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

Top 10 Cheapest States for Long-Term Care Costs: 2013

Excerpt from: Advisor One (click for full article)

 

The study, running for its 10th year, indicates that over the past five years the median annual rate for a room in a private nursing home has increased by 4.45% (compound annual growth rate), so that the room you might have had in 2008 at a cost of $67,525 will now cost you $83,950—an additional $16,425 per year.

If that news isn’t cheery enough, the cost of care just for Alzheimer’s disease, which affects 5.1 million Americans, is projected to rise to $1.2 trillion annually by 2050. That figure is just for paid care—health care, long-term care and hospice—and does not include the cost of unpaid care from such caregivers as family members. According to the study, unpaid caregivers’ contribution was some 17.5 billion hours of care, valued at more than $216.5 billion—just in 2012.

With Genworth’s mobile app and interactive map, advisors and clients can keep abreast of what care is likely to cost, and where they might get the most for their care dollars—there is, after all, considerable variation among states in cost. The 2013 Cost of Care Survey, conducted by CareScout, includes nearly 15,000 LTC providers from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., divided into 437 regions across the country.

Failure Of Baxter's Trial Another Blow To Alzheimer's Treatment

Excerpt from: Forbes (click for full article)

 

In yet another blow to a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, Baxter International BAX +3.57% (BAX) said its late-stage clinical trial failed to meet its endpoints for “reducing cognitive decline and preserving functional abilities” for patients.

Like other treatments once they reach the third phase and a broader clinical trial with more patients, Baxter’s drug did not “indicate a statistically “significant difference in the rate of cognitive decline as compared to placebo.” Here’s a link to Baxter’s statement on the trials end.

Though Baxter’s biologic derived from plasma known as intravenous immuno globulin (IVIG) was seldom mentioned alongside other companies working on Alzheimer’s treatments like Pfizer PFE 0% (PFE), Merck (MRK), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) and Eli Lilly (LLY), it was unique in that the product was already on the market. Gammagard is used primarily as an immune system booster and could have reached Alzheimer’s patients sooner given doctors could technically have prescribed it earlier.

But hopes for Alzheimer’s patients with moderate and mild disease are the latest to be dashed.

Specialist dementia programme reduces antipsychotic medication in dementia care homes by nearly half

Excerpt from: Care Home (click for full article)

 

Data from 16 homes on the programme was analysed and revealed a 48 per cent drop in use of antipsychotic medication plus a reduction in use of a range of other medications. There was also a corresponding improvement in the well-being of care home residents.

The analysis revealed that medication to alleviate anxiety fell by 40 per cent, the depression score fell in 30 per cent of residents while use of anti-depressant medication reduced by 19 per cent. Requirement for medication to induce sleep fell by 44 per cent.

A corresponding increase in well-being was measured among 46 per cent of residents. While 42 per cent gained weight, against the expectation that people living with dementia would lose weight.

This is the second study of the outcomes from Four Seasons’ specialised dementia units and it supports the findings of its initial study at eight other homes in 2010.

How Exercise And Other Activities Beat Back Dementia

Excerpt from: NPR (click for full article)

 

The numbers are pretty grim: More than half of all 85-year-olds suffer some form of .

But here's the good news: Brain researchers say there are ways to boost brain power and stave off problems in memory and thinking.

In other words, brain decline is not necessarily an inevitable part of aging. "It's simply not pre-destined for all human beings," Bryan James tells Shots. He's an epidemiologist at the in Chicago. "Lots of people live into their 90s and even 100s with no symptoms of dementia."

So what can you do to increase the odds? Neuroscientist Art Kramer, who directs the at the University of Illinois, has a number of suggestions. First and foremost, Kramer says, is to exercise. Research shows it's the best thing you can do for your brain.

Kramer did a in which he scanned the brains of 120 older adults, half of whom started a program of moderate aerobic exercise — just 45 minutes, three days a week, mostly walking. After a year, the MRI scans showed that for the aerobic group, the volume of their brains actually increased.

Diabetics develop dementia 2 years sooner than others, researchers find

Excerpt from: McKnight's (clickf or full article)

 

People with diabetes are at risk of developing dementia earlier and dying sooner, according to recently published research.

Researchers at Australia's Curtin University analyzed hospital inpatient, mental health outpatient and death records for people in western Australia who developed dementia between 1990-2005. Diabetics developed dementia an average of 2.2 years earlier than non-diabetics, the researchers found.

