Elder Law
Elder Law Blog 
Discusses all aspects of elder law and related topics. Intended for law profs and elder law attorneys.
Post Frequency: 1.5/day Last Entry: November 10, 2009 at 15:15:42 Recent Entries: 485
By Kim Dayton
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Coalition seeks input on issues facing LGBT seniors
Posted on November 10, 2009The National Senior Citizens Law Center, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), are working together to raise...
Family Caregivers are Urged to Consider Senior Care Options During National Caregivers? Month
Posted on November 10, 2009November?s recognition of National Caregivers? Month is a good opportunity for families suffering under the strain of providing care to an aging loved one to examine senior care options and alternatives. Too often families go through extraordinary lengths that leave...
Message from Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee for Veterans Day 20
Posted on November 10, 2009Veterans Day is also a day when we honor those veterans who live among us -- in our homes, communities and in congregate settings such as assisted living and nursing homes. The contributions of these courageous men and women who...
ALCA offers free webinar on Medicaid and assisted living
Posted on November 03, 2009The Assisted Living Consumers Alliance presents State Medicaid Reimbursement Policies and Practices in Assisted Living Join us for a Webinar on November 17 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM PST / 3:00 PM ? 4:00 PM ET Space is limited. Reserve...
AoA newsletter available via website
Posted on November 03, 2009Here's the TOC for the AoA's monthly e-Newsletter. Check it out at http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/Press_Room/Enews/index.aspx Table of Contents AoA News Messages on National Observances from Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department Secretary Cindy Padilla to...
British couple leaves suicide note criticizing anti- aid-in-dying policies
Posted on November 03, 2009Dennis and Flora Milner, aged 83 and 81, were found dead in their home in Newbury on Sunday, police confirmed. A letter and statement saying they had "chosen to peacefully end our lives" was delivered to BBC South on Tuesday....
Help national leaders devise affordable, reliable public transit for seniors and persons with disabilities
Posted on November 02, 2009The Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) invites you to participate in the United We Ride National Dialogue! Do you have suggestions and ideas that you would like to share with national leaders that can assist communities...
November is National Family Caregivers Month
Posted on November 02, 2009AoA Secretary Greenlee's message: The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), Aging and Disability Resource Centers, and the recent implementation of the Lifespan Respite Care Program have positioned AoA, the Aging Network and the broader home and community-based services network...
WalMart what?
Posted on October 30, 2009The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, now plans to hold on to customers even after they die - by selling coffins. Prices range from a "Mom" or "Dad Remembered" steel coffin for $895 (£540), to a bronze model at $2,899. The...
Chicago Tribune exposes abuse of psychotropic drugs in IL nursing homes
Posted on October 29, 2009Courtesy Paul Nidich, http://www.paulnidich.blogspot.com/Illinois nursing home patients often receive psychotropic drugs without cause, which poses various health dangers and even death, the Chicago Tribune reports as part of its Compromised Care series...
Evidence Database to Support Aging Research
Posted on October 28, 2009The New York Academy of Medicine's Social Work Leadership Institute has released a new evidence database to support aging research. This is an easy-to-use online database to help scholars, policy analysts, and advocates stay on top of the latest research...
HHS to fund National Resource Center for LGBT Elders
Posted on October 22, 2009HHS to Create a National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders Yesterday HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced plans to establish the nation's first national resource center to assist communities across the country in their efforts to provide...
Veterans Day is Nov. 11--here is some info about our nation's veterans population
Posted on October 19, 2009Veterans Day 2009: Nov. 11 Veterans Day originated as ?Armistice Day? on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a...
Loyola-Chicago to host Third Annual Beazley Symposium on Access to Health Care Nov. 6
Posted on October 16, 2009Third Annual Beazley Symposium on Access to Health Care: Health Care Disparities: Effectiveness, Rationing and the Road to the Future Friday, November 6, 8:15 a.m.-2:45 p.m. Power Rogers & Smith Ceremonial Courtroom 10th Floor, Philip H. Corboy Law Center, 25...
NAELA request input on spring 2010 Annual Meeting
Posted on October 16, 2009The 2010 NAELA Annual Meeting committee is soliciting topics that cover the overall theme of ?Planning in Times of Uncertainty?. We are looking for topics specific to the different areas of Elder and Special Needs Law that pertain to your...
Schuck to deliver Baum Memorial Lecture at University of Illinois
Posted on October 16, 2009The Elder Law Journal at the University of Illinois takes great pleasure in announcing that the 2009-10 Ann F. Baum Memorial Elder Law Lecture will be presented on Monday, October 19 by Peter H. Schuck, the Simeon E. Baldwin Professor...
Remarks by Marcia Greenberger on health insurance disparities for women
Posted on October 15, 2009Remarks by Marcia Greenberger, co-Founder of the National Women's Law Center, on the unfair insurance industry practices that treat being a woman like a "pre-existing condition." Marcia is delivering these remarks today at a congressional hearing. Next week, the NWLC...
KFF taking applications for Barbara Jordan Health Policy Fellowships
Posted on October 10, 2009The Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program brings talented college seniors and recent graduates to Washington, D.C., where they are placed in congressional offices and learn about health policy issues, with a focus on issues affecting racial and ethnic minority...
More from the guy who never sleeps....
Posted on October 06, 2009To Roth or Not to Roth: Analyzing the Conversion Opportunity for 2010 and Beyond Richard L. Kaplan, University of Illinois College of Law Bureau of National Affairs Daily Tax Report, Vol. 9, No. 181, September 22, 2009 University of Illinois...
Dick Kaplan on Social Security's "no COLA" year....
Posted on October 06, 2009The Social Security Administration announced Sept. 30 that there would be no increase in retirement benefits next year ? the first freeze in more than three decades. Law professor Richard L. Kaplan, an expert in elder law, discusses the reasoning...
Canadian Healthcare Association publishes new report on future directions for long term care facilities
Posted on October 06, 2009Get the report here: http://www.cha.ca/documents/CHA_LTC_9-22-09_eng.pdf
UK's Brown promises free home personal care for frail elderly
Posted on October 01, 2009Free personal care will be introduced so the frailest can be cared for in their own homes, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged. Under what is being dubbed the National Care Service, some 350,000 people with "the highest needs" would...
83 year old Scottish physician in custody over "assisted suicide"
Posted on October 01, 2009A RETIRED Scottish GP who advised an academic on how to kill herself was last night released on bail by police after six hours of interrogation. Dr Libby Wilson was the first person to be arrested since the publication of...
Malta News: All new nursing homes must be dementia-friendly
Posted on October 01, 2009All new homes for the elderly must be dementia friendly ? in a bid to increase awareness of dementia. This measure was announced by Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care, Mario Galea yesterday. Dr Galea said that these...
