new study, supported by the National Institute on Aging aims to learn more about the secrets to long healthy life, and investigators are seeking long-lived families to help study this important question.

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White Paper: 'Why Data Matters: Generating Value From Retirement Plan Data'

A new white paper from MassMutual's Center for Behavioral Research is intended to help plan sponsors and retirement plan advisors gain the most value from recordkeeping data collected for retirement plans. Titled "Why Data Matters: Generating Value from Retirement Plan Data," the white paper outlines the process through which retirement plan data can be used to enhance plan value, performance and participant engagement; streamline or reduce administration; and help plan fiduciaries meet their obligations.

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Seniors Reject Cutting Medicare Advantage To Fund Docs' Payment Fix

Regardless of whether they are enrolled in traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage, most seniors oppose cutting the Medicare Advantage program to fund the Medicare physician payment fix and believe cuts to Medicare Advantage will have a negative effect on seniors, a new survey finds.

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CMS Outlines Rights of Medicare Hospice Patients

Medicare beneficiaries with terminal illnesses have their right to determine how they receive end-of-life care outlined for the first time in a new regulation soon to be published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

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Guide Helps Patients On Coumadin/Warfarin Therapy

The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality has released a new consumer publication, Your Guide to Coumadin/Warfarin Therapy. This 20-page, easy-to-read patient brochure explains what patients should expect and watch out for while undergoing Coumadin/warfarin therapy.

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CMS Zapped by GAO For Its Inability To Ensure Nursing Home Quality

The Government Accountability Office has just released report focusing on the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services' apparent inability to accurately monitor the effectiveness of states in ensuring nursing home quality of care.

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'Cash & Counseling' Option Gaining Popularity Among States

A non-traditional Medicaid program, Cash and Counseling -- basically a stipend to hire helpers to allow elders to stay in their homes and avoid tapping into the overburdened home-healthcare industry -- is rapdily spreading across the country.

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Many Older Americans Ill Prepared To Retire With Dignity

In an audio news conference April 30, experts in the area of economic adequacy for older Americans extolled the need for the Elder Economic Security Initiative, a project designed to raise awareness and shape policy to ensure that older Americans are able to live with dignity.

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Before It's Too Late: Deathbed Conversations with Dad

Since he is an imposing figure, dad's negative disposition can easily hinder his child's ability to interact with him. As a result, the lack of meaningful early communication can spill over into adulthood, leaving grown children with unresolved "daddy issues."

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Requests for Proposals to Develop State Older Driver Safety Plans

Teams of organizations and agencies having statewide reach are invited to submit proposals to conduct demonstration projects to establish and implement older driver safety plans.

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Report: Chronically Ill Patients Get More Care, Less Quality

Medicare pays many hospitals and their doctors more than the most efficient and effective healthcare institutions to treat chronically ill people, yet gets worse results, according to a new report from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice.

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Senate Aging Panel Hears Recommendations On Long-Term Care

The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living tells a Senate panel that adequate governmental financing will remain a key factor in the ability of providers to meet the rising demand for care among a progressively older, higher acuity patient population.

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Archstone Foundation Honors Innovative Programs in Health & Aging

The Gerontological Health Section of the American Public Health Association is accepting nominations for the 2008 Archstone Foundation Award for Excellence in Program Innovation.

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Researchers Create Database Simplifying Aging Research

Researchers at Cornell have developed a website called ART -- an acronym for Aging Research Translator -- which they designed with community-based practitioners in mind.

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CBO Uses Medicare in Examining Regional Healthcare Cost

CBO purposely chose to concentrate on Medicare spending because there are more data available about the cost of providing healthcare to Medicare beneficiaries than there are for other populations. Also, as the largest federal healthcare program, Medicare is highly relevant to and directly influenced by federal policy.

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Physician Group Practice Demo Produces Few Winners

Only two of 10 participants in CMS' demonstartion project actually met all the program's benchmarks.

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FDA Not Conducting Mandated Inspections of Medical Device Makers

This issue may be problematic for the elderly, a significant number of whom use medical devices manufactured by companies purportedly not being inspected by the FDA in accordance with the law.

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Governance Reform May Be in Tax-Exempt Organizations' Future

In response to irregularities at a handful of charities, one of Congress's chief concerns over the past few years has been the accountability of the board as a governing body and of each member in his or her individual capacity.

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Blacks 65+ Less Likely Than Whites to Obtain Cancer Treatment

Black cancer patients age 65 and up are "consistently less likely" than their white counterparts to receive the recommended treatment, find Yale researchers.

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Candidates' Healthcare Proposals: Side-by-Side Summary

The Kaiser Family Foundation has created an interesting online tool that allows users to customize side-by-side comparisons of the 2008 presidential candidates' positions on healthcare.

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Clinton Campaign Reaches Out to Seniors

The Clinton campaign has released what it described as Clinton's "agenda to ease the burden on families that are struggling to balance caring for elderly parents, spouses and children, while meeting their job obligations."

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Lupus Foundation Urges SSA to Nix Proposed 5-Day Rule

The Lupus Foundation of America has fired off a strongly worded letter to the Social Security Administration regarding a proposed change to the rules which could make it more difficult for people appealing a Social Security determination.

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Hebrew SeniorLife Secures $457 Million in Bonds for New Facilities

Hebrew SeniorLife has closed on the sale of $457 million in tax-exempt bonds -- the largest tax exempt bond financing in U.S. history for the purpose of funding development of a nonprofit continuing care retirement community.

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Social Security, Medicare Blog and Website Win National Honors

The Assn. of Marketing & Communications Professionals honors the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare for its website and blog, citing NCPSSM for outstanding achievement among public service and charitable organizations.

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Publisher's Year-End Survey

We want to know what you think!

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Publisher's Year-End Survey

We want to know what you think!

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