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After the National Family Caregiver Support Act was passed by U.S. Congress in 2000, the Senior and Caregiver Resource Center based in Juneau began offering caregiver-specific resources to elders and their families throughout Southeast Alaska. As per the Act, the center provides five different levels of service: 1) information, 2) assistance, 3) counseling, training and support groups, 4) respite care and 5) supplemental services, according to Marianne Mills, Southeast Senior Services (SESS)...
Medicare and Medicaid are two programs that can offer a strong combination health insurance for seniors. Many people get the two programs confused because of the similarity of their names. Medicare is health insurance offered by the federal government for people over the age of 65, people who have been receiving Social Security Disability benefits for 24 months and for those of any age who have been diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Medicaid is a federal and state program offering...
The medical world can be a confusing place between insurance, medications, diagnosis, let alone understanding all of the medical jargon. Most people know about hospice care, but less people know about palliative care. Understanding the meaning of words can mean everything, especially around end-of-life, as it can be a sensitive topic. Not to confuse anyone, but we are Hospice of Anchorage and we are a palliative care agency. When it comes to treatment there are some differences in the timeframe and patient goals between hospice and palliative...
Nila Morgan, Master Certified Medicare Counselor and Fraud Education Coordinator, will walk you through how to read your Summary Notice and teach you to protect yourself from Medicare fraud at this workshop, July 13 at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Bring along any confusing bills or statements as well as all documentation in your red, white and blue Medicare card. Call 770-2070 with questions or to RSVP. Seating is limited....
Are you aware that Medicare works with the State of Alaska to provide assistance programs that can help with your Medicare costs? These costs can include your Medicare Part A & Part B premiums deductibles, coinsurance charges and copayments. These programs are available to all Medicare beneficiaries. There are three programs known as the Medicare Savings programs (MSPs), each having different income limits and resource parameters. The income and asset qualifications are different if you are...
Hospice of Anchorage was founded in 1980 and is a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization and a partner agency of the United Way of Anchorage. We typically provide all our services at no charge, except those patients that do not yet qualify for Medicare Hospice. We also offer one-on-one grief support and peer grief support groups for anyone in the community, infant to adult, who has experienced a death loss. Volunteers are a crucial function of Hospice of Anchorage’s services. Hospice of Anchorage has three full-time and six part-time staff m...
Are you looking for resources that will allow you to maintain your independence as you age? Look no further than your local Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC). Servicing locations all over Alaska, ADRCs are the link between the individual and various services catering to seniors, caregivers and people with disabilities. "We listen to what individuals are asking for and explain and offer a variety of services such as Medicare, senior benefit programs, personal care services and more...
The Trump administration has proposed slashing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget, saying it is bloated with unnecessary expenses resulting in waste and abuse. It has also proposed to eliminate the independent status of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and absorb it into the NIH. AHRQ is a little-known agency that focuses on improving health care quality and applying it to patient safety. It is one of the true unsung heroes of the federal government, providing vital scientific research that has helped reduce...
Sudden price spikes in older drugs are putting patients at risk of going without vital medicine. A new report by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging uncovered an insidious business model that’s leading to monopoly pricing power and astronomical price increases. Berna Heyman, a retired librarian who has Wilson Disease testified how she was a victim of obscene price gouging. Her annual co-pay for the drug Syprine rose from $700 in 2013 to $10,000 in 2014, with her drug plan paying over $260,000. When she and her doctor applied for V...
Are you aware that if you have Medicare Part B you are eligible to receive a large number of preventive services that will cost you nothing? Medicare’s goal in offering these preventive screenings is to find health problems early when treatment works best. Under Medicare Part B, preventive services are part of your benefits and you will pay no co-payment if you get the services from a provider who takes assignment. Taking assignment means that this provider has an agreement with Medicare to a...
Dear Savvy Senior, I’ve recently read that all baby boomers should get tested for hepatitis C. Is this really necessary, and if so, what are the testing and treatment procedures? – Healthy Boomer Dear Healthy, It’s true. Both the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that all baby boomers – people born from 1945 through 1965 – get a hepatitis C test. The reason is because baby boomers account for 75 percent of the 3 million or so hepatitis C cases in the U.S. Those that are infec...
Hospice of Anchorage has been around since 1980 and is a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization and a partner agency to United Way of Anchorage. We are a community agency comprised of an interdisciplinary team – volunteers, nurses, social workers, volunteer coordinator and a bereavement coordinator. We provide assistance with transition from life through death and to cope with loss and grief. This may be a one-time visit, periodic contact or may grow into an ongoing relationship lasting weeks, months or years. All services are provided free of c...
On Memorial Day, we honor the soldiers and service members who have given their lives for our nation. Social Security respects the heroism and courage of our military service members, and we remember those who have given their lives in defense of freedom. Part of how we honor service members is the way we provide Social Security benefits. The unexpected loss of a family member is a difficult experience for anyone. Social Security helps by providing benefits to protect service members’ dependents. Widows, widowers, and their dependent children m...