Center for Medicare Advocacy calls for support for public plan option
Posted on September 29, 2009Public Option: Just a Phone Call Away Thanks again to Robert Reich for calling attention to the importance of a public plan option (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-public-option-lives-o_b_302038.html) and the work of Charles Schumer (New York) and Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia) to make sure...
Flu.gov webcast will outline steps for dealing with flu for elder advocates
Posted on September 28, 2009DO YOU OR DOES YOUR ORGANIZATION WORK WITH SENIORS? KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE FLU Join U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee, Sandy Markwood, CEO, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a), Jim Firman, President and CEO,...
Kaiser Health News article explains how health reform bill affects Medicare
Posted on September 23, 2009http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2009/September/22/medicare-explainer-npr.aspx
CMS hosts listening session re Part D and Medicare Advantage open enrollment for 2010 plan year
Posted on September 23, 2009The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Invites you to the Listening Session to Learn About Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Open Enrollment 2010 Thursday, September 24, 2009 2:00 pm ? 3:00 pm, Eastern The Centers for Medicare &...
Biden, Sebelius issue report on health reform and seniors
Posted on September 23, 2009Vice President Biden, Secretary Sebelius Issue New Report on Seniors and Health Insurance Reform Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today hosted a town hall meeting with seniors in Silver Spring, Md...
Hungary adoptes major revisions to adult guardianship laws
Posted on September 22, 2009Courtesy the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre Budapest, 22 September 2009. Members of the Hungarian Parliament voted for a new Civil Code yesterday evening. In doing so they ensured that Hungary becomes the first country in the world to reform its...
British High Court rejects claim that aid-in-dying is a basic human right
Posted on September 21, 2009A British woman has lost her battle in the High Court, where she had sought clarification in the law on assisted suicide. Debbie Purdy, 45, who has multiple sclerosis, wanted a guarantee from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that...
Report says more that 35 million have dementia worldwide
Posted on September 21, 2009More than 35 million people around the world are living with Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia, says the most in-depth attempt yet to assess the brain-destroying illness ? and it's an ominous forecast as the population grays. The...
Upcoming conferences on aging issues
Posted on September 21, 2009October 2009 2009 National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) Annual Conference October 6-7, 2009 Washington, DC http://www.nhcoa.org/conf/index.php?id=35 November 2009 Gerontological Society of America November 18-22 Atlanta, GA http://www.geron.org/Annual%20Meeting December 2009 International Council on Active Aging Conference December 2-5 Orlando, FL...
Academy of Special Needs Alliance hosts annual Attorneys Sharing Knowledge event Oct. 17
Posted on September 15, 2009ACADEMY OF SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNERS TO HOLD ANNUAL ATTORNEYS SHARING KNOWLEDGE OCTOBER 17, 2009 One-Day Event for Attorneys Will Feature Instruction from National Experts on Drafting Special Needs Trusts The Academy of Special Needs Planners the largest membership organization for...
Guest blogger Adrienne Carlson on "What Doctors Need to Know When Treating the Elderly"
Posted on September 15, 2009What Doctors Must Know When Treating the Elderly It?s not something that we want to think of consciously, but then, we must accept that growing old is a fact of life and that all of us will get there someday....
Guest blogger Hannah Watson on "Five Things to Consider When Building an Estate Plan After a Second Marriage"
Posted on September 13, 2009Five Things to Consider When Building an Estate Plan After a Second Marriage Getting remarried can be a joyous event, but it can also make estate planning decidedly more complicated. Brining more people into your life can make it much...
The National Debt: Just the facts, ma'am
Posted on September 13, 2009Source: http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
News from the National Senior Citizens Law Center
Posted on September 12, 2009Details about these stories are available at the NSCLC website, http://www.nsclc.org Social Security Administration to Pay $500 Million in Settlement, Stops Unlawful Social Security Suspensions The Social Security Administration has agreed to repay more than $500 million in benefits that...
CRS publishes annual update on pension sponsorship, participation, and trends
Posted on September 12, 2009RL30122 Pension Sponsorship and Participation: Summary of Recent Trends September 11, 2009 Download Locations Open CRS (User submitted) Summary According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), the number of private-sector workers between the ages of 25 and...
GAO study says SSA could work harder to reduced disability claim backlogs
Posted on September 12, 2009(SSA) has experienced processing delays and significant backlogs of disability claims at the hearings level. In May 2007, SSA began implementing a plan for eliminating the hearings backlog entitled Summary of Initiatives to Eliminate the SSA Hearings Backlog (the Plan)...
Widener Call for Papers: Health Law and the Elderly: Managing Risk at the End of Life
Posted on September 09, 2009Symposium and Call for Papers -- Health Law and the Elderly: Managing Risk at the End of Life The Widener Law Review, in partnership with the Widener University School of Law Health Law Institute, Delaware Hospice, the Delaware End-of-Life Coalition,...
ASA calls for proposals for graduate student research award
Posted on September 08, 2009Recognizing Excellence in the Field of Aging ASA's 2010 Graduate Student Research Award Endowed by the AARP Andrus Foundation Call for Nominations Deadline for Submissions: October 15, 2009 The American Society on Aging is accepting applications for its annual award...
TOC: Caregiver Policy Digest
Posted on September 08, 2009IN THIS ISSUE State Legislation, Policy & Reports Pennsylvania: Group Establishes Principles for LTC Policies More... Vermont: Advocates Want Changes to Choices for Care Program More... Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports Medicare Transitional Care Act Would Assist Caregivers More...
ACR offers free teleconference on elder mediation
Posted on September 04, 2009The Association for Conflict Resolution will offer a FREE teleconference titled ?Elder Mediation Today: A Conversation with the Contributors to ACResolution Summer 2009 Issue.? The call will take place on Wednesday, September 16 at 3:00 pm EST. Participants will include...
New Census report shows distribution of veterans by state
Posted on September 04, 2009Comparison of ACS and ASEC Data on Veteran Status and Period of Military Service: 2007 ? Focuses on comparisons of national and state distributions of veteran status and period of military service between the 2007 American Community Survey and the...
World's oldest dog dies at age 147 (dog years, that is)
Posted on September 01, 2009The dog who hel d the record as the world's oldest has died at 21 years old, her owners have said. Chanel, a wire-haired dachshund, died on Friday aged 147 in "dog years", said owners Denice and Karl Shaughnessy, at...
Frolik on LTCI
Posted on August 31, 2009Larry "the Dude" Frolik's article entitled "Long Term Care Insurance: Deal or No Deal" appeared in the Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning held at the University of Miami in January 2009. The article is now...
NYT editorials explains how current health care system affects families
Posted on August 30, 2009"Critics fret that health care reform would undermine American family values, not least by convening somber death panels to wheel away Grandma as if she were Old Yeller. But peel away the emotions and fearmongering, and in fact it is...
