SeniorTruth

Question: I’ve been very ill for quite some time. Should I experience another serious episode, I do not want to receive emergency life support. How can I make sure that my wishes will be respected?

Question: The doctor informed me that Mom’s illness is terminal and that, if she would like, Medicare will cover her hospice care needs. How is hospice care coverage different from other Medicare?

The task of preparing the home environment when an older loved one with multiple chronic conditions is being discharged from a rehabilitation center or nursing home may seem overwhelming.  Yet there are some steps to take that can bring order and grounding to a complex and emotional situation. 

There’s a confusing maze of government income, health and care programs for seniors out there. Here’s a quick guide to eight of them:

Question: I retired last year at the age of 66, and started receiving social security. I have been thinking about going back to work. Will returning to work hurt my benefits?

Answer: Since you did not start receiving social security until your “full retirement age,” you may work as much as you want, [...]

Question: Since I’m covered by Medicare, why might I want to purchase long-term care insurance?
Answer: Many seniors mistakenly believe that Medicare will cover most of their future health care costs. Unfortunately, Medicare coverage for long-term care is very limited. For example, should a Medicare recipient require skilled nursing home care after undergoing surgery, Medicare’s [...]

Under California’s long-term care Medi-Cal rules, certain gifts are penalized by levying months of ineligibility. The calculation is made by dividing the dollar value of the gift by the official statewide monthly average private pay rate (APPR) for nursing home care in California. The APPR amount is published annually by the Department of Health Care [...]

In the aftermath of 9/11, photo identification cards have become essential in almost all public dealings.
For example, each of us must prove our identity with a recognized photo identification card (ID) to obtain government services, register to vote, even open a bank account. Since Jan. 1, California notaries

If you’d like to know more about the often-confusing and regularly-misrepresented Medicaid program (called Medi-Cal in California), check out the new Toolkit from the Alliance for Health Reform.

A report recently issued by The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured concludes that the proportion of elderly adults over age 65 in nursing homes has declined over the past two decades, most noticeably in recent years. Reasons suggested for this trend include reductions in disability rates among elderly people, improvements in mechanisms for [...]