Monday, June 7, 2010

Somerset County Announces Free Hearing Tests

Hearing loss is one of the most common conditions affecting older adults. Hearing problems can make it difficult to understand and follow a doctor’s advice, to respond to warnings, and to hear doorbells and alarms.

The Raritan Senior Center, located at 614 First Ave., will host free hearing tests from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11. The screening will be conducted by representatives from Total Hearing Care.

If you wish to make a lunch reservation, please contact the senior center by 10:30 a.m. at least one business day in advance. A suggested lunch donation of $1.50 is recommended for individuals age 60 and older. Donations support senior center activities. The cost of lunch for those under 60 years old is $5.35.

The Raritan Senior Center is one of seven centers operated by the Somerset County Office on Aging. The senior center offers a variety of educational, recreational and entertaining activities for seniors, including wellness programs and health screenings.

For more information, contact Manager Lynda Augustine, Raritan Senior Center, at (908) 203-0001.

More Resources


From the New York Times....

Resources to Help Manage Care for Aging Parents

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:27 p.m. ET

The financial strain of caring for older relatives can be devastating without proper planning. Here are some online resources for those who want to put the proper safeguards in place and for caregivers who may be looking for assistance:

www.medicare.gov -- Find out what Medicare does and doesn't cover, compare home health agencies and nursing homes in your area, plan for your long-term care needs and other information.

www.homeinstead.com -- Home Instead Senior Care site has resources for finding home care, becoming a caregiver and other elder care resources.

www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c23141.htm -- A U.S. State Department site on caring for elderly parents that is aimed at families posted abroad but gives very valuable general information and links.

www.caregiving.org -- National Alliance for Caregiving, a nonprofit organization focusing on issues of family caregiving.

www.caps4caregivers.org -- Children of Aging Parents, a nonprofit assisting caregivers of the elderly or chronically ill with information, referrals and support.

www.thefamilycaregiver.org -- National Family Caregivers Association, another group that educates and supports those who care for loved ones with a chronic illness or disability.

www.nahb.org The National Association of Home Builders lists professional certified aging-in-place specialists who can assist in creating an environment that will enable loved ones to remain in their homes safely and independently.

www.cms.hhs.gov/home/medicaid.asp -- Information about Medicaid, with links to Web sites in every state and each state's eligibility requirements for benefits.

www.caring.com -- A venture capital-funded site with information for caregivers and other resources.

www.nsclc.org -- National Senior Citizens Law Center, has information on many issues affecting aging.

www.n4a.org -- National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, providing information on aging and a nationwide list of local agencies to turn to for answers.

www.mustforseniors.org -- Medication Use Safety Training for Seniors program, a national education awareness campaign for older adults and caregivers.

Veterans Benefits

Almost since the beginning of our Republic, we have had programs designed to recognize and help support the men and women of our military who served during wartime.

The veterans assistance program goes back to 1636 when Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony fought with the Pequot Indians. The Pilgrims enacted a law from English law that reads, “If any man shall be sent forth as a soldier and shall return maimed, he shall be maintained competently by the colony during his life.” In 1789 U. S. congress passed as law that pensions were to be provided to disabled veterans and their dependents and in 1811 the first domiciliary and medical facility for veterans was completed.

Since that time the Department of Veterans Affairs has opened a multitude of care facilities nationwide. An article from the US Department of Veterans Affairs website states:

“VA's health care system has grown from 54 hospitals in 1930 to 157 medical centers in 2005, with at least one in each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia . More than 5.3 million people received care in VA health care facilities in 2005, a 29 percent increase over the 4.1 million treated just four years earlier.

The VA operates more than 1,300 sites of care including nearly 900 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, 136 nursing homes, 43 residential rehabilitation treatment programs, nearly 90 comprehensive home-care programs, and more than 200 Veterans Centers.”

State veterans homes have been built or are approved for future construction in many states. For a list of state veteran nursing homes go to http://www.longtermcarelink.net/ref_state_veterans_va_nursing_homes.htm#List

Here are some of the benefits provided for Veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs:

  1. BulletHealth Care Clinics

  2. BulletMental Health

  3. BulletCounseling

  4. BulletJob training

  5. BulletBurial and Memorial benefits

  6. BulletEducation

  7. BulletVA Home Loan

  8. BulletDIC

  9. BulletCompensation

  10. BulletPension

  11. BulletCare Management

  12. BulletHome Renovation for Disability

  13. BulletAssisted Living

  14. BulletProsthetics

  15. BulletRehabilitation

  16. BulletWeight management

  17. BulletNursing Homes

  18. BulletPrescriptions

  19. BulletHospitals

Thomas Day, founder and Director of the National Care Planning Council, served as an Air Force pilot during Vietnam. Later he developed a crippling auto-immune disease. It was the doctors at the George A. Wahlen VA Regional Medical Center who prescribed a new treatment that saved his life. Many of the VA programs continue to improve his life.