Scare tactics are nothing new when it comes to health care reform
Posted on August 28, 2009Via Kaiser Health News: Just like in earlier attempts to overhaul the American health system, opponents have turned to scare tactics, a strategy with a success rate in the history of blocking health reform, NPR reports. "It's really a case...
Kaplan on the end-of-life counseling provision in the health care reform bill
Posted on August 27, 2009The University of Illinois website feature "A Minute With..." has just published an interview with Prof. Dick Kaplan on the end-of-life counseling provision in the health care reform bill. Here's an exerpt: "Proposed health-care reform has been sidetracked by uproar...
China admits to death-row organ harvesting
Posted on August 26, 2009China is trying to move away from the use of executed prisoners as the major source of organs for transplants.According to the China Daily newspaper, executed prisoners currently provide two-thirds of all transplant organs. The government is now launching a...
Compassion & Choices hosts conference on End of Life Avocacy
Posted on August 26, 2009Received from Kathryn Tucker: Compassion & Choices has spent many months planning its October Symposium on End of Life Advocacy. It?s October 13-14 at the National Press Club in Washington DC.The Symposium?s topics could not be more timely, now that....
Prof. Kaplan (IL) on retiree health benefits
Posted on August 24, 2009Dick Kaplan's new article, coauthored with two former students, Nicholas Powers and Jordan Zucker, entitled ?Retirees at Risk: The Precarious Promise of Post-Employment Health Benefits,? was recently published in the YALE JOURNAL OF HEALTH POLICY, LAW, AND ETHICS and is...
NY Times article discusses palliative care
Posted on August 24, 2009This is a must read. Excerpt: Most doctors do not excel at delivering bad news, decades of studies show, if only because it goes against their training to save lives, not end them. But Dr. O?Mahony, who works at Montefiore...
Kenny Heglund on the bogus "senior euthanisia" issue
Posted on August 23, 2009Kenny Heglund of the University of Arizona writes: "While there is a lot about the fact that the opposition lies about section 1233, there is little why it is a terrific idea. As elder law profs I think we can...
Montana Supreme Court to hear argument in aid-in-dying case
Posted on August 21, 2009Compassion & Choices and four Montana doctors filed their brief with the Montana Supreme Court August 14 in the case of Baxter et al v. Montana. Plaintiff Robert Baxter was suffering from lymphocytic leukemia when the case was filed and...
Assistant Secretary Greenlee Encourages National Aging Services Network To Stay Informed About Health Insurance Reform
Posted on August 21, 2009Received from the Administration on Aging: President Obama is committed to working with Congress to pass comprehensive health insurance reform this year in order to control rising health care costs, guarantee choice of doctor, and assure high-quality, affordable health care...
KFF analysis: Summary of Key Medicare Provisions in H.R. 3200, America?s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
Posted on August 21, 2009Summary of Key Medicare Provisions in H.R. 3200, America?s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 This document provides a description of key Medicare provisions of H.R. 3200, America?s Affordable Health Choices Act, as introduced July 14, 2009, and notes the...
KFF analysis: Key Questions about Changes for Medicaid and Low-Income Individuals: HR 3200 America?s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
Posted on August 21, 2009Key Questions about Changes for Medicaid and Low-Income Individuals: HR 3200 America?s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 This brief highlights some key questions about provisions related to Medicaid, the Children?s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and provisions that affect low-income...
Why Women Are Poor in Retirement: Sources of Support and Income in Retiremen
Posted on August 21, 2009You must be a Clearinghouse Review subscriber to view this article. Log in or subscribe. Despite the overall decline in poverty rates among older Americans during the past few decades, the likelihood of a woman being poor in retirement increases...
TOC: New Perspectives on Elder Mediation (ACResolution Magazine)
Posted on August 21, 2009New Perspectives on Elder Mediation: Evolving Ethics and Best Practices is the theme of the Summer issue of ACResolution, the quarterly magazine of the Association for Conflict Resolution. Feature articles include: A Mediator's Ethical Responsibility in Elder Mediation: What Is...
Retirement USA hosts conference on Re-envisioning Retirement
Posted on August 21, 2009Re-Envisioning Retirement Security Wednesday, October 21, 2009 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Kaiser Family Foundation - Barbara Jordan Conference Center 1330 G Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 Please join Retirement USA for a conference to: Learn why a new private...
Elder mediation trainings proliferate....
Posted on August 21, 2009I've received notices of a number of upcoming elder mediation trainings around the country. These include trainings in Ann Arbor, Chicago, and San Antonio Here's the scoop: ANN ARBOR The Center for Social Gerontology presents its Adult Guardianship / Family...
BLOG BACKLOG!!
Posted on August 21, 2009Forgive the recent lack of postings, but things have been hectic in the Dayton/Hanson household. The next couple of days will produce a flurry of postings. Similar items will, for the most part, be included in a single lengthy posting....
Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) has forms a new Section on Elder Decision-Making and Conflict Resolution
Posted on August 03, 2009The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) has formed a new Section on Elder Decision-Making and Conflict Resolution. The creation of the Section on Elder Decision-Making and Conflict Resolution was unanimously approved by the ACR Board of Directors at its July...
At last--US signs UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Posted on July 31, 2009Via the AoA: Today, the United States joins 141 other nations who have signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The signing of the UN Convention sends an important message that this country is committed...
Deadline for digital cable converter box application approaching
Posted on July 24, 2009A message from the AoA: n less than two weeks, NTIA will stop accepting coupon applications and appeals. While the transition to digital was completed on June 12, there are a number of households that remain unready ? they are...
Get ready for Grandparents' Day, Sept. 13
Posted on July 23, 2009Grandparents Day 2009: Sept. 13 Grandparents Day was the brainchild of Marian McQuade of Fayette County, W.Va., who hoped that such an observance might persuade grandchildren to tap the wisdom and heritage of their grandparents. President Jimmy Carter signed the...
Census Bureau releases new report on global aging
Posted on July 23, 2009The average age of the world?s population is increasing at an unprecedented rate. The number of people worldwide 65 and older is estimated at 506 million as of midyear 2008; by 2040, that number will hit 1.3 billion. Thus, in...
Funding opportunity from AoA
Posted on July 22, 2009AOA Community Living Program Cooperative Agreements U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a landmark collaboration to help the families of older Americans and Veterans with disabilities of all ages care...
Report: "Health characteristics of adults aged 55 years and over: United States, 2004-2007."
Posted on July 22, 2009TNational Center for Health Statistics recently released a report, "Health characteristics of adults aged 55 years and over: United States, 2004-2007." This report is based on data from the 2004 through 2007 Sample Adult component of the annual National Health...
EPA Intergenerational Photo Contest--vote now!
