Nearly half of voters view Medicare cuts to nursing homes as the least acceptable way to pay for healthcare reform, according to a recently released poll conducted by The American Health Care Association. The poll also found that 66% of voters would be less likely to re-elect an official who...
Author Archives: anthony
Obesity associated with Brain Degeneration among Older People
New research from University of California, Los Angeles reveals that older obese people have brains that appear 16 years older than their peers who are of a healthy weight. Researchers examined the brains of 94 individuals aged 70-79. Overweight seniors had roughly 4% less brain tissue, and their brains aged...
Five-Star Rating Asked to be Suspended by 31 State Attorneys General
We have written about the Five-Star rating system in the past, CMS’s latest attempt at ranking and rating nursing facilities. In an interesting twist, a total of 31 state attorneys general sent a letter to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services calling for the suspension and...
Nursing Home Arbitration
Here is an interesting article from Mother Jones about the area of mandatory arbitration. While it does not mention nursing homes it is followed by many. This article will open your eyes to the issue of arbitration and can help you in your daily life as well.
Healthcare and the Tailor Shop
If you want to understand why healthcare is such dire straits, Atul Gawande’s essay in The New Yorker is a great place to start. My mother slaved in a tailor shop most of her career. She got paid for how many things she stitched in a given day. Guess what,...
Changing Demographics and the Need for Education
This is a video blog of something we wrote about last week. A report released recently from the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Commerce entitled An Aging World: 2008 should make people pause. Consider these key findings: åá People aged 65 and over will...
Life Inside a Nursing Home
This article is a must read. How do you encourage doctors to go into geriatrics? Have them spend time as a resident in a nursing home. Great perspective. Any one trying to change the experience in long term care would be wise to do the same thing. In fact, it...
Higher Risk of Dementia for Middle Age Smokers, Diabetics and those Hypertensive
Part of the health crisis is the fact that we do not take care of ourselves. Our choices today WILL affect our health and life expectancy later. More proof, in the August 19 Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, it is reported that those who smoke, or suffer from hypertension...
Age Bias Affects Healthcare for the Elderly
The PewResearchCenter released results of its November Ûª08 study on the increasing generation. Here are some eye opening statistics. When does old age begin? The average American says 68. Those under 30 say it is 60. Those over 65 say it is 74. Conan OÛªBrienÛªs average audience age dropped 10...
AARP Loses 60,000 Members
Here is a case where perceptions cause myths to arise and then actions actually cause revenue to be lost! As many as 60,000 seniors have canceled their AARP memberships since July 1 because they are angry about AARP’s position on healthcare reform. Three bill versions would trim $563 billion out...