Tom is passionate about the Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit and the relief it brings to veterans and their families who need care services and ways to pay for it in their elder years.

“Aid and attendance" is a commonly used term for a little-known veterans’ disability income. The official title of this benefit is "Pension." The reason for using "aid and attendance" to refer to Pension is that many veterans or their single surviving spouses can become eligible if they have a regular need for the aid and attendance of a caregiver or if they are housebound. Evidence of this need for care must be certified by VA as a "rating." With a rating, certain veterans or their surviving spouses can now qualify for Pension. Pension is also available to low income veteran households without a rating, but it is a lesser dollar amount.

Pension is an underused benefit.

There are different income categories for Pension, but the highest could pay as much as $1,949 a month in disability income to a qualifying veteran household. A study commissioned by VA in 2001 estimated, over the next 14 years, only about 30% of eligible veterans would apply for Pension. This is likely due to the fact that most veterans simply don't know about it. In fact, about a third of all seniors in this country, age 65 and older, could become eligible for pension under the right circumstances. That's how many elderly war veterans or their surviving spouses there are.

To receive Pension, a veteran must have served on active duty, at least 90 days, with at least one of those days during a period of war. There must be a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable. Single surviving spouses of such veterans are also eligible. If younger than 65, the veteran must be totally disabled. If age 65 and older, there is no requirement for disability. There is no age or disability requirement for a single surviving spouse.

There are income requirements, but a special provision does allow household income to be reduced by 12 months worth of future, recurring medical expenses. Normally, income is only reduced by medical expenses incurred in the month of application. These allowable, annualized medical expenses are such things as insurance premiums, ongoing prescription drug costs, out-of-pocket cost of monthly medical equipment rental, the cost of home care, the cost of paying adult children to provide care, the cost of adult day services, the cost of assisted living and the cost of a nursing home facility. These are all considered medical costs and they can be deducted from income to receive this benefit.

According to Mr. Day, "I talk to a number of people every day who are inquiring about this benefit. In many cases they don't know that the benefit can pay members of the family to take care of the veteran, the veteran couple or the surviving spouse at home. I have literally had people who are sacrificing dearly to take care of their loved ones at home, break down and cry when they find they can receive some money from the government for that sacrifice."

Thomas Day has written two books for the National Care Planning Council to educate and help veterans obtain this long term care benefit. The first, “How to apply for the Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit” is to educate the public what the benefit is and how to get it. The claims process for pension is described and information is provided to help understand what documentation is necessary to provide evidence of recurring medical expenses. All forms necessary for filing a claim are included in the form support section of the book. Here is a link to the book. http://www.longtermcarelink.net/a16Veterans_standard_book.htm

Although this is a do-it-yourself book, Tom recommends if you have excessive assets and income or are not sure how to apply medical deductions, use the services of a qualified consultant.

The second book, “Aid & Attendance Handbook for Professionals & Consultants,” is for the professional consultant. It is 782 pages of rules, forms, instruction on the submission process and Medicaid planning strategies as well as software for calculating income, benefit and medical expenses. Here is a link to that book. http://www.veteranbook.com

The secret for receiving a successful award for aid and attendance or housebound ratings is not in filling out the form but in knowing what documents and evidence must be submitted with the application. Knowing the secrets for a successful award -- with the special case of long term care recipients -- is 95% of the battle. Even though the form is challenging, filling out and filing a claim is a formality.

A knowledgeable consultant can provide information to shorten VA’s decision window of 6 to 12 months to possibly 3 or 4 months. The consultant also understands how to maximize the benefit or avoid a denial. The consultant can also provide guidance for meeting the asset test. Finally, the consultant can provide the actual strategies for reallocating assets and he or she can arrange for trusts or income conversions to allow for the best possible accommodation of assets for beneficiaries thus avoiding or reducing taxes, family disputes and Medicaid penalties.

“I would like to see every eligible veteran obtain the Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit for their long term care needs.” Thomas Day, Director, National Care Planning Council.


Understanding Healthcare Reform

This tool (click on the link below!), developed by the Kaiser Family Foundation, is, perhaps, the best resource available for understanding the proposals around health care reform, including President Obama’s latest proposal released this morning.

Health Proposals Side-by-Side Comparisons

More on Health Care Reform


“Health Care Reform” is likely to pass today. Through parliamentary maneuvering and the ever-popular deals-making, the House appears to have forged an odd assortment of philosophical differences into what is a coalition supporting a bill a clear majority of Americans oppose. Any objective reading of the bill reveals a dizzying array of unrelated provisions, a vast new bureaucratic machine and enormous tax increases and benefit restrictions. In any case, the future of this bill will hardly end with its passage. It will be fixed, bent, manipulated and, perhaps, repealed by future Congresses. For now, all we can do is try and grasp the implications for us and out communities. There are two items we wanted to share here to that end.