Posted on July 22, 2009EPA's Aging Initiative, Generations United, and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc. are pleased to present the finalists for the second annual intergenerational photo, essay, and poetry Sense of Wonder contest. All entries were created by an intergenerational team...
Today marks 44th anniversary of Older Americans Act
Posted on July 14, 2009Statement by Assistant Secretary Kathy Greenlee on the 44th Anniversary of the Signing of the Older Americans Act "On July 14, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Older Americans Act into law. At the ceremony, President Johnson said, "The...
Funding opportunities from the feds
Posted on July 01, 2009Grants for Healthy Aging: Requests For Applications: RFA #HA-2009 The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announces the availability of funds for state health departments to improve the health of...
AARP report addresses urban planning issues for senior-friendly streets
Posted on July 01, 2009AARP Public Policy Institute Releases ?Planning Complete Streets for an Aging America? This report addresses the need to create Complete Streets that are safe and convenient for travel by automobile, foot, bicycle and transit regardless of age or ability...
GAO report finds insufficient oversight of Reverse Mortgage marketing
Posted on July 01, 2009HECMs can provide borrowers with multiple benefits, but they also have substantial costs and are relatively complex. HECMs allow seniors to convert their home equity into flexible cash advances while living in their homes. Additionally, the borrowers or their heirs...
Canadians offered opportunity to comment on UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Posted on June 29, 2009The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, today invited Canadians to provide their views on the ratification and implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Beginning today, until July 31,...
Elderly victims of Kenya witchhunts--where is the UN??
Posted on June 26, 2009Via the BBC: Villagers, many straight from their farms, and armed with machetes, sticks and axes, are shouting and crowding round in a big group in Kenya's fertile Kisii district. I can't see clearly what is going on, but heavy...
Kathy J. Greenlee confirmed as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging
Posted on June 26, 2009The Administration on Aging (AoA) has announced that Kathy J. Greenlee was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate as Assistant Secretary for Aging at the Department of Health and Human Services. President Barack Obama nominated Ms. Greenlee for the...
Census Bureau updates world population projections--elderly pop will triple by 2050
Posted on June 25, 2009The world?s 65-and-older population is projected to triple by midcentury, from 516 million in 2009 to 1.53 billion in 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In contrast, the population under 15 is expected to increase by only 6 percent...
Boomer Michael Jackson, age 50, dies after cardiac arrest
Posted on June 25, 2009http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/25/jackson/
Here's how the public feels about various health care reform ideas...
Posted on June 25, 2009Source: Kaiser Health Report/Employee Benefits Research Institute, http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/general-pages/DataPinsurancecoverage.aspx
Senate Special Committee on Aging holds hearing on Emergency Preparedness and Older Americans
Posted on June 24, 2009On Wednesday, June 24, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing called ?Emergency Preparedness, Aging and Special Needs: Prepared vs. Scared!? At the hearing, Dr. Richard Besser, Director, Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response of the...
CEJP Summer Newsletter now online
Posted on June 23, 2009The Summer 2009 newsletter of the Center for Elder Justice and Policy at William Mitchell College of Law is now online at http://www.cejp.org/resources/EPPSu09.pdf
AARP develops "donut hole calculator"
Posted on June 23, 2009Online calculator helps people avoid dreaded ?doughnut hole? Each year, an estimated three million-plus older Americans fall into the ?doughnut hole??a coverage gap in Medicare?s prescription drug program that leaves individuals on the hook for all of their own drug...
Eric Carlson to deliver Loyola Hurley, McKenna & Mertz Lecture
Posted on June 22, 2009The Loyola Elder Law Initiative Presents the 2009 Hurley, McKenna & Mertz Lecture Series Event Tips and Trends in Long-Term Care Presenter: Eric M. Carlson, J.D. Director, Long-Term Care Project National Senior Citizens Law Center July 16, 2009 - 6:00...
Panic attack? Drug mfrs agree to shrink size of donut hole in Part D
Posted on June 21, 2009U.S. drug makers agreed Saturday to shell out $80 billion over the next 10 years to lower the cost of medication for seniors and help pay for President Obama's proposed healthcare overhaul, as part of an agreement hashed out with...
AoA seeks stories about volunteerism by and benefitting seniors
Posted on June 18, 2009In a June 17th video message, (full video message at www.serve.gov) President Obama unveiled United We Serve, an extended call to service challenging all Americans to help lay a new foundation for growth in this country by engaging in sustained,...
Has beens weigh in on health care reform
Posted on June 17, 2009"Democrats Tom Daschle and George Mitchell are set to join Republicans Bob Dole and Howard Baker on Wednesday to release a $1.2 trillion proposal that would be fully paid for with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases," the...
Now this is weird...
Posted on June 17, 2009A New York man has been arrested for impersonating his dead mother in order to claim $115,000in social security benefits and rent subsidies. Thomas Prusik-Parkin, 49, is accused by prosecutors of regularly dressing up in a wig, dress and make-up...
Lawmakers want legislative override of Supreme Court wage decision for home health workers
Posted on June 12, 2009group of Democratic senators on Thursday urged the Labor Department to reverse a Bush administration policy by extending federal wage and hour laws to home health care workers. Most domestic workers are covered by laws governing minimum wage and overtime...
American Medical Students' Association takes on AMA over health care reform
Posted on June 12, 2009The American Medical Association (AMA) has recently announced its opposition to a public insurance option. Recognizing that a public option is essential to improving access and containing costs, AMSA (American Medical Associateion) issued a statement confirming our support of a...
Health reform bill includes gov't backed long term care insurance
Posted on June 10, 2009Long-term care plays a role in the Senate HELP committee health plan released Tuesday by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. The Associated Press reports that "Americans would be able to buy long-term care insurance from the government for $65 a month...
CRS report discusses what will happen to Medicare Part B without SS COLA premium increase
Posted on June 08, 2009Current projections indicate that there will be no Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Over the same period, total Medicare Part B program costs are expected to increase. Part B premiums, which are automatically deducted from...
AoA publishes Spring 2009 newsletter
Posted on June 08, 2009Get it here: http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/Press_Room/Enews/index.aspx
Facts about persons with disabilities in the US
Posted on May 29, 2009Population Distribution 41.2 million Number of people who have some level of disability. They represent 15 percent of the civilian noninstitutionalized population 5 and older. By age ? 6 percent of children 5 to 15 have disabilities. 12 percent of...
Recent SSRN Papers about Grandparent Visitation
Posted on May 28, 2009Supporting the Covenant: Family and Community Table of Contents and Introduction Margaret F. Brinig Notre Dame Law School SUPPORTING THE COVENANT: FAMILY AND COMMUNITY, University of Chicago Press, 2010 Notre Dame Legal Studies Paper No. 09-26 Abstract: This book will...