You like potato, I like potahto You like tomato, I like tomahto Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto Let’s call the whole thing off! The point the Gershwin brothers were making, I take it, was that slight differences in semantics shouldn’t make any difference in reality. Okay, maybe it’s more complicated than that, but I didn’t write this column to talk about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Sometimes, slight wording differences matter tremendously. Take Medicare and Medicaid, for example. They so...
A bill introduced this session in the Alaska state legislature would require health care providers to post medical care price information. The bill, HB 123, was sponsored by Rep. Ivy Spohnholz and co-sponsored by representatives Chris Tuck, Harriet Drummond, Justin Parish, Les Gara and Geran Tarr. The goal, according to a sponsor statement from Spohnholz, is to empower consumers to make better decisions about their health care options by ensuring accessible information on medical pricing. “Alaska has the second most expensive health care c...
Dear Savvy Senior, Can you explain how Medicare covers physical therapy services? I’m a new beneficiary, and would like to get some treatments for my back. Need Help Dear Need, Medicare covers a variety of outpatient therapy services including physical, occupational and speech therapy, if you meet their coverage criteria. Here’s how it works. Medicare coverage To get Medicare (Part B) to help cover your physical therapy, it must be considered medically reasonable and necessary, and will need to be ordered or prescribed by your doctor. You can...
AARP Alaska will present a free “Secure Your Future” workshop on retirement and Medicare in Kodiak, April 21 and 22 at the Best Western Kodiak Inn. “Get Ready for Medicare,” presented by staff from the Alaska Medicare Information Office, will discuss how and when to enroll; what Medicare covers and associated costs; when and how to choose prescription and/or Medigap coverage; Q&A. It will be offered twice, first on Friday, April 21, 5:30 to 7 p.m. and again on Saturday, April 22, 9:30 to 11 a.m. “Ready to Retire,” discusses fundamentals of inve...
New research from the Employment Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) updates previous estimates of how much money Medicare beneficiaries are projected to need to cover health expenses in retirement, including premiums for Medicare Parts B and D, premiums for Medigap Plan F, and out-of-pocket spending for outpatient prescription drugs. The analysis shows that retiree health savings targets increased from 2014 to 2016, but that 2016 savings targets continue to be lower than they were in 2012 almost across the board. Specifically: • In 2016, a 65-ye...
In the fall of 2015, Martin Shkreli, the founder and former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, ignited a firestorm when his company raised the price of a little-known drug to treat toxoplasmosis to $750 a tablet from $13.50. Earlier that year, Valeant Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to a pair of life-saving heart drugs, Nitopress and Isuprel. The same day as the purchase, the company jacked up their list prices by 525 percent and 212 percent respectively. Last year, Mylan, supplier of roughly 95 percent of the nation’s EpiPens, an e...
You may file for your 2017 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend today. If you choose, you can designate a portion of your PFD to support non-profit organizations in Alaska who are eligible for the Pick.Click.Give. program. Older Persons Action Group is eligible and will appreciate all Pick.Click.Give. donations, which will help us continue our programs, including publication of Senior Voice and the Directory for Older Alaskans, free Medicare counseling, free educational forums and more. Visit https://pfd.alaska.gov/ to file online. Pick.Click.Give....
Editor’s note: This press statement was received on Feb. 13, 2017. AARP has launched a comprehensive campaign to protect Medicare in the face of proposals by some in Congress that would hurt hardworking Alaskans who have paid into the program their entire working lives. Over the next few weeks, AARP staff and volunteers will meet with members of Congress to underscore the importance of Medicare to Alaska’s beneficiaries and the workers who currently pay in to the program. Congressional proposals to change Medicare into a voucher system wou...
Dave called to his wife Barb as he was leaving the house, "I'm headed up to church for my exercise class!" Barb was quick to respond, "Don't you mean the gym?" "No, our new parish nurse Mary is leading us in some Tai Chi, she says it will help my balance. I asked her to explain this new medicine for my blood pressure when we are done. I bet she could even help you figure out those Medicare forms you've been so frustrated with." What does a registered nurse do in the setting of a faith...
As an older veteran, the last thing on your mind might be a home refinancing plan. You may have paid off your house and are basking in the lifelong dream of finally having no mortgage payment. Spending money on house payments are for the younger folks, right. Well, I want you to consider some salient points for pulling some cash out of the old homestead. First, interest rates are at an all-time low. With a little shopping, you should be able to find a VA lender offering rates on a 30-year fixed...
As we age, the more we need reliable health care, and an important part of the aging process is access to quality emergency and trauma care. As Republicans are looking to keep their promise to voters to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it’s important for lawmakers in Washington to understand how to repeal without continuing the damaging cuts to Medicare that were part of the ACA. In 2010, as we all remember, there was a fierce debate around health care reform - what it would look like and how it would be paid for. And sadly, as I warned d...
Same incredible program, different local, non-profit, sponsor! The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) is now actively serving and partnering with organizations in the Anchorage and Mat-Su region. This nationally-recognized program is sponsored and administered by the local non-profit, Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. (APIAI). The RSVP program is a federally-funded program and is one of the largest volunteer networks in the nation for people age 55 and older. APIAI was awarded the three-year project in April of 2015, and has...
