A new study results further prove scientists’ warnings about the risks of stroke involved with giving elderly patients antipsychotic drugs. There is an increased risk of stroke with both typical and atypical antipsychotics, said study author Dr. Ian Douglas, a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Similar findings date back at least six years, according to other researchers.”This risk is substantially higher in patients with dementia than those without. These findings need to be factored into prescribing decisions made by doctors caring for patients with often-distressing and difficult-to-treat psychiatric symptoms,” Douglas said.

Douglas and a colleague studied nearly 6,800 individuals who were taking antipsychotic drugs and had suffered a stroke. Those taking the drugs were 1.7 times more likely to suffer a stroke. The rate more than doubled, to 3.5 times more likely, for dementia patients taking antipsychotics. Study findings were published late last week in the British Medical Journal online.

Making the decision for ongoing home care is a challenge for families. After a fmaily memeber tries to provide care themselves, they finally decide to reach out and hire outside help. What they do not need is a new situation worse than the first.

Selecting a home care provider.

Some people rely on a referral. But just because a caregiver worked out for the someone does not assure a good outcome for you. Interview the caregiver, check recent work references and pay attention to how you feel about her or him.

Many families prefer to use a referral agency or a company that provides its own employees because they want the benefit of a criminal background check and professional oversight. If you contact such a company, make sure it answers all your questions and leaves you feeling impressed, confident and relieved to be in its hands. Ask about its background; is it in nursing or social work? Understand the pricing and written service agreement.

Setting the stage. Observe how a potential caregiver relates to your loved one. A good caregiver should make you feel comfortable and give you peace of mind.

Just when America was warming up to the idea of purchasing long-term care insurance to protect family assets from the devastating costs of custodial care, the three largest insurance companies have caused a stir in the market by raising prices on existing policies, not just on policies to be sold in the future.

Long-term care insurance policies are sold with the “assumption” of level premiums that won’t increase much over the years. That’s the incentive to buy when you are young, healthy, and prices are lower. Insurers have the right to go to state insurance commissioners to seek approval of a price increase on everyone who bought a certain policy, if claims significantly exceed expectations.

When insurers first created long-term care policies, it was hard to predict how their costs would turn out. But as insurers gained more experience in the last 10 years, it has been expected that the risk of price increases on the more recently issued policies would be slim and that any premium increases would be minimal.

Those who bought early to “lock in” lower prices are now being surprised by significant premium increases.

In the last year, Genworth requested increases ranging from 8 percent to 12 percent on some policies already owned by its customers. John Hancock announced a 14 percent increase in some policies in May. Nearly all of these policies were issued before 2000. But last week, MetLife announced it will raise annual premiums an average of 18 percent for policyholders who were younger than 70 when they purchased their policies from 1998 through 2005.

In effect, the insurers are admitting they made a pricing mistake. The only other explanation is that they priced policies artificially low to compete for business.

David Acselrod, MetLife vice president, long-term care and critical illness insurance, said: “Quite simply, we expect to pay out substantially more in claims than we originally anticipated. Some of the assumptions that drive LTCi pricing include policy lapses, interest rates, the number of people requiring care and the duration of care, to name a few. Following a review of our experience, we concluded that we had to make changes to ensure that we are pricing the products appropriately on behalf of all of our policyholders.”

Source:suntimes.com

The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2008 is the bill that would eliminate arbitration agreements as a requirement for admission into a nursing home and it is one step closer to becoming a law. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill last Thursday.

Since its introduction in April of this year, the legislation has started a heated debate between lawmakers and consumer advocates on one side and nursing-home groups on the other. As recently as last Wednesday, healthcare lobbyists were sending letters to high-ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in an effort to defeat the bill. Many in the long-term care industry argue that eliminating mandatory arbitration agreements will cause facilities to focus resources more on legal battles than on improving quality of care.The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act will not entirely do away with arbitration agreements,  lawmakers note. Rather, it will make them a voluntary agreement. Before it can become law, the bill must be debated on the Senate floor. No debate is currently scheduled.

I recently posted information about Life Insurance for Seniors and the benefits of having a policy. Many are nervous about investigating the options that are available due to costs. Don’t be! There are inexpensive options. You may want to get in touch with an Insurance company that can shop around for the best prices for your age and health. There are so many plans available you should find one to choose from. Ask family and friends if they have an agent they are happy with. This can help stear you in the right directon.

Why Buy Life Insurance as a senior?
Life insurance could be a great investment for senior citizens. If you have little or no savings with which to cover funeral costs, the expense will left to your family. If you have outstanding debts at the time of your death it will be taken out of your estate, or passed on to your loved ones. A seniors’ life insurance policy offers seniors a way to cover these costs without putting financial pressures on their survivors.

If you are a recipient of social security, you should consider that your spouse will only be receiving a portion of your social security income after your death. This may affect his or her standard of living; something you can protect against by purchasing a seniors’ life insurance policy.
 

How to Choose the right Life Insurance Policy.