Recent SSRN papers about Powers of Attorney
Posted on May 28, 2009The Uniform Power of Attorney Act: New Solutions to Old Problems Gerry W. Beyer Texas Tech University School of Law Estate Planning Studies, 2009 Abstract: This article examines some of the provisions in the 2006 Uniform Power of Attorney Act...
USA Today opinion piece advocates publicly financed LTC insurance
Posted on May 27, 2009Here's an excerpt: "Congress and President Obama could create a system of universal long-term care insurance, built on a combination of public and private coverage. They could end the reliance of millions on the welfare-like Medicaid system while reducing the...
AoA?s National Center on Elder Abuse Launches Movie Theater Elder Abuse Awareness Message
Posted on May 27, 2009As part of the Administration on Aging?s (AoA) ongoing recognition of Older Americans Month, Acting Assistant Secretary for Aging Edwin L. Walker today announced that beginning May 22 through June 18, 2009, AoA?s National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) will...
Not elder law: British couple celebrates 81st wedding anniversary today
Posted on May 26, 2009Britain's longest living married couple have celebrated their 81st wedding anniversary. Frank and Anita Milford, who live together in a nursing home in Plymouth, Devon, exchanged vows on 26 May, 1928. The Milfords were married in 1928 - the year...
Minnesota legislature adopts Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act
Posted on May 26, 2009See text of bill as signed by the governor here: https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=46&doctype=chapter&year=2009&type=0
Breaking news: Sotomayer will be nominated to US Supremes
Posted on May 26, 2009President Barack Obama tapped federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, officials said, making her the first Hispanic in history picked to wear the robes of a justice. If confirmed by the Senate, Sotomayor, 54, would...
GAO issues report on home dialysis covered by Medicare
Posted on May 25, 2009Why GAO Did This Study Medicare covers dialysis?a process that removes excess fluids and toxins from the bloodstream?for most individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a condition of permanent kidney failure. Most patients with ESRD receive dialysis in a facility,...
Wake Forest Elder Law Clinic spring newsletter now online
Posted on May 24, 2009Get it here: http://law.wfu.edu/clinics/elder/documents/E-ClinicNews-April2009.pdf
First WA Death with Dignity patient exercises her rights
Posted on May 23, 2009A 66-year-old US woman with advanced cancer has become the first person to die under a new aid in dying law in Washington State. The woman, Linda Fleming, died on Thursday night after taking drugs prescribed by her doctor.The "Death...
Health Beat blog post on death and dying...
Posted on May 21, 2009Well worth a read: Demystifying Death: Compassionate, Practical Advice for Patients and Families
GAO report highlights need for PBGC reforms
Posted on May 20, 2009Summary: Corporation (PBGC) insures the retirement future of nearly 44 million people in over 29,000 private-sector defined benefit pension plans. In July 2003, GAO designated PBGC?s single-employer pension insurance program?its largest insurance program?as ?high risk,? including it on GAO?s list...
Old stuff in the news: stunning fossil unveiled
Posted on May 19, 2009T he beautifully preserved remains of a 47-million-year-old, lemur-like creature have been unveiled in the US. The preservation is so good, it is possible to see the outline of its fur and even traces of its last meal. The fossil,...
Talk of the Nation discusses the ethics of lying to an Alzheimer's patient
Posted on May 19, 2009For families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease, communication can be emotionally exhausting. If the family receives bad or disturbing news, is it ever compassionate to not tell the family member with Alzheimer's about it, or even to...
HIgh malnutrition rates suspected among elderly
Posted on May 19, 2009Up to one in six older adults living on their own may not be getting adequate nutrition, a study from Sweden suggests. Researchers found that among 579 adults ages 75 to 80 years, nearly 15 percent were at risk of...
Supremes say maternity leave doesn't count for pensions
Posted on May 19, 2009The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Monday that women who want their maternity leaves calculated fully into retirement benefits cannot sue for leaves taken before a 1978 federal law made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy. Reversing a...
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15
Posted on May 19, 2009Find out about international initiatives; download a community action toolkit at http://www.inpea.net/weaad.html
New Old Age blog on financial exploitation by relatives and caregivers
Posted on May 19, 2009Read: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/in-financial-abuse-a-blind-spot-for-family/
Seeking input on civil rights of instituionalized persons, and investigatory, enforcement processes
Posted on May 14, 2009Received from Doug Surtees: I am researching civil rights (broadly understood to include matters of person freedom, choice, personal hygiene and so forth) and would like to ask colleagues for some help. What processes exist to enforce existing regulations regarding...
Upcoming elder mediation training announcement
Posted on May 14, 2009ELDER MEDIATION TRAINING June 16, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and June 17, 18 and 19, 2009 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day Sponsored by GOOD SHEPHERD MEDIATION PROGRAM, PHILADELPHIA, PA To be held at Temple University James E....
Recent SSRN papers about AGE DISCRIMINATION
Posted on May 13, 20091 Understanding the Labour Market for Older Workers: A Survey IZA Discussion Paper No. 4033 John S. Heywood and Stanley Siebert University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and University of Birmingham Date Posted: March 2, 2009 Last Revised: March 2, 2009...
2009 SS Trustees Report revises last year's estimates
Posted on May 13, 2009The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report on the financial health of the Social Security Trust Funds. The Trustees project that program costs will exceed tax revenues in 2016, one year sooner than projected in last...
ABA Senior Lawyers Division eNews for April/May online...
Posted on May 12, 2009Of note is a summary of legislative and regulatory proposals affecting seniors: Bills Introduced S 776 (Casey, D-PA), to assist in creating substantive culture change in long-term residential care by establishing a small house nursing home loan program to provide...
April 2009 issue of Bifocal now available on line
Posted on May 12, 2009Articles include: North Dakota Adopts Emeritus Pro Bono Practice Rule CLE Podcasts from 2008 National Aging and Law Conference Now Available! Financial Fraud Likely to Increase in 2009 Help Is on the Way: Senior Legal Hotlines Respond to Elder Abuse....
Huffington post notes that "elder abuse is a women's issue"
Posted on May 12, 2009By Martha Burk, Political psychologist, co-founder, Center for Advancement of Public Policy: "Mother's Day is over for another year, but there's a hidden problem with many of our mothers that just goes on and on. Take the case of Ruth,...
Not elder law: secrets of world's oldest underwater city to be revealed
Posted on May 12, 2009The oldest submerged town in the world is about to give up its secrets ? with the help of equipment that could revolutionize underwater archaeology. The ancient town of Pavlopetri lies in three to four metres of water just off...
New study suggests that caregiving for elderly parents helps extend caregiver lifespan
Posted on May 05, 2009Boomers sandwiched between growing children and ailing aging parents often worry that the stress from all that caregiving might shave years off their lives. But it turns out that the opposite may be true ? the nurturing they give may...
A favorite website about old stuff....
