According to a recent research study, the happiest Americans are our senior citizens, and that seniors are more socially active than the stereotype of the lonely senior suggests.

The study showed that the odds of being happy increased 5 percent with every 10 years of age.Overall, about 33 percent of Americans reported being very happy at age 88, versus about 24 percent of those age 18 to their early 20s. And throughout the study years, most Americans reported being very happy or pretty happy; less than 20 percent said they were not too happy.

The the artilce at : msnbc.com

A recent research study shows that taking methylphenidate could help older people reduce their risk of falling by sharpening their mental function, Israeli researchers report. Methylphenidate is used to treat attention deficit disorder like the drug Ritalin.

Falls are a leading cause of injury and death among older people. It is estimated that half of elderly people who are hospitalized after a fall will be alive a year later, notes a report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

To investigate whether methylphenidate might offer a potential strategy for fall prevention, the researchers had 26 healthy, independently living seniors complete tests of fall risk and executive function before and after taking a single dose of the drug.After taking the drug, the participants completed the “Timed Up and Go” test significantly more quickly. In the test, a person gets up from a chair, walks for three meters at a normal pace, turns around and walks back, and sits back down. Fall risk rises with the amount of time it takes a person to complete the test.

Source: reuters.com

Health insurer WellPoint Inc. announced Monday May 5, 2008 that its National Government Services subsidiary was selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to administer the Medicare Administrative Contract for an area that includes New York and Connecticut.

Under the new contract, the WellPoint unit will perform key administrative functions for Medicare’s contracts with hospitals, skilled nursing complexes and physicians. They will manage all appeals, audit and reimbursement, claims processing, medical review and coverage determinations.

Senior Shopping Guide.com is a great resource for the seniors of Orange County, CA. Check out the site at: www.seniorshoppingguide.com .

They also run Boomer Shopping Guide.com at www.boomershoppingguide.com .

 Happy Shopping!

Mercury News.com reported today that a coalition of health care groups have filed a lawsuit against the state of California to prevent 10 percent cuts to Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal payments scheduled to begin July 1, 2008. There are more than 6 million low-income Californians that use Medi-Cal for health care services. The class-action lawsuit has been filed in The Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of California health care providers. The complaint includes the California Medical Association, the California Hospital Association and the California Dental Association.