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In the nation’s capital, where politicians are always wearing partisan political jerseys, the nomination of Alex Azar to be the new Health and Human Services Secretary may offer the hope of a fresh start on health care issues. President Trump’s recent nominee to run HHS, the largest agency in the federal government, has steadfastly opposed President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), which Azar often describes as “circling the drain.” So the 50-year-old Indiana native is not likely to get many Democrats on his side when the Senate votes on...
Some of the costs for Medicare will hold steady in 2018 and others will see some increase. Medicare Part A Also known as Hospital Insurance, Part A covers in-patient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, skilled home health care and hospice care. Premiums. Most people pay no monthly premium for Part A because they have 40 credits on file with Social Security by paying FICA taxes through their employment. However, some people will pay for Part A. If you have between 30 and 40 credits, you...
I consider myself an expert in the areas of retirement and personal finance, but I admit that I’ve put review of my Medicare coverage on autopilot. I am the author of the Washington Post bestseller, “AARP Roadmap for the Rest of Your Life,” and have written many other books and articles on the subject. Yet health insurance can be challenging to understand for me too. There is a new survey that was recently released called The “Cost of Complacency,” that was conducted by Kelton Global on behalf of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. The survey fo...
Diabetes is one of the most common and costly chronic diseases in the U.S. Over 30 million adults (12 percent) have diabetes, and total medical costs and lost work and wages for people with diabetes totaled $245 billion in 2012. Another 84 million adults (34 percent) have prediabetes, putting them at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes is a serious health condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be considered type 2 diabetes. Diabetes progresses over time and can lead to serious health...
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Senior Center directors meet bi-annually to discuss common issues in senior services, sharing challenges and successes. Together, we create efficient and unduplicated senior services, assisting seniors in maintaining independent and quality lives. October's meeting brought three new leaders to the table, after long time directors Jan Fena (Soldotna), Rachael Craig (Kenai) and Ron Sloan (Cooper Landing) retired, taking with them an accumulation of 70 years in senior se...
The Trump administration is planning to end another Obama-era regulation involving nursing homes, which was designed to shield the elderly from unscrupulous, abusive or bad nursing home practices. At the end of the Obama administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rules that would’ve made it easier for nursing home residents or their families to take facilities to court over alleged abuse, neglect or sexual assault. Now, Trump is proposing to replace that rule with one that could make it almost impossible for n...
Have you reviewed your prescription drug coverage for 2018? The Open Enrollment Period for Part D and Medicare Advantage Plans is in full swing. Beginning Oct. 15 and continuing until Dec. 7, Medicare beneficiaries have to opportunity to review their coverage, determine the most appropriate plan for 2018 and enroll. There are no public Medicare Advantage plans being offered in Alaska however, there will be 19 Medicare prescription drug plans offered. Medicare beneficiaries are encouraged to reme...
More than 25 percent of possible sexual and physical abuse cases against nursing home patients were not reported to police, warns a new government audit. The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office issued an unusual “early alert” recently, based on preliminary findings from a large sampling of cases in 33 states. The IG’s report blamed Medicare for failing to enforce federal law, which requires that nursing homes immediately notify the police in abuse cases. Investigators issued the early warning because they found that the res...
Fall is in the air! Time for pumpkin spiced treats, watching football, getting out our winter gear, putting on our studded tires, and for Medicare beneficiaries, it is time to review our prescription drug coverage. Known by a number of titles such as the Fall Open Enrollment period, the Part D Open Enrollment, or Medicare’s Open Enrollment, each autumn between October 15 and December 7, Medicare offers the opportunity for Medicare beneficiaries to make changes to their coverage. These changes c...
Dear Savvy Senior: I’m concerned that my 80-year-old mother is taking too many medications. She currently takes 10 different drugs prescribed by three different doctors, which I think is causing her some problems. She also struggles to keep up with all the drug costs. Any suggestions? - Concerned Daughter Dear Concerned: There’s no doubt that older Americans are taking more prescription medications than ever before. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, around 40 percent of seniors, age 65 and older, take five or mor...
For now, Social Security is in the black. In 2016 the Social Security Administration (SSA) took in income of $957 billion, which includes interest income. During the same year, it had total expenditures of $922 billion, adding $35 billion to its asset reserves. The reserves together with new income that is projected, should be enough to cover SSA’s costs for another 10 years. But unless something changes, by 2022 the expenditures will start to outpace the income, gradually gobbling up the reserves. Who’s collecting Social Security benefits now?...
In a community with strong volunteers, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) hosted by the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. (APIA) can attest to the unified, strong and community-minded senior volunteer pool that drives this effort. The RSVP program at APIA is rounding its third year in the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Within the first three years this program has started from scratch to build a program that offers opportunities for seniors age 55 years and...
If you thought the bitter partisan fight over the “repeal and replace” of President Obama’s health care law was ugly, ratchet up the intensity – the next fight over Trump’s budget, including sweeping changes to Medicare, is about to start, just as Congress faces a fiscal crisis. These Medicare changes would raise the eligibility age and convert the program to a voucher program affecting all 55.5 million seniors currently using the program and millions more about to become Medicare eligible. President Donald Trump wants Congress’s next move t...
