New Mobility Person of the Year: Clay Freeman

From New Mobility:

Every disability is different, every person unique. But
vent-using quads face challenges and risks that go beyond what is
considered normal even in the disability community. To survive and
thrive takes creative problem-solving ability, a strong will,
perseverance, and luck. It also takes dedicated caregivers who are
capable and committed. In 2008, an Oregon quad led the way for vent
users across the nation by stubbornly advocating for higher wages and
adequate training for his caregivers — and he did it selflessly. New Mobility is proud to honor Clay Freeman as our 2008 Person of the Year....

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Debt Levels Drive Diverging Nursing Home Stocks

From Orange County Business Journal:

...Since August, Irvine-based Sun Healthcare Group
Inc. and Lake Forest’s Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. have seen their
shares drop more than 40%. Sun had a recent market value of about $400
million. Skilled was worth about $300 million.

The third nursing home operator based here—Ensign
Group Inc. of Mission Viejo—is a different story entirely. Its shares
are up 35% since August with a recent market value of $330 million....

But the split with Ensign could come down to a
big worry on the minds of investors these days: debt. Ensign seems to
be defying Wall Street’s nursing home downturn because of its low debt
and ample cash.

As of Sept. 30, Ensign had about $60 million in
long-term debt and $56 million in cash and equivalents. The company’s
debt-to-capital ratio is 20%, less than half that of Skilled and Sun...

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Benefits Of A Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account

From Investopedia:

...Millions of  people rely on child care to be able to work, while
others are responsible for older parents or disabled family members. If
you care for a child or adult who is incapable of self-care, who lives
in your home for at least eight hours each, and whom you can claim as a
dependent on your income taxes, you may be able to take advantage of dependent care flexible spending accounts
(FSAs). These accounts allow individuals to pay for qualified child and
dependent care expenses while lowering their taxable income....

The money in your FSA can only be used for expenses for:

  • A dependent who is 13 or younger
  • A spouse who is unable to work and care for him or herself
  • Another adult dependent who is unable to care for him or herself and for whom you claim the dependent exemption on your taxes...
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Rough economy hits Erickson

From McKnight's Blog:

Well, it seems we are in a financial crisis. I know I’m in the news
business and should be up on these things. You might agree, though,
that economic trends are hard to grasp unless you’ve felt them
firsthand.


It hit home this week when Erickson Retirement Communities, a major
development company for continuing care retirement communities, said
that it was laying off some full- and part-time positions—at least
260—in the areas of construction, development, and support functions
such as information technology, human resources, finance and marketing....

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Older Workers: An Opportunity to Expand the Long-Term Care/Direct Care Labor Force

From Robert Woods Johnson:

Older workers are a population that could prove helpful in addressing the impending shortage in the direct care workforce. ..

Key Findings:                      

  • Older workers
    expressed interest in jobs in the long-term care industry. They
    preferred to work in home health agencies as opposed to direct care
    jobs in nursing homes.
  • Nursing home and home health agency employers have positive views on older workers.
  • Employers
    may be discouraged from hiring older workers due to beliefs that older
    workers have higher health care costs and do not want to use technology.
  • Organizations
    that focus on employment for and training of older workers can
    facilitate older workers taking jobs in long-term care.
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Antipsychotic Use In Elderly People With Alzheimer's Leads To Large Increase In Mortality

From Medical News Today:

There is a large increased long-term risk of mortality in patients with
Alzheimer's disease (AD) who are prescribed antipsychotic medication....

In total, 165 patients were randomised and of these, 128 started
treatment - 64 on antipsychotics, 64 on placebo. At 12 months, there
was 70% survival in the antipsychotic group compared with 77% in
placebo. However, longer term follow-up revealed bigger differences in
survival. At 2 years, survival was 46% in the antipsychotic group and
71% in the placebo group, and at 36 months the difference was even
greater: 30% antipsychotic versus 59% placebo. Overall, across the
whole study period, the risk of death was 42% lower in the placebo
group than in the antipsychotic group....

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Congressional Budget Office analyzes long-term care policies

From McKnight's:

States may not have the infrastructure to support a potential increase
in home- and community-based services, according to the Congressional
Budget Office. The agency released a report highlighting the projected
costs and ramifications of more than 100 healthcare policies, including
many proposed for long-term care.

A proposal (McKnight's, 11/13/08) that would require
states to make home care and community-based care a mandatory option
under Medicaid, and allow beneficiaries to chose between home,
community and institutional care, could cost up to $90 billion over the
next decade, according to the report. Report authors say that, while
the plan would expand service options to more Medicaid beneficiaries,
most states may not have the necessary infrastructure to accommodate
the increased demand for HCBS, and would need to pay substantial
up-front investments...

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