Posted on May 05, 2009The Ancient Maps Web List, http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/AncientWebPages/AncientL.html
Some new, cool stuff from NAELA
Posted on May 05, 2009NAELA Rolls Out the Online Education Library Keep up with Elder Law and Special Needs Law issues with the new NAELA Online Education Library - without leaving your office! You'll find instant access to online and telephonic seminars, webinars, podcasts,...
Recent SSRN papers about MEDICARE
Posted on May 05, 20091 Choice Inconsistencies Among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program NBER Working Paper No. w14759 Jason Abaluck and Jonathan Gruber Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
The latest elder law - related CRS reports
Posted on May 05, 2009R40513 State Health Reform Strategies April 14, 2009 Download Locations: Open CRS (User submitted) Summary: States have taken the initiative to propose and enact health care reforms to address perceived problems related to health insurance coverage, health care costs, and...
It's baaaaccckkk....
Posted on May 05, 2009Due to a case of .. well, something, on the part of the editor, Elder Law Prof Blog went dark for a while. It's back, thanks to some prodding from a person who appears to be my only regular reader....
Obit: Icon Marilyn French dies at age 79
Posted on May 05, 2009Marilyn French, author of The Women's Room and regarded as one of the great feminist writers, has died of heart failure aged 79 in New York. The native New Yorker died on Saturday in a Manhattan hospital, said Carol Jenkins,...
Census releases Facts for Features on Older Americans
Posted on March 10, 2009It's always a good idea to brush up on the facts: Older Americans Month: May 2009 A meeting with the National Council of Senior Citizens resulted in President John F. Kennedy designating May 1963 as Senior Citizens Month, encouraging the...
Larry Frolik is a dude!
Posted on February 20, 2009This post was copied directly from the Wills, Trusts, and Estates Prof Blog: Lawrence A. Frolik (Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law) has recently published his book entitled Residence Options for Older and Disabled Clients. Here is...
Legendary wrestler Verne Gagne and a tragic tale of Alzheimer's
Posted on February 20, 2009Verne Gagne, 82, is a former wrestling champion who has attained folk legend status in Minnesota. And Helmut R. Gutmann, 97, was a former cancer researcher who came to this country after fleeing Hitler's Nazi Germany. Both have suffered from...
The ABA wants your book proposal!!!
Posted on February 20, 2009Larry "The Dude" Frolik (Pitt) writes: The ABA Senior Lawyers Division is eager to publish your book. If you have an idea for a book or a concept that might become a book, consider submitting your idea to the ABA...
Upcoming conferences on aging issues
Posted on February 20, 2009March 11?15, 2009 Ninth International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases Prague, Czech Republic March 12?15, 2009 Ageing in the Mediterranean World Valletta, Malta April 14?16, 2009 Sixth-Annual World Health Care Congress Washington, D...
Pay home health care workers as part of stimulus plan
Posted on February 13, 2009Interesting post from Health Beat Blog today--here's an excerpt:Now that the economy is in decline with massive job losses, consider the economic effect of providing well earned money to the 46 million personal care providers (31 million full-time equivalents)...
Compassion & Choices on the seven principles of patient-centered care
Posted on February 12, 2009Compassion & Choices today released its Seven Principles for Patient-Centered End-of-Life Care and urged that they guide health care reform. ?As individuals face the end of life, and try to navigate the health care system, their own values and choices...
Medicaid related reports of interest
Posted on February 10, 2009The National Health Law Program recently released a new study entitled, ?Fact Sheet: Developments Affecting Medicaid Cases Filed under 42 U.S.C. §1983.? The analysis offers useful information and legal strategies for advocates representing Medicaid recipients and applicants who encounter difficulties...
Quick and dirty overview of COBRA...
Posted on February 06, 2009...prepared for one of our Congresspersons who doesn't understand how it works...Health Insurance Continuation Coverage Under COBRA Most Americans with private group health insurance are covered through an employer, coverage that is generally provided to active employees and their families,...
GAO publishes info on state Medicaid allocations under proposed stimulus package
Posted on February 04, 2009GAO publishes info on state Medicaid allocations under proposed stimulus package http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09364r.pdf
GAO report finds CMS lacks clear plan for addressing needs of limited English proficiency callers.
Posted on January 29, 2009The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is responsible for providing beneficiaries timely and accurate information about Medicare. Receiving nearly 30 million calls in 2007, 1-800-MEDICARE, operated by a contractor, is the most common way members of the public...
Borchard Fellowship application period now open
Posted on January 23, 2009The Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging Invites Applications For The 2009-2010 Borchard Fellowship in Law & Aging Fellowship Information The Borchard Fellowship in Law & Aging affords one year for two law school graduates interested in, and perhaps...
New Census report on spending for health care and social assistance programs
Posted on January 23, 2009Medicaid continued to be the largest source of funding for nursing and residential care facilities in 2007 at $59 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. These tabulations come from the 2007 Service Annual Survey: Health Care and Social Assistance,...
ABA reissues Emeritus Attorney Guardianship Grant RFP
Posted on January 22, 2009Revision and Re-Issuance of RFP for Mini-grants on Emeritus Indigent Guardianship Project* The ABA has issued a new mini-grant announcement for the Emeritus Attorney Pro Bono Indigent Guardianship Project, sponsored by the ABA Commission on Law and Aging and the...
AARP International Vol. 7, Issue 1 now available
Posted on January 20, 2009The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Older People in Asia The Asia Society and AARP will host a discussion of how the current global financial and economic crisis is disproportionately affecting Asia's older populations. Panelists will discuss the...
NIH publishes progress report on Alzheimer's disease
Posted on January 20, 2009The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the Federal Government?s National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has primary responsibility for basic, clinical, behavioral, and social research in Alzheimer?s disease (AD) as...
Jeffrey Baker Faulkner) featured in "spirit profile"
Posted on January 20, 2009Jeffrey Baker, Associate professor of law and director of clinical studies at Faulkner University's Jones School of Law; director of Jones Elder Law Clinic and the Family Violence Clinic, was recently profiled in the Montogomery (AL) Advertiser. He was nominated...
News from the National Senior Citizens Law Center
Posted on January 16, 2009National Senior Citizens Law Center Los Angeles, CA | Oakland, CA | Washington, DC January 15, 2009 Listed below are highlights of NSCLC?s work since our last update. You can find out more on our website: http://www.nsclc.org/whats_new ?Please Hold?: Medicare...
ALCA hosts free Webinar on fire safety in assisted living
Posted on January 15, 2009Please join the Assisted Living Consumer Alliance (www.assistedlivingconsumers.org) for our first webinar of 2009 ? Fire Safety in Assisting Living. Our three speakers, experts in their fields, will discuss fire safety from regulatory, safety, and consumer perspectives...