First, the Kaiser Foundation has updated its excellent comparison of the various bills to include the latest submissions. You can follow this link to that...


Second Reuters published a little article about one of the bill’s provisions that relates to a new (and little-discussed) provisions that creates a new federal Long-Term Care insurance program. Essentially it provides a benefit of $75/day for in-home or facility-based care. That won’t cover the cost, of course, but it may help. Unfortunately, until we know what this opt-in policy will cost we won’t be able to judge whether or not it’s worthwhile. Even then, it’s likely to be very circumstance-specific. Long Term Care policies are readily available today so we’re not entirely sure what need this is designed to address or how the federal government is likely to create a self-funding program that is more efficient than the private sector so, again, it’s wait and see. In the meantime here’s the article...

PersonalFinance: Federal long-term care

Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:09am EDT

By Linda Stern

WASHINGTON, March 17 - Tucked inside that healthcare bill and likely to become the law of the land, is a new federal long-term care insurance policy.

Called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, the new program is a voluntary opt-in insurance plan that would give beneficiaries as much as $75 a day to pay for long-term care expenses. It's not yet clear how high the premiums would be, but people who paid into the program and then needed its benefits would have broad latitude to spend them on anything from cooking and transportation help to rent in a long-term care facility.

This is significant, for many reasons. The primary policy significance is that this is the federal government's first foray into covering long-term care with a national plan (not counting Medicaid, which gets used for nursing-home care but isn't really a long-term care plan). Consumers will have to deal with a more personal and immediate significance: This CLASS Act will affect the long-term care policy you already own, or the one you are thinking of buying.

Here's what you need to know now:

-- That $75 daily benefit could help a moderately impaired person get the help they need to stay in their home and on the job longer. But it's not even close to what you'd need to cover full-time assisted living in a decent facility, or life in a nursing home. That's closer to $200 a day, according to MetLife's latest survey.

-- Medicaid covers nursing-home care for people who have no assets and are poor. Nothing (except for personal savings and private long-term care insurance) covers an extended stay in a nice assisted living facility. If you're living in an assisted living facility and you run out of money, you're most likely to get kicked out and be sent to a nursing home.

-- Private long-term care policies, which have been developed and promoted as the solution to budget-busting long-term care bills, have had a lot of problems, including sharply rising premiums, lack of stability of the underwriting company, failure to pay expected benefits, and heavy-handed promotions to people who probably shouldn't be buying those policies. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has reported logging an ever-increasing number of consumer complaints about long-term care insurance.

-- Increased government regulations, mostly at the state levels, are helping those policies shape up. The argument for buying insurance now is always that if you wait too long, you may develop a condition that disqualifies you from buying it later. That's true, but long-term care insurance is a product most people buy and don't expect to use for a couple of decades, or longer. It makes more sense to wait for a solid plan before buying it.

-- Insurance companies like Genworth, a major long-term care player, are already trying to figure out how to integrate the federal program into their policies, says Beth Ludden, the firm's senior vice president. Some companies may simply deduct the government's $75-a-day plan from their own benefits. That should make their policies cheaper. Other companies may let you keep that $75 for extras, like a second policy. Some policies that have already been sold, may have a 'coordination of benefits' provision in them that will be affected by the new government plan, says Bonnie Burns, a California consumer advocate who specializes in long-term care issues. So, check your policy.

-- Figure out if you're a reasonable candidate for long-term care insurance. It's a policy designed to protect your assets if you need that kind of care. If you don't have very much money, don't bother to buy a policy because you're likely to spend down your own funds quickly and qualify for Medicaid. If you have loads of money, you can pay your own long-term care costs. If you have assets in the middle, say between $75,000 and $2 million, you should consider buying a policy. Even if you have enough money to pay for your own care, you may want to buy a policy to protect your children's inheritance and budget. (If that's the case, you could always ask your kids to help with the premiums.)

-- Check out your state's insurance regulator before buying a policy. Find them through the NAIC (www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm). Some states have stronger long-term care insurance regulations than others. Some also offer partnerships with the policies, so that purchasers only have to buy enough insurance to cover them for 5 years, and then can get state funding for care needs that exceed that period.

-- Don't buy long-term care insurance without vetting the insurer. The policy has to last decades; you don't want to pay premiums to a company that will go under in 5 or 10 years. Check the firm's ratings with key agencies. You can see a list of the strongest and weakest long-term care insurance companies at Weiss ratings (here).

-- Make sure you buy a policy that includes inflation protection for benefits. And don't buy a plan unless you are confident that you could continue to keep the policy in force, even if rates rose 20 percent or more, says Burns.