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Despite a genuine consensus that something must be done, Congressional efforts to rein in drug prices remain stalled and more than likely dead until after the November elections. Even with rhetoric rising on how important controlling drug prices is and added pressure due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), nothing is likely to get done as lawmakers are split on fundamental issues of how to solve the problem. Even President Donald Trump’s support for bipartisan Senate drug-pricing legislation doesn’t appear to be motivating Senate Majority Lea...
The number of diagnosed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has topped 125,000 globally as I write this article. Countries are closing their borders, travel restriction bans into the U.S. are going into effect, and sports leagues have suspended their seasons in an effort to slow the spread of this virus. Some states, such as Alaska have declared a public health emergency status, schools are extending their spring break, some colleges are moving to online classes, and many much anticipated confer...
We are all learning to navigate these challenging, unprecedented times. While our care looks different these days, Hospice of Anchorage is still able to serve patients and families in our community with compassionate hospice and palliative care. And while that is our organization’s focus, we also know that as a community, we must take care of our children, parents, brothers and sisters. Maintaining a healthy community is everyone’s common objective as we work through the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please be assured that we...
Protecting yourself from COVID-19 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that the new novel corona virus will be spreading around the country and everyone in Alaska should be as prepared as possible. Anyone who is older than 65 and anyone who is being treated for cancer need to take special precautions. The disease caused by the new coronavirus is called COVID-19. The most common symptoms include fever, cough and breathing difficulties. Although symptoms are very similar to th...
Dear Savvy Senior: In light of the stock market crashing, I’ve heard that Social Security offers a lump-sum payment to new retirees who need some extra cash. I have not yet filed for my retirement benefits and would like to investigate this option. What can you tell me? — Seeking Cash Dear Seeking: There is indeed a little-known Social Security claiming strategy that’s been around for many years that can provide retirees a lump-sum benefit, but you need to be past your full retirement age to be eligible, and there are financial drawbacks you n...
The Alaska Geriatric Exchange Network, also known as AgeNet, is a statewide association of senior service providers that’s been advocating for older Alaskans for more than 20 years. According to an AgeNet fact sheet, the goal of AgeNet is “working to assure the appropriate network of senior services is available in every Alaskan community for all seniors so they might live independently with honor and dignity.” In February, AgeNet released the following outline of its three priorities for this legislative session: Senior Nutrition Grant Program...
Often times it can be confusing to Medicare beneficiaries just how much of their medical expenses will be covered and for how much they will be responsible. This, in part, can be due to not understanding their providers’ relationship with Medicare. Medical providers are categorized under three classifications in reference to Medicare. They are: providers who accept assignment, providers who do not accept assignment, and opted-out providers. Providers who accept assignment (also known as p...
Tax season is approaching, and we have made replacing your annual Benefit Statement easier. The Benefit Statement, also known as the SSA-1099 or the SSA-1042S, is a tax form we mail each year in January to people who receive Social Security benefits. It shows the total amount of benefits you received from us in the previous year so you know how much Social Security income to report to the IRS on your tax return. If you live in the United States and you need a replacement form SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S, simply go online and get an instant,...
President Donald Trump recently has been making a striking claim – insisting he has ensured that people with preexisting medical conditions continue to have health insurance coverage. In tweets, at campaign rallies and even at his recent State of the Union speech, Trump says: "I was the person who saved pre-existing conditions in your healthcare." He wasn't. This comes at the very same time that his own Justice Department pushes to eliminate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) altogether, including pre-existing conditions for millions of A...
Congressional lawmakers find themselves caught between the unlikely and the impossible as they try and work through complicated issues like drug price controls. With the sharp partisan divide, the ongoing impeachment of President Trump, the upcoming presidential campaign and their own re-election fights on everyone's minds, difficult choices with disappointing results are the most likely scenario for prescription drug and most other major health care legislation affecting seniors – just like i...
Alaska's vast geographic space dictates more than its beauty. In the case of the statewide Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) it determines access and the providing of services for Alaskans with disabilities and for seniors and caregivers seeking long term support in their community. From Cantwell to the south and Utqiagvik to the north, Galena to the west and Northway to the east, ADRC North operates out of Fairbanks Senior Center and strives to match individuals living in the...
You have probably heard, read or seen on the news that there is an opioid abuse epidemic running rampant in the United States. According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Opioids killed more than 47,000 people in 2017. That is 130 people per day. Sadly, 36% of all opioid overdose deaths involved a prescription opioid. It is estimated that three out of four people who used heroin misused prescription opioids first, and over two million people currently have an opioid use...
While President Trump has not had much success on the drug price reform front, his administration is making modest progress on a different front – announcing two regulatory changes that Trump hopes will provide more easy-to-read price information to patients. The first effort targets hospitals, finalizing a rule that requires them to reveal and display their secret, negotiated rates to patients, beginning in January 2021. This proposal has been resisted for months by a large portion of the health care industry. It would require hospitals for th...
