Congress Needs To ‘Quickly’ Approve Indian Health Care Reauthorization Bill, California Senator Writes In Opinion Piece

House leaders should “act quickly and approve” the Indian Health Care Improvement Act reauthorization bill “so that we can send this bill to the president and provide the quality health care that [American Indians] in California and around the nation need and deserve,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) writes in a Eureka Times-Standard opinion piece (Boxer, Eureka Times-Standard, 4/2). The Senate in February approved the bill (S 1200), which would authorize $35 billion over the next decade for the Indian Health Service to expand health coverage and services for about 1.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 2/27).

Under the bill, “For the first time, Indian tribes would be able to use federal funds to provide long-term care, including hospice, home-based and community-based care for elderly and vulnerable members in their communities,” she writes.

Nursing home residents sue for at-home care

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Since a stroke four years ago, 66-year-old Bud Lee can't lift himself out of bed or take himself to the bathroom. He would like to regain a bit of his old independence.

John Boyd, 50, has been paralyzed since 14. He would like an apartment of his own and a job, like when he answered customer service phones for Red Lobster a few years back.

Instead, both men live in nursing homes, a frequent situation when Florida Medicaid pays the bills.

That may change.

Lee, Boyd and five other nursing home residents backed by the AARP Foundation have filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Florida under the Americans with Disabilities Act, citing a 1999 court ruling that helped spring mentally ill people from big, impersonal hospitals.

DO WE REALLY SUPPORT THE TROOPS?

just caught this on KELO TV. Reporter Jon Wilson has a story about a Vietnam veteran who came close to dying on April 20th, 38 years ago. Gene Murphy now calls that day his Come Alive Day. Paralyzed from his injuries, Murphy has been advocating for better health care for veterans ever since that day. He has a few criticisms of the current health care system for veterans.

After serving a tour in Vietnam, Murphy has a new enemy these days…the American Health Care System, especially when it comes to long-term care for disabled American veterans.

Murphy says, “I guess I didn’t think we would have to fight this hard for adequate budgets…especially for health care in the 38 years since I returned.”

From heads of state to politicians, even Presidents both present and former, Murphy has been a strong voice in Washington on behalf of disabled vets and says the toughest fight of all seems to be securing benefits that were promised to them by their government.

Murphy says, “And I’ve heard different administrators say I don’t know if we can afford it right now. And I said wait a minute, you had all kinds of money when we sent these young sons and daughters to wars, so we should have all kinds of money now.”

Amen to that Mr Murphy!

Blues opposing insurance overhaul

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan said Wednesday it is strongly opposed to alternatives being proposed by the chairman of the state's Senate Health Policy Committee to overhaul individual health insurance affecting 322,000 people.

he issue is shaping up as one of the top state legislative battles of the year while the number of consumers shopping for health insurance grows as employers drop health benefits.

The bills as written "will benefit consumers struggling today" to pay for insurance and provide a "long-term way of sustaining health insurance coverage for individuals," said Andrew Hetzel, vice president of corporate communications for Blue Cross.

The nonprofit insurer is supporting legislation to let it price and structure its money-losing individual policies more like commercial insurers. It wants to be able to immediately raise rates, subject to subsequent review by Michigan's Office of Financial and Insurance Services, with no challenges by consumers and Michigan's attorney general.
Growing trend

The legislation affects people under age 64. In 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, 256,000 people purchased their own health insurance in Michigan and another 66,000 had so-called group conversion policies that extend workplace coverage they once had, according to the insurance bureau.

The individual market, now 6 percent of all insurance sold in the state, will grow to 25 percent of all insurance policies in the next five to seven years, according to Blue Cross estimates. Using those projections, the individual market could affect as many as 2.5 million Michigan residents, said Sen. Tom George, R-Portage, chairman of the Senate committee.

The bills quickly passed the House in October by overwhelming margins.

Aerotel And Medicronic-Vodafone Launch Innovative Wireless Homecare System In Spain

Aerotel Medical Systems, one of the world's leading manufacturers of advanced telemedicine and remote monitoring solutions, announced today that Vodafone Spain in conjunction with Medicronic Salud have used Aerotel's e-CliniQ™ Wireless Home Monitoring System with successful results.

The e-CliniQ™ Wireless Home Monitoring System enables patients to keep track of their health, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Using Bluetooth technology, Aerotel's Tele-Modem™ Homecare Hub remotely monitors the patient's vital signs from various homecare sensors, transmitting the data to Medicronic's central receiving station via the Vodafone cellular network, where it is stored and analyzed by Aerotel's Medical Parameters Monitoring (MPM™) software.

The seamless technology is being used successfully by MEDICRONIC-VODAFONE SPAIN, a joint venture between Medicronic Salud and Vodaphone, to monitor, for example, patients' blood pressure and other vital signs. Easy to use, the e-CliniQ™ system is activated at the touch of a button. Blood pressure readings are encrypted and sent via a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone to the receiving center where the patient or doctor can directly access the information via the internet, using Aerotel's MPM-Net™ technology. The system allows doctors to check that patients are adhering to their pharmaceutical treatments.

"Flexibility and adaptation to patient needs has been key to e-CliniQ's success," commented David Rubin, Aerotel Medical Systems President & CEO. "In the modern age of wireless telecommunications and anywhere connectivity via cellular and internet networks, there is no reason why we cannot provide our patients with full remote and non-intrusive monitoring care, saving time and money in unnecessary visits to doctors and hospitals."