“Diabetes is a risk factor for dementia, but relatively little is known about the epidemiology of the association,” the researchers noted.

Those with diabetes and dementia died an average of 2.6 years earlier than non-diabetics, and those with a long history of diabetes who were diagnosed with dementia before turning 65 died almost twice as fast, the researchers said. However, as people get older, the impacts of having both diabetes and dementia become less pronounced.

The study appears in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Mental Health Advance Directive

Excerpt from: Living with Dying (click for full article)

 

Last December, Compassion and Choices of Washington unveiled a new kind of advance directive for life planning while living with Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia. This document is the first of its kind focused on these specific challenges. With a similar purpose as the living will, the Alzheimer's and Dementia directive aims to have a person's intentions known when the person isn't in a place to speak for him or herself.

The Alzheimer's directive is different from the usual advance health care directive. An advance health care directive is used to specify what medical actions should be undertaken if the patient is too ill or incapacitated to make those decisions. A typical question for those completing these documents is whether or not the patient wants aggressive medical treatment—such as a feeding tube or artificial ventilation—when the patient is dying or in a persistent vegetative state.

Retirement: Financial planning for Alzheimer's

Excerpt from: Chicago Tribune (click for full article)

 

Because Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, families usually have more time to plan than they would with an immediate trauma, such as a stroke. But because Alzheimer's can last a long time, it's best to start planning for the next steps right away, even if a long-term-care policy or savings will pay for the first few years of care. For example, if it makes sense to deplete your assets to qualify for Medicaid, you would need to give money to your children more than five years before applying.

After you receive a confirmed diagnosis, sit down with your family and talk about what you want, says Byron Cordes, a geriatric care manager in San Antonio. "You're not going to be able to make those decisions in the future," he says. Talk about where you want to live and what type of care you want to receive. A geriatric care manager (http://www.caremanager.org) can help with these decisions and may find benefits you didn't realize you were eligible for, such as special aid for veterans. Care managers tend to cost $85 to $200 per hour or $600 to $1,000 for an initial assessment, says Cordes.

Get a power of attorney and health-care proxy so your spouse or children can make financial and medical decisions later on. An elder-law attorney can draft those documents and help with Medicaid planning (see http://www.naela.org). Elder-law attorneys typically charge $200 to $400 an hour.

Ask whether your bank needs additional legal documents. Some require their own power of attorney forms even if you have one from a lawyer, and that can be complicated after the Alzheimer's has progressed.

U.S. Spends More on Dementia Care Than Heart Disease or Cancer: Study

Excerpt from: U.S. News (click for full article)

 

The cost of caring for Americans with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia may now be as high as $215 billion a year -- more than the cost of caring for heart disease or cancer, a new study finds.

And that number is expected to escalate as the elderly population grows.

In 2010, the United States spent somewhere between $157 billion and $215 billion on dementia care, researchers reported in the April 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. That includes direct medical expenses and the costs of caring for people with dementia -- both professional care and the "informal" care that families provide.

Dementia is a progressive deterioration in memory, thinking ability, judgment and other vital brain functions.

Dementia passes Cancer and heart disease as most expensive medical condition

Excerpt from: News Talk Radio (click for full article)

 

The average cost of dealing with a family member with Alzheimer’s or some form of dementia is now at $51,000 yearly.

Overall, the New England Journal of Medicine says Americans spent around $215 billion on dementia in 2010.

The biggest part of that cost, around 84%, is said to be long term care such as a nursing home or care of a patient in their residence.

One of the biggest factors in the growth of dementia is an aging population.

Some estimates indicate that the cost of medical issues that have to do with age will cost each American nearly 80% more by 2040.

Brooklyn Woman Suffering from Alzheimer's Unable to Physically Sign Name, Denied Benefits

Excerpt from: Alzheimer's Reading Room (click for full article)

 

A 74-year-old Brooklyn woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and unable to sign paperwork has been threatened with the termination of a rent subsidy by heartless bureaucrats at the city Housing Authority, a lawsuit says.

Legal advocates for Luz Ortega have filed suit in Brooklyn Federal Court to stop the madness that could result in the elderly woman losing the apartment she’s lived in for 15 years.

“If she loses the benefits, she can’t pay for the apartment on her own,” lawyer Rebekah Diller of the Benjamin Cardozo Law School told the Daily News.