SANDELL GRANT PROGRAM DEADLINE REMINDER: Jan. 30
Posted on January 13, 2009ANDELL GRANT PROGRAM DEADLINE REMINDER The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College is currently accepting submissions for the 2009 Steven H. Sandell Grant Program. * The Sandell Program provides the opportunity for junior scholars from a wide variety of...
SSA now offers online enrollment for beneficiaries
Posted on January 08, 2009To deal with the influx of baby boomer applicants, the Social Security Administration has moved the enrollment process to its website, where retirees can sign up for Social Security payments and Medicare. ?There's no need to drive to a local...
Annals of Health Law Launches Online Journal and Blog
Posted on January 08, 2009The Annals of Health Law is proud to announce its online counterpart, Advanced Directive: Bringing You the Latest Developments in Health Law. Advanced Directive provides timely student articles on a variety of cutting-edge health law topics. To view the first...
Not elder law: 4300 year old mummy unearthed
Posted on January 08, 2009Egyptologists have discovered the remains of a mummy thought to belong to a queen who ruled 4,300 years ago, Egypt's antiquities chief has said. The body of Queen Seshestet was found in a recently-discovered pyramid in Saqqara, Zahi Hawass announced....
SSRN adds new Elder Law Studies Network
Posted on January 08, 2009We are pleased to announce a new Legal Scholarship Network (LSN) Sponsored Subject Matter eJournal -- Elder Law Studies. ELDER LAW STUDIES View Papers: http://www.ssrn.com/link/Elder-Law-Studies.html Subscribe: http://hq.ssrn.com/jourInvite.cfm?link=Elder-Law-Studies Editor: Nina Kohn, Assistant Professor, Syracuse University - College of Law Sponsor: The...
NAELA Student Elder Law Writing Competition opens March 1
Posted on January 06, 2009The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys is pleased to present the Fourth Annual NAELA Elder Law Writing Competition offering a $1,500 cash prize for the best article submitted. The winner will be honored at a national NAELA conference in...
Elder law pioneer Clifton Kruse dies at age 74
Posted on January 05, 2009Clifton Bryan Kruse, Jr., 74, passed away surrounded by his family on December 30, 2008, from complications of Alzheimer's disease. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas in 1956, and his graduate degree in theology from...
CRS publishes report on Part B premiums
Posted on January 05, 2009R40082 Medicare: Part B Premiums December 29, 2008 Medicare beneficiaries have out-of-pocket cost-sharing requirements that differ according to the services hey receive. Physician and outpatient services provided under Part B are financed through a combination of beneficiary premiums, deductibles, and...
Number of Americans With a Disability Reaches 54.4 Million
Posted on December 23, 2008About one in five U.S. residents - 19 percent - reported some level of disability in 2005, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. These 54.4 million Americans are roughly equal to the combined total populations of California...
Senior hotline newsletter now on line
Posted on December 23, 2008The Center for Elder Rights Advocacy, the new technical assistance for senior legal helplines and a partner in the National Legal Resource Center, is producing an electronic newsletter, The Legal Helplines Connection, every other month to keep you informed of...
Cost of 12 days of Christmas up 11% from 2007
Posted on December 19, 2008http://climate.weather.com/articles/slideshows/12xmas2008.html?from=pif_locallinker_travelcm_ven=MKTGcm_cat=HousePromocm_pla=LocLinkcm_ite=FEref=/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/55408 I have to say, though, I can't figure out how they came up with only $52 for eight maids a-milking...
GAO recommends improvements in SSA's collection of disability related medical reports
Posted on December 18, 2008The timely collection of relevant medical evidence from providers, such as physicians and psychologists, is key to the Social Security Administration (SSA) process for deciding whether an estimated 2.5 million new claimants each year have impairments that qualify them to...
New credit card rules will help some seniors
Posted on December 18, 2008In the most sweeping changes to credit cards in decades, federal regulators on Thursday approved new rules to crack down on so-called unfair and deceptive practices by card issuers, such as raising interest rates on existing debt. The rules, issued...
Elder law pioneer Ann Pecora dies at age 62
Posted on December 18, 2008Anne Pecora, a pioneering academic in the elder law arena, died Monday Dec. 15. Ann was the founder and director of the Elder Law Representation Project of Baltimore City during 1975-92 as a clinical law program at the University of...
Not elder law: Found! World's oldest spider web
Posted on December 16, 2008he tiny tangled threads of the world's oldest spider web have been found encased in a prehistoric piece of amber, a British scientist said Monday. Oxford University paleobiologist Martin Brasier said the 140-million-year-old webbing provides evidence that arachnids had been...
This just in: 2008 No. 3 NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health
Posted on December 16, 2008Available at http://www.nber.org/aginghealth/2008no3/2008no3.pdf TOC: The 2008 No. 3 Bulletin includes the articles below: 1) The Past and Future of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act by David Neumark http://www.nber.org/aginghealth/2008no3/w14317...
GAO report recommends improvements to Part D beneficiary information strategies
Posted on December 16, 2008In Medicare Part D, enrollees in stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) are allowed to switch plans during an annual coordinated election period (AEP) set under law from November 15 to December 31, with new coverage effective January 1. The Centers...
Vol. !, Issue 1 of Canadian Journal on Elder Law published
Posted on December 15, 2008The Canadian Centre for Elder Law, a Division of the British Columbia Law Institute, has released the first issue of the Canadian Journal of Elder Law (CJEL). The journal is the first Canadian peer?reviewed journal focused on elder law issues,...
Did you know: Monthly Social Security Bulletin: the scholarly journal of SSA
Posted on December 15, 2008Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 68 No. 3 Printed copies of this document are scheduled for release in late December 2008. The Effects of Wage Indexing on Social Security Disability Benefits by L. Scott Muller Researchers David Autor and Mark Duggan...
GSU seeks attorney to work on health disparity issues
Posted on December 12, 2008The Georgia State University College of Law seeks an attorney to work as a Health Disparities Fellow in a community collaboration called the Health Law Partnership (HeLP), under a grant received under the Georgia Health Equity Initiative of the Georgia...
Highlights from NSCLC reports and articles now online
Posted on December 12, 2008Happy Holidays from all of us at the National Senior Citizens Law Center! Here are highlights from recent reports and articles. You can find more on the NSCLC website: http://www.nsclc.org/whats_new --NSCLC Agenda: A Call to Action This is NSCLC's "to-do...
New GAO report discusses Medicare Advantage plans' actual vs. projected profits
Posted on December 12, 2008Surprise! These plans made 50% higher profits than they "thought" they would. Summary of the report: On average, MA organizations reported earning profits of 6.6 percent of total revenue in 2006?which was higher than their projected profits of 4.1 percent...
Wake Forest elder law clinic's fall e-newsletter online NOW!