With so many options their comes more complexity. You may not want to spend too much time searching for the perfect insurance policy. Consulting an insurance broker will give you access to expert advice and a wide variety of policies to consider.

You can find more information online to help find the right policy that meets your needs. I recommend searching in google for life insurance polcies for seniors. beware of scams. Choose a well known name that you can trust. Good Luck!

The American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA) released a Special Issue Brief that describes the use of computerized brain fitness tools being offered to seniors housing residents as part of comprehensive wellness program. The Brief was prepared for ASHA by Alvaro Fernandez, co-founder and CEO of SharpBrains, a recognized thought leader in the growing science-based brain fitness market.

The 15-page report, entitled “Brain Fitness Centers in Senior Housing: A Field in the Making,” provides an overview of the brain fitness field with four case studies that shed light on the use of brain fitness centers in seniors housing communities, including those operated by Senior Star Living of Tulsa, OK, Belmont Village Senior Living of Houston, TX, and Erickson Retirement Communities of Catonsville, MD.

In releasing the Special Issue Brief, David Schless, ASHA’s President, noted, “This report truly underscores how cutting-edge technology and science are being used to enhance the lives of seniors. It is particularly exciting to contemplate the enormous potential impact that computerized cognitive assessments and training can have for seniors housing residents.” According to the author, Alvaro Fernandez, “This is the very first publication in the field of brain fitness to address specific considerations related to seniors housing, expanding on our general market report released earlier this year. It is very conceivable that the early and enthusiastic adaptation of cognitive fitness, supported by the solid measurement of outcomes reported in the Brief, will help to transform the way in which the general population perceives seniors housing.”

A limited number of copies of the Special Issue Brief are available for purchase at ASHA’s online bookstore at www.seniorshousing.org and at www.sharpbrains.com.

The American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA) was created in 1991 by a number of leading seniors housing providers seeking an effective voice on Capitol Hill. Today, ASHA’s membership has grown to 350 companies that develop, operate, and finance the entire spectrum of seniors housing. ASHA’s membership owns and/or manages more than 600,000 units of senior apartments, independent living, assisted living, and continuing care retirement communities. Over the years, ASHA’s members have come to rely on the Association for its expertise in three key areas - federal advocacy; seniors housing research; and networking and exchange of strategic business information. For more information, visit www.seniorshousing.org or call 202-237-0900.

Source:www.businesswire.com

Private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will be paid an average 12.4 percent more per enrollee in 2008 compared to what the same enrollee would have cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. Even if the payment reductions to MA plans mandated by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) - scheduled to take effect beginning in 2010 - had been fully in place in 2008, MA plans still would have been paid 10.6 percent more than expected fee-for-service costs.

In the report, Brian Biles, professor of health policy at George Washington University, and colleagues estimate that extra payments to MA plans will amount to $986 over fee-for-service costs for each of about 8.7 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, for a total of more than $8.5 billion in 2008 - up from $3.9 billion in extra payments, or $795 per MA enrollee in 2004. Extra payments to MA plans between 2004 and 2008 will total nearly $33 billion.

The bulk of these extra payments were mandated by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which was intended to expand the role of private plans in Medicare in an effort to reduce growth in Medicare spending. Since 2004, MA plan enrollment has increased from 4.8 million to the current 8.7 million.

Trying to sift thorugh all of the marketing brochures for Medicare prescription drug plans can be overwhelming. There is so much information that it can lead to much confusion. As it turns out, those brochures do a poor job of meeting the guidelines laid out by the feds.

A report out yesterday from the inspector general’s office in the Department of Health and Human Services found that 85% of marketing materials didn’t meet guidelines set out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Source:wallstreetjournal.com

Two years after Kelly “Buck” Whitesides disappeared from Unique Living, an assisted living facility he called home for only a week another resident is missing.Eight days after he was reported missing, Whitesides, 59, a diabetic with a history of strokes and heart problems, was found dead less than 300 yards from the facility.

History appeared to be repeating itself Wednesday when another Unique Living resident vanished.Officials set up shop in the parking lot of Burns High School - less than two miles from the assisted living facility - Wednesday evening and canvassed the 1.7 mile stretch between the two buildings.It was in there, according to Cleveland County Assistant Fire Marshal Perry Davis, that they hoped to find Tang Mouy, 46.

With a N.C. Highway Patrol helicopter flying overhead, Lawndale and Fallston firemen, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and K-9 division and the fire marshal’s office took part in the search for the native of Cambodia.

According to the missing person’s report, Mouy was last seen around 7:15 a.m. Wednesday after refusing to take her medication. A short time later, the report read, a teacher at Burns High called and asked if they were missing an Asian resident. A staff member was sent to the student parking lot, where Mouy was last seen, but could not find her.

“Mr. (Gregory) Oates (supervisor at Unique Living) stated that Ms. Mouy was capable of living a normal life,” read the report by Deputy J.M. Bradley. “He stated she did have an illness but managed it well.”

The report read that Oates expected Mouy to return on her own. But, 12 hours after she was reported missing, the search continued.

Calls were made Wednesday to the facility but there was no answer.

source:gastsongazzette.com