Welcome to autumn! This season is when Medicare Beneficiaries are going to receive valuable and pertinent information in the mail about their benefits and upcoming changes in preparation for the Part D Open Enrollment period. The Open Enrollment Period is an important opportunity that is provided to Medicare beneficiaries annually to evaluate their prescription drug coverage and to make changes if they desire. It occurs from October 15 to December 7 annually. Medicare and You Handbook. Each Medi...
After a year of experience, how are we doing? We're loving it! Aging at Home Fairbanks (AAH) is a membership organization for older adults. It connects members with each other and the resources they need to remain active and independent as they age. AAH launched in January 2016. Quite soon we had 40 members and 30 volunteers. A year and a half later, we have over 80 members and 50 volunteers. We partner with the North Star Council on Aging and the Fairbanks Senior Center, which is our fiscal...
With Better Business Bureau’s free annual event, the Secure Your ID shred day, coming up, it’s a good time to remind people about steps they can take to prevent identity theft. The first line of defense in protecting your identity is to shred all documents with personal information. That includes credit card, bank, utility and other statements, old IRS and tax information, medical statements and credit card offers. Many instances of identity theft still occur by physical methods – dumpster diving and stealing mail out of unsecured mailb...
Every day, 10,000 people turn 65 and the eldest baby boomers will begin to turn 80 in 2026, so the demand for long term care services is about to explode in the near future. Already 1.4 million seniors live in nursing home facilities in the U.S. But states are only making lukewarm progress helping millions of seniors on Medicaid avoid costly nursing home care by arranging home or community services for them instead, a new AARP report finds. Overall, AARP says states have made “incremental improvements” since its 2014 Scorecard, but calls the...
Members and guests of the Bartlett Political Forum, aka the Bartlett Club, in Anchorage were entertained by none other than Jon "Bowzer" Bauman during a presentation July 20. Yes, he is still around and continues to entertain. He parodied "Good Night Sweetheart," singing "Goodnight Trumpcare, well it's time to go," and played a piece by Schubert that he said his mother enjoyed hearing. Most in the audience remembered Bauman's popular Sha Na Na character, "Bowzer," a gangly, slender-armed...
Editor, I read your July edition. As usual, there were many articles on Medicare, most apparently talking down to recipients. Have you ever considered an article from the recipients’ viewpoint? First off, please remember that most of the people enrolled in Medicare pay premiums for Medicare and D and Supplements. Medicare is not free. Are statistics available on the total paid to Medicare? Supplements are quite expensive but they must be profitable to insurance companies or the companies would not offer them. Often, medical practitioners s...
This is an ongoing series from the Diverse Elders Coalition, looking at different segments of the senior population. Hispanics and Latinos make up the fastest-growing demographic of the U.S. population. In 2015, the Hispanic population reached 56.6 million, making Hispanics the nation’s largest ethnic/racial minority, constituting 17.6 percent of the US population. It is projected that by 2060, the Hispanic population will reach 119 million, or 28.6 percent of the U.S. population. In addition to rapid population growth, Hispanics and Latinos a...
What is a Health Insurance Marketplace plan? If I have a Marketplace plan and I become eligible for Medicare should I switch? What are the advantages of Medicare over the Marketplace? How do I disenroll from my Marketplace plan? What if I didn’t switch to Medicare when I could have? What is Time Limited Equitable Relief and do I qualify for it? These are a few of the questions many people turning 65 are asking and we will try to answer for you. What is the Health Insurance Marketplace? First o...
Dear Savvy Senior: I’m worried about my 72-year-old mother who has been taking the opioid medication Vicodin for her hip and back pain for more than a year. I fear she’s becoming addicted to the drug but I don’t know what to do. Concerned Daughter Dear Concerned: The opioid epidemic is a national problem that is hitting people of all ages, including millions of older Americans. Here’s what you should know and do to help your mother. The cause The main reason opioid addiction has become such a problem for people over age 50 is because over th...
Warning: This story may raise your blood pressure. For sure, it raises troubling questions about the U.S. government’s ability to manage a medical bureaucracy. Medicare, the government insurance program that provides health care to 55 million elderly and disabled Americans, continues to provide a steady income stream for criminals who are regularly finding innovative ways to steal a good sized chunk of the half-trillion dollars that are paid out annually by the program. This comes despite strong efforts by health investigators and Justice D...
Despite the fact that this bill has over 100 Congressional co-sponsors, you probably have not heard about H.R. 676, The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. This legislation would: • guarantee access to comprehensive, high quality, affordable health care to all U.S. residents; • allow you to go to doctors and hospitals of your choice (unlike private insurance, which often forces you to use their list of doctors and hospitals); • not require you to pay copayments or deductibles; • not surprise you with huge unexpected medical bills....
Editor’s note: This commentary was received on May 25, 2017. Sometimes legislation in Congress has unintended consequences. This is one of those times. The American Health Care Act (AHCA) that recently passed in the U.S. House, and awaits action in the Senate, would increase costs and risks for Alaskans including: seniors, children and adults with disabilities, people with pre-existing conditions, and those ages 50 to 64. The AHCA would ax federal funding for Medicaid which supports health programs for vulnerable Alaskans. Such a huge loss o...