Dr. José Antonio Amérigo, Medical Director of MEDICRONIC-VODAFONE SPAIN, says that new cell phone technology, allows to control and follow up of Chronic Illness patients in many different ways, giving them full mobility and using e-CliniQ's to check instantly their vital parameters no matter the time or the place they are.

MedPAC Proposes Negative Change for Efficient Senior Care Providers

The Medicare Payment Advisory Committee is proposing changes to Medicare reimbursement to skilled nursing facilities that could lower payments to those facilities performing a high-volume of therapy related services.

The report recommends lower payments made by medicare based upon the efficiencies of scale that the Council has stated that any high volume provide should have achieved by technology and standardization processes. Is the council recommending punishing quality providers by reducing their payments? This could be a big blow to long term care for those who need to use these facilities.

The report criticizes that the current medicare system does not provide the best delivery and the use of private sector physicians and facilities is necessary to cope with the growing needs of the system. The council should recognize that private physicians are not government employees or programs and have every right to run their business as they see fit from an operational and financial perspective. The good news for those in private practice is that the proposal could be years from enactment and is contradictory to previous statements that it believes that highly efficient facilities are better for the long-term health of the medicare program (yeah, but if you cut their margins….). Additionally, Congress has routinely ignored the suggestions of this PAC.

How Telecare Helps People with Dementia To Stay Living At Home, UK

Dementia currently affects 700,000 people in the UK - and it is estimated that 150,000 of these live alone. Many people with dementia live in their own home but rely on support from an older carer, who may have their own health concerns. Consequently, as the effects of dementia progress, there has been little alternative to residential care.

However, innovative models of support are being developed which promote independence - allowing people to stay in their homes for as long as possible. Telecare plays a key role in facilitating the shift from traditional models of residential care, to supporting people with dementia at home.

A range of sensors can be installed in the home, to support existing social care services, by managing environmental risks. These sensors include a natural gas detector, carbon monoxide detector, flood detector, temperature extremes sensor, bed occupancy sensor and property exit sensor. Should a sensor be activated, an alert is sent either to a monitoring centre or a nominated carer. Telecare supports both safety in the home and security outside the home - where 60% of people with dementia experience the risk of 'wandering' dangers.

Dementia is often very distressing for carers, as it places them under immense pressure to provide round the clock support. Telecare can help relieve some of this pressure - enabling carers to take a well-earned break, secure in the knowledge that they will be contacted immediately if needed.

Minnesota Boomer Launches Elder Care Event to Help Others Find Answers

Good intentions only get baby boomers so far in trying to care for their aging parents. No matter how hard one tries to get the best care possible for a loved one, it's still easy to get overwhelmed, frustrated, angry and disappointed in the process.
One Minnesota baby boomer seemed to have an ideal combination of resources to care for her aging mother — 10 siblings as caretakers; a doctor, a lawyer and a geriatric social worker in the family; and multiple housing options from which to choose.

Even with these resources and a carefully considered plan, this was not enough. Her mother experienced three broken hips (including two in one week), staffing issues that added to medical problems, continual shifts in housing to address changing care needs, medication complications, and sudden memory problems. The greatest frustrations and struggles though, have resulted from the bureaucracy of the elder care system, which culminated in a letter sent from the government telling the family members their mother was dead (she wasn't).

Julie Groshens wondered how families get through the maze of elder care options without a social-worker sibling to guide them. Nearly every day, she heard similar stories from colleagues, friends and family. So Groshens decided to form Elder Care Expos, LLC, a Minnesota-based company that produces elder-care resource events for the public.

Older People Want To Use Technology To Help Them Remain At Home

Older adults want to use technology so they can age safely in their home. Family caregivers agree believing technology can ease some of the challenges of caregiving. Concerns such as cost to install and maintain equipment remain barriers for people 65-plus and for caregivers. These are the conclusions of two new reports, one from AARP and the other from the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA).

The AARP Foundation commissioned this report which examined the attitudes of people 65-plus and caregivers towards technology and found that both groups are concerned about costs. The study identified a willingness to try technology like home security services, sensors to detect falls and devices to regulate temperature, lights and appliances. But cost remains a factor with seventy-five percent of caregivers and eighty percent of those 65-plus willing to pay $50.00 or less per month for the service.

"The ground is fertile for the use of caregiving technology to flourish," said Elinor Ginzler, AARP Sr. Vice President for Livable Communities. "Almost nine in ten older Americans want to be able to stay in their own homes and they are willing to use technology that can help them do that. Cost, however, is the elephant in the room-how to pay remains a big obstacle."

Common Anti-psychotic Drugs Bad For Alzheimer's Patients, New Study Finds

A new UK study has found that anti-psychotic drugs, such as (Melleril), chlorpromazine (Largactil), haloperidol (Serenace), trifluoperazine (Stelazine) and risperidone (Risperdal), are bad for patients with Alzheimer's disease - the drugs were found to make their condition worse.

The researchers, from Kings College London and the Universities of Oxford and Newcastle, found that neuroleptics undermined Alzheimer's patients' verbal skills, and offered most patients with mild symptoms of disturbed behavior no long-term benefit. In fact, they found that a deterioration in verbal skills happened within six months of taking the medications. Neuroleptics are drugs used for treating schizophrenia as well as some other serious mental illnesses.

In this study, researchers looked at 165 Alzheimer's patients from four different nursing homes in Oxfordshire, Newcastle, Edinburgh and London. Approximately 60% of UK Alzheimer's patients are given medications to control their often aggressive behavior. There are indications that neuroleptics may also up the death rates of Alzheimer's patients.

You can read about this study in the Public Library of Science Medicine