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

Low Obamacare Premiums to Soften Blow for Those Losing Medicaid

Ganny Belloni
March 16, 2023, 5:44 PM

CMS will take active role during Medicaid eligibility checks

All states required to take 14 months to complete checks

One-third of the millions of individuals expected to lose Medicaid coverage as eligibility checks resume this spring will qualify for Affordable Care Act coverage with low or no premiums, a top Medicaid official said.

The Department of Health and Human Services believes the majority of those whose Medicaid eligibility will be redetermined will remain eligible, and the government is actively collaborating with states to make sure beneficiaries don’t lose coverage because of administrative issues, Daniel Tsai, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, said Thursday in an interview with reporters

see full article at :

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/low-obamacare-premiums-to-soften-blow-for-those-losing-medicaid

#AffordableCareAct #DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices #CenterforMedicaidandCHIPServices #DanielTsai #Medicaid #CMS

Why mom may need a break

Excerpt from: houmatoday (click for full article)

 

One in four Louisianans care for a child or adult with disabilities or an older adult in their home.

It is estimated that 917,000 adults are caregivers in this state, providing more than 600 million hours of care each year that is valued at over $5.7 billion.

The average caregiver in our state is a middle-aged working woman who is caring for an aging mother in the home.

When you consider that 10,000 individuals turn 65 every day in the U.S., this role will only increase.

Caregiving for children with disabilities, adults with disabilities and adults who are aging in place starts out as a manageable activity, juggled with one’s work and other family obligations, but within five years, the caregiver often feels overwhelmed.

Out Of State Guardianship Act Awaits Governor's Signature

Excerpt from: Wall Street Journal (click for full article)

 

Elder Law Attorney Ronald Fatoullah, principal attorney of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, was honored at the annual meeting of the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association in January, 2013 in recognition of his "advocacy, drafting and persistence in creating the legislative initiative for the New York State Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act."

Now, both the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate have passed the New York State Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act (the "Act" or "Uniform Act"). The bill now awaits Governor Cuomo's signature. When signed, New York will be the 37th state (plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) to have adopted the Act.

With an increasingly mobile society, multi-state guardianship issues are not uncommon. These issues arise among snowbirds who may be residents of New York but spend their winters in Florida or another state, caregivers who may be moving sick family members in or out of New York, individuals who may be utilizing out of state health care providers, individuals who wander in or out of New York, and elderly persons who are victims of "granny snatching" into or out of New York State.

The Uniform Guardianship Act simplifies the law governing multi-state guardianship actions and will make it easier for individuals to act as guardians for their elderly parents and relatives, even if they live in states other than New York.

REPORT: Home Care Continuity Improves ADL Performance

Excerpt from: Phi National (click for full article)

 

Home care consumers who experience a low level of care continuity with their home health aides are less likely to see improvements in their activities of daily living (ADLs) than those with moderate to high continuity, a report published in Home Health Management & Practice found.

The study, conducted by the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), analyzed the correlation between care continuity and ADLs for more than 16,000 VNSNY consumers.

According to the researchers, consumers with low care continuity were 14 to 15 percent less likely to improve their ADLs than consumers who have a high continuity of care.

"In cases where a patient sees a different aide from the one who normally visits, the new aide must acquaint themselves with the patient's routine, tastes, and preferences," the authors write.

Carolyn Hax: To do right by an ailing parent, you need to do right by yourself

Excerpt from: The Washington Post (click for full article)

 

Another key step: letting go of the idea that you bear sole responsibility for lifting your parents’ spirits. They are adults, they have chosen not to move closer to you, and so they deserve some respect for their autonomy. It’s not up to you to make their choices more palatable to them. An attachment to one’s doctors makes perfect sense to me, by the way.

Think of the near future as a phase where you allot X time daily, Y monthly to this crisis. Decide X and Y in cooperation with your husband — and interspersed with alone and couple time — to keep that crucial relationship fed. Such blunt thinking may seem odd now, but it will reward you later in preempted future regrets.

Expense, emotions in long-term care

Excerpt from: HT Health (click for full article)

 

Andy Shapiro had never given much thought to whether he would need help with daily activities as he aged. After all, the 61-year-old software consultant figured, he kept himself in good shape.

Then, about five years ago, his 81-year-old parents lost their vitality, seemingly overnight.

“Both of my parents rapidly went from being healthy — swimming, playing tennis — to being frail,” he said. His mother developed a form of dementia and died within a year.

