Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

IRS: Optional Standard Mileage Rates

Patti's Comments:  This is an important tax change...maybe to address the raising cost of gas??

From IRS: (June 23, 2008) - click for entire press release

The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2008. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

The rate will increase to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008. The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2008. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

The rate will increase to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008.

From a Prominent Death, Some Painful Truths

Patti's Comments:  I loved Tim Russert (although I did not know him, I loved his reporting, his show and listened to one of his books on audio).  His death saddened me, and reminded me of the loss of a dear friend at the age of 32 under similar (but not exact) circumstances. The randomness of life, and the lack of certainty in medical treatment(s) are truths I need to be reminded of day after day. It never ceases to stop amazing me...

From The New York Times: (click for entire article)

Apart from its sadness, Tim Russert’s death this month at 58 was deeply unsettling to many people who, like him, had been earnestly following their doctors’ advice on drugs, diet and exercise in hopes of avoiding a heart attack.

Nursing Home Alternative Challenges Traditional System

Patti's Comments:  I love this and anything that challenges the traditional long term care system!

From KaiserNetwork.org: (click for entire article)

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Bill Thomas, a former nursing home physician, have been working to overhaul the nation's nursing home system by promoting "smaller, home-like facilities," the Wall Street Journal reports. RWJF has invested $15 million over five years to encourage the construction of "Green Houses" -- a concept developed by Thomas in which facilities house 10 to 12 residents. There are currently 41 Green Houses in 10 states, and the foundation has set the goal of building Green Houses in all 50 states.

Future of Medicare at Stake in Presidential Election

Patti's Comments:  The future of Medicaid and long term care is also at stake in this election. No matter what your views are, PLEASE VOTE!

From KaiserNetwork.org: (click for entire article)

"At stake in the presidential election is whether we will all need to consult lobbyists to have our medical issues heard by a remote, bureaucratic Medicare program," Scott Gottlieb, a former CMS official and an American Enterprise Institute fellow, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece."

U.S. Has Obligation To Meet Short-Long-Term Mental Health Needs of Service Members

Patti's Comments:  We have always had this obligation to provide for our Veterans and one can only hope that we live up to this growing need.

From KaiserNetwork.org: (click for entire article)

"Among the least-noted aspects of these two seemingly endless wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan "is the psychological toll they are taking on those who have volunteered to fight them," New York Times columnist Bob Herbert writes. According to Herbert, multiple tours are not only putting soldiers in "the obvious physical danger" but are "blueprints for psychological disaster." He writes, "Increasingly, [soldiers] are being medicated on the battlefield, and many thousands are returning with brain damage and psychological wounds that cause tremendous suffering and have the potential to alter their lives forever."

Blind advocates raise concerns about silent vehicles

Patti's Comments:  As an advocate for people with all types of disabilities I was surprised that I never even thought of this as an issue.

From MLive.com: (click for entire article)

Advocates for the blind want the government to set minimum sound standards for new cars and trucks, pointing to potential safety hazards for blind pedestrians who can't hear silent gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

Doctors Say Medication is Overused in Dementia

Patti's Comments:  Over use and under use of appropriate medication continues to be a struggle for consumers of health and long term care. Advocacy is always needed to assure that the correct balance is found for the right person.

From The New York Times: (click for entire article)

The use of antipsychotic drugs to tamp down the agitation, combative behavior and outbursts of dementia patients has soared, especially in the elderly. Sales of newer antipsychotics like Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa totaled $13.1 billion in 2007, up from $4 billion in 2000, according to IMS Health, a health care information company.

Labor, Health, Education Subcommittee Markup

Patti's Comments:  Dave Obey (D-WI), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and Chairman of that committee’s subcommittee on Labor, Health and Education issued this statement on June 19, 2008:

Press Release: (click for entire release)

Labor, Health, Education Subcommittee Markup

“The Labor, Health and Education Subcommittee held 13 hearings this spring to examine the challenges facing the nation over the next ten years, and to assess what investments are needed to address those challenges.  Given the funding constraints placed on us by the Administration’s short-sighted priorities, the bill presented today represents our best efforts to invest judiciously in those activities that will help prepare the country to meet the challenges ahead."

The Book Whisperer

Patti's Comments:  Anyone that knows me knows that I have a passion for reading (and of course, my family, my job, rock and roll, sports, wine and, of course, FOOD).  This review of books is great and I LOVED Airman by Eoin Colfer. Read Chasing Vermeer and Wright Three by the same author - they are wonderful...some of the best children's books ever written!!  Enjoy and feel free to share your favorite books as well.

From Teacher Magazine:

The Book Whisperer

Capitol Insider

Patti's Comments:  This newsletter from the ARC and UCP Government Affairs Office has great and up to date information!

From Capitol Insider: (click for entire newsletter)

Volume 13, Issue 25(June 23, 2008)