Each new year is sure to bring changes and Medicare is no different. Here are some changes that you will want to know about. New Medicare cards. Medicare began mailing the new Medicare cards to beneficiaries in April 2018. Up until Dec. 31 of 2019, you could use either your old, Social Security number based card or the new card, which has an 11 character, alpha-numeric identification that is random and yet unique to each beneficiary. As of Jan. 1, 2020, only your new card can be used. So pull...
Editor’s note: This press statement was received on Dec. 13, 2019. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) is reinstating Alaska’s adult preventive dental program (also known as the Adult Enhanced Dental Program) for Medicaid recipients effective Dec. 31, 2019. Program services will also be retroactively covered to Oct. 1, 2019, when the program was discontinued as part of an overall effort to address the state’s budget deficit. The decision to reinstate the program was made by DHSS Commissioner Adam Crum in coord...
Seward Senior Center will be closed for construction for three weeks, Jan. 17 through Feb. 7, 2020. “For the modernization of senior services, we will improve our security, sign in systems for all visitors and knock out a few cobwebs that seem to grow as we stay super busy serving our greatest generation,” said Seward Seniors Executive Director Dana Paperman. During the closure, transportation, the lunch program, meals on wheels and fitness programs will continue at other locations. Fitness classes will be hosted at the AVTEC gym and nutritiona...
Starting on Jan. 8, 2020, Social Security offices nationwide will be open to the public on Wednesday afternoons, Andrew Saul, Commissioner of Social Security, announced in a Dec. 2 press announcement. This change restores Wednesday public service hours that were last in place in late 2012. “I don’t want someone to come to our office at 2:30 on a Wednesday only to find our doors closed,” commissioner Saul said. In another move to improve service to the public, Commissioner Saul announced in his Open Letter to the Public at www.s...
The Trump administration has proposed to overhaul decades-old Medicare rules that were originally meant to counter self-dealing and financial kickbacks among medical providers such as hospitals, clinics and doctors. But the administration says these anti-kickback rules are now serving as a roadblock to coordinating better care for patients. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) wants to encourage primary care physicians and other clinicians to spend more time coordinating care for their patients including social issues, patients...
It will have a huge impact on your life. Maybe it’s a few years away, and maybe it’s just around the corner. No matter when you anticipate retirement, it can be overwhelming. Ease into it with a checklist. Here are a few suggestions. Retirement bucket list What would you like to do when you retire? What is on your bucket list? How will you spend your time so that it gives you joy, pleasure and satisfaction? You can start thinking about this years before you retire, or as you are easing into it. Perhaps you could discuss these ideas with friends...
When Altrice Ward’s 82-year-old mother was hospitalized after falling for the third or fourth time, Ward knew she had to face an uncomfortable reality: Her mother could no longer live on her own. So, despite holding down a full-time nursing job, Ward decided to move her mother in with her and take on the role of caregiver. Even her professional training caring for others did not prepare her for what lay ahead. “It was eye-opening and more difficult and exhausting than I imagined it would be,” says Ward, of Maywood, Ill., a Chicago subur...
Have you seen all of the advertising for Medicare Plans? It seems like the TV waves are inundated with commercials about Medicare this time of year. And there is lots of talk about new benefits, free benefits and low or no-cost plans. How do you sort out all of this information and determine what plan is best for you in 2020? Medicare Advantage: Additional benefits, but not offered in Alaska No doubt about it, we are in the middle of the Open Enrollment Season for Part D (Prescription Drug...
The numbers are simply staggering. People 85 and older – who usually have multiple chronic illnesses or have difficulty performing some daily tasks – will mushroom to 14.6 million in 2040, up from about 6 million now. So who is going to take care of these seniors? Right now, since Medicare does not pay for long-term care services or non-medical services in the home, there are 3.3 million paid personal care and home health aides and more than 34 million unpaid family caregivers doing that job. Already, around the U.S., many caregivers, sen...
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for nearly 69 million Americans will increase 1.6 percent in 2020, the Social Security Administration announced in October. The 1.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 63 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2020, according to an Oct. 10 press release from the Social Security Administration. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on Dec. 31, 2019, the press release stated. (Note: some...
Congress is making its end-of-year legislative sprint, with hot-button health care legislation stuck behind critical must-pass spending bills before a government shutdown. But lawmakers often push shutdowns off with temporary all-inclusive spending bills as they are likely to do this time, as they try to get out of town for the late December winter holidays. Even if the spending bills get approved individually or together in one big temporary bill, the must-do list leaves lawmakers roughly 40 days in which both chambers will be in session...
What an amazing summer we have had! Now the weather has turned cooler and autumn is definitely in the air. As we plunge into all of the activities of this season, it is important to remember the Part D Open Enrollment Period (OEP) will soon be here. Once again, the Open Enrollment Period will be scheduled between October 15 and December 7. The Part D Open Enrollment Period is the annual opportunity for Medicare beneficiaries with Part D plans to review and possibly change their coverage. You...