His father has required a live-in health care aide for the last two years. He has been able to afford that and stay in his home because about 30 years ago, he bought a long-term care insurance policy.

Such policies pay for help with daily activities and care, like dressing, bathing and feeding, either at home or in an assisted-living facility or a nursing home. Without the coverage provided by the policy, Shapiro said, his father would be living in a nursing home — something Shapiro, who lives in Woodstock, N.Y., dreads.

Autism Gets Hollywood Treatment In ‘Story Of Luke’

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

A feature film debuting at movie theaters across the country this week is giving big-screen attention to the desire among many with developmental disabilities for independence as they become adults.

“The Story of Luke” focuses on a 25-year-old with autism who is adjusting to life with relatives after his grandmother — and long-time caretaker — dies. Luke resolves to make it on his own and embarks on a journey to find a job and a girlfriend.

The fictional account is rooted in the real-life experiences of the film’s writer and director, Alonso Mayo, whose mother runs a school for those with developmental disabilities in Peru. Mayo said he was inspired to write the script after seeing many kids from his mother’s school grow into adults who yearned for the same opportunities as their typically developing peers.

The Mind Map Conversation

Excerpt from: Risk Tutor (click for full article)

 

Caring for aging parents is all about conversations, the ones we have with others and ourselves. It’s the ongoing dialogue we have to keep everything together, to be understood, to foster cooperation, and to solve problems. But so many times words are not enough. At some point, we need more. Mind maps offer more.

This blog is a conversation about using mind maps with aging parents. It is a crowd-sourcing forum to share questions, stories, suggestions, and comments about the tools in Caregiver Mind Maps. The goal is to find more effective ways to use mind maps to frame tasks and problems and how to better present them to family members and senior care professionals.

Many times amid the demands of caregiving, all any of us need is one good suggestion. Like caregiving, mind maps are a work in progress made better by the suggestions of those who use them. We look forward to you joining our conversation…

What Being a Professional Caregiver Means to Me

Excerpt from: Direct Care Alliance, Inc. (click for full article)

 

Like a lot of other direct care workers, I found my way to my career through caring for a member of my own family.

Three years ago, my husband was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and entered into hospice care. Three times a week, a certified nursing assistant would come give him a shower or bed bath and then sit with him for half an hour or so, chatting and giving him the love and attention he so needed to brighten his days. He looked forward to their visits, and I could not imagine how we would have coped without them.

One day, a CNA was giving him a bed bath when it came to me: I could do this. I could work in this field and bring joy, peace and love to people during the last days or years of their lives. When my husband’s passing made it imperative for me to look for work, I got my CNA certificate and started working as a professional caregiver. Getting trained and certified was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. Of course, entering a new client’s home is very different than caring for your own husband. That part took some getting used to. It still does, since every new client means adjusting to a new environment and forming a new relationship.

A Volunteer Army of Caregivers

Excerpt from: New York Times (click for full article)

 

The idea first arose in a Twitter chat about elder care. What we need, someone wrote, is a Peace Corps for caregiving.

Janice Lynch Schuster, senior writer for the Altarum Institute, a nonprofit public health research and consulting organization, saw the posting. “Wow,” was her first thought. “Imagine what we could do if we had something like that.” Her second thought was to take advantage of We The People.

That’s the whitehouse.gov Web site that allows citizens to circulate and sign petitions. When one of them attracts 100,000 signatures — a threshold raised recently after people started posting some goofy ideas — the White House has pledged to respond.

Ms. Schuster personally hustled for the 150 signatures necessary to get an issue on the site, and now you can see it there: “Create a Caregiver Corps that would include debt forgiveness for college graduates to care for our elders.”

Suddenly, They’re All Gone

Excerpt from: The New York Times (click for full article)

 

I have my life back now, but that fact is less simple than it was before. When I look at the mementos I’ve inherited, the crumbling photo albums, cookbooks that smell of cigarette smoke, ’50s furniture and cut glass, I also see where they used to sit, in other places and rooms. I miss the quiet afternoons, the houses that eventually came to feel like home, in cities I’ll never again have reason to visit. I miss it all. I miss them.

Sometimes, when I’m out, I catch a glimpse of a short, gray-haired man in a baseball cap or a skinny old woman in a tailored bright jacket and my heart stops. I see my old people everywhere, which only reminds me that I’ll never see them again.