Health and Disability

Elderly patients living in impoverished areas are more likely to die after undergoing surgery compared to peers from higher-income ZIP codes, a new study finds.



n fact, all patients regardless of income who underwent treatment at the hospitals in the poorest areas were more likely to die, whereas all patients undergoing surgery in the wealthiest ZIP codes proved less likely to die.

Norman DeLisle, MDRC
"With Liberty and Access for All!"
GrandCentral: 517-589-4081
MDRC Website: http://www.copower.org/
LTC Blog: http://ltcreform.blogspot.com/
Recovery: http://therecoveringlife.blogspot.com/
Change: http://prosynergypsc.blogspot.com/

As Congress continues to pursue a solution to the Medicare physician payment issue, seniors from across the country are mobilizing over the July 4th recess to urge Congress to preserve their Medicare Advantage benefits.

The Coalition for Medicare Choices, which consists of 400,000 seniors, has mobilized thousands of seniors across the country to call, write, email, and visit their representatives during the July 4th recess to express their opposition to cutting Medicare Advantage benefits.

"My Medicare Advantage plan has always been there when I needed it the most. Congress needs to know that while my health care benefits may not be that important to them, they are important to me," said Joe Cameron of Fort Worth, Texas.

AHIP today also announced that it is launching a new national television advertising campaign that reminds Congress what happened last time it cut the Medicare Advantage program and what's at stake for millions of seniors across the country. The ad, "Again," begins running this week on national cable television. 

Norman DeLisle, MDRC
"With Liberty and Access for All!"
GrandCentral: 517-589-4081
MDRC Website: http://www.copower.org/
LTC Blog: http://ltcreform.blogspot.com/
Recovery: http://therecoveringlife.blogspot.com/
Change: http://prosynergypsc.blogspot.com/

 All primary health care workers need to be well versed in the diagnosis and management of the chronic diseases and the so-called four giants of geriatrics (memory loss, urinary incontinence, depression and falls/immobility) that often impact people as they age.

The toolkit's purpose is to:

• improve the primary health care response for older persons.
  sensitize and educate primary health care workers about the specific needs of their older clients.
• assist primary health workers in how to operate the geriatric care instruments/tools contained in the toolkit.
• raise awareness of the accumulation of minor/major disabilities experienced by older people to primary health care workers.
• provide guidance on how to make primary health care management procedures more responsive to the needs of older people's needs.
  offer direction on how to do environmental audits to test primary health care centres for their age-friendliness.

Norman DeLisle, MDRC
"With Liberty and Access for All!"
GrandCentral: 517-589-4081
MDRC Website: http://www.copower.org/
LTC Blog: http://ltcreform.blogspot.com/
Recovery: http://therecoveringlife.blogspot.com/
Change: http://prosynergypsc.blogspot.com/

A new report by AARP's Public Policy Institute (PPI) identifies effective practices for monitoring court-appointed adult guardians, reducing the chances for abuses that occur when oversight is lax.

Conducted with the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Law and Aging, the report follows a 2006 AARP survey showing that a large number of state courts around the country fail to assign a monitor to visit vulnerable individuals under guardianship, leaving many Americans open to physical neglect and financial abuse. The 2006 survey also found that, in many jurisdictions, no one verifies the information in guardianship reports.

BenefitsCheckUp(R), the nation's most comprehensive online benefits screening service for seniors with limited income and resources, served its two millionth senior as of this month.

Historically, no more than half of older Americans who are eligible for these needed programs ever apply for them. For example, 70 percent of those qualified for food stamps have not enrolled in the program and nearly half of those who qualify for supplemental security income (SSI) have not applied. Similarly, there are still as many as 4.2 million who have not enrolled in the extra help available through Medicare prescription drug coverage.

Developed and maintained by The National Council on Aging (NCOA), BenefitsCheckUp® enables seniors with limited income and resources as well as those who care for or serve them to screen for and in some cases apply for federal, state and local benefits programs.

BenefitsCheckUp® includes more than 1,550 public and private benefits programs from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These programs include health care, prescription drug assistance, heating and energy assistance, legal services, housing assistance, property tax programs and nutrition programs, as well as volunteer and training opportunities and education programs.

Since its inception in 2001, BenefitsCheckUp® has helped two million seniors determine eligibility for these programs and has identified over $5.8 billion in public benefits...

See http://www.ncoa.org/content.cfm?sectionID=305