Posted on December 10, 2008Among the top stories this edition: The Grand Prix and the Grandpa Alyse Herrington reviewed a lawsuit filed against her client for nonpayment of a car loan. This gentleman's granddaughter had bad credit, so he had helped by co-signing on...
Recent posts of interest on Elder Abuse Prevention Blog
Posted on December 10, 2008Powers of Attorney, Elder Justice, Help Hiring Helpers, and No More Minnesota Nice I like the latter in particular: No More ?Minnesota Nice" As a native Minnesotan, I got a kick out of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety?s anti-scam...
Today is 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Posted on December 09, 2008Courtesy Amercian Medical Students' Association: Dec 10, 2008 is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The United Nations General Assembly adopted the declaration on Dec. 10, 1948, and it stands as a foundational document for...
New CRS report discusses Medicaid regs affected by moratorium
Posted on December 08, 2008RL34764 Medicaid Regulatory Issues November 26, 2008 Download Locations: Open CRS (User submitted) Summary:This report provides a summary of seven proposed and final rules affecting the Medicaid program that were issued by the Bush Administration during 2007 and 2008...
Sunny Von Bulow dead after 28 years in coma
Posted on December 06, 2008US heiress Martha von Bulow, who spent almost three decades in a coma but was still at the centre of 1980s courtroom dramas, has died at the age of 76.Mrs von Bulow, known as Sunny, was found unconscious in her...
Medicaid program pays for unapproved drugs
Posted on November 25, 2008Medicaid paid nearly $198 million from 2004 to 2007 for more than 100 unapproved prescription drugs for beneficiaries, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data...The drugs in question, most of which are used to treat common conditions such...
New book: Theories on Law and Ageing
Posted on November 24, 2008Springer has just published "Theories on Law and Ageing", edited by Israel Doron (U. Haifa). The book is available in hard copy or as an e-book. Theories on Law and Ageing: The Jurisprudence of Elder Law Publisher Springer Berlin Heidelberg...
Mike Meyers' Elder Law Forum offers wisdom and sometimes chicken soup for the elder's soul
Posted on November 22, 2008Elder Law Prof and general cool dude Mike Meyers runs a full service elder law shop at the University of South Dakota, with a clinic, hotline, and very cool radio show that is broadcast all over the Upper Midwest. The...
States slash Medicaid --old, disabled, vulnerable, as always, pay the price of market excesses
Posted on November 21, 2008Faced with widening budget shortfalls, several states are rolling back support services for the elderly and disabled. The move is making it tougher for them to continue living on their own, advocates say. At least 15 states, including Alabama, Virginia...
Everything you need to know about elder law podcasts....
Posted on November 20, 2008OK, not everything. But I did a search today to see what's out there, and there is a lot. Here are some examples: Hull & Hull Elder Law Podcasts (Canada), http://estatelaw.hullandhull.com/articles/podcasts-audio/ Prof. Mike Meyers' Elder Law Forum Radio Show, http://www...
Tom Daschle tabbed for HHS Secretary
Posted on November 19, 2008President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday named former Sen. Tom Daschle to lead the nation's Department of Health and Human Services. GOP senators say former Sen. Tom Daschle "knows how the Senate works." Daschle, D-S.D., is one of Obama's first Cabinet picks...
One heckuva Social Security scam....
Posted on November 18, 2008A woman accused of helping her religious leader hide a decaying corpse on her toilet so they could continue collecting her Social Security was convicted of a misdemeanor in a deal for her to testify against the leader, a prosecutor...
40% of all prescription medications go unused
Posted on November 18, 2008The Community Medical Foundation for Patient Safety is a nonprofit organization and leader in patient safety research and education. In 2004, the Foundation created the National Unused & Expired Medicines Registry and began systematic collection of unused and expired (UEM)...
EPA Aging Initiative announces winners of Rachel Carson Intergenerational essay, photography, and poetry contest
Posted on November 18, 2008EPA's Aging Initiative, Generations United, and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc. are pleased to announce the winners of this year's Rachel Carson "A Sense of Wonder" Intergenerational Essay, Photography, and Poetry Contest. The contest was designed to increase environmental stewardship...
OECD chief says we must encourage older workers to stay in the job force
Posted on November 18, 2008"In an era of rapid population aging, we can no longer afford policies, employment practices and attitudes that discourage work at an older age. They not only deny older workers the choice of when and how they should retire, but...
ABA surveys lawyers about the economy and their practices
Posted on November 18, 2008The ABA Journal is surveying lawyers about the job market and the current state of the economy. Connect to the survey. Answers will be kept confidential and used only in combination with all other responses received.
Not elder law: scientists id path of ancient wooly rhino
Posted on November 17, 2008The 460,000-year-old skull of a woolly rhino, reconstructed from 53 fragments, is the oldest example of these mighty, ice age beasts ever found in Europe. The extinct mammals reached a length of three-and-a-half metres in adulthood and, unlike their modern...
Economic worries drive Japanese elders to crime
Posted on November 17, 2008Via Bloomberg (and Neal Axton) More senior citizens are picking pockets and shoplifting in Japan to cope with cuts in government welfare spending and rising health-care costs in a fast-ageing society. Criminal offences by people 65 or older doubled to...
Census updates Older Worker Profile materials
Posted on November 17, 2008The Census Bureau has recently updated its list of summary profiles of older workers in various states. Profiles are available for twenty states Find them here.
Reminder: Part D Plan Finders may help detangle the enrollment mess
Posted on November 15, 2008It's Part D enrollment season, and the options available to beneficiaries are, well, myriad. Plan finders purport to assist in finding the best plan for each potential enrollee. Here are a few links to Part D online plan finding-tools. I...
Heart failure accounts for 37% of Medicare expenditures
Posted on November 15, 2008Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure have many more doctor visits and take more medications than those without heart failure, researchers are reporting. They based their conclusion on an analysis of data on 173,000 Medicare beneficiaries. The overall average age of...
Canadian Conference on Elder Law/financial elder abuse issues in the news
Posted on November 15, 2008Financial abuse of seniors quickly emerged as a hot topic Thursday as health-care experts, lawyers, academics and policy makers gathered in Vancouver for the fourth annual Canadian Elder Care conference. But it was who was missing from the debate that...
Hospice/palliative care visionary dies at age 91
Posted on November 15, 2008Florence S. Wald, whose vision of bringing the terminally ill peace of mind and, to whatever extent possible, freedom from pain led to the opening of the first palliative care hospice in the United States, died on Saturday at her...
New pension rule may affect payouts for some retirees
Posted on November 15, 2008A growing number of defined-benefit pension plans, especially small- to-mid-sized plans, could be in trouble this year because of the struggling stock market combined with a little-known provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Under PPA, firms with defined-benefit...
CRS report discussing proposed Section 8 housing issues for seniors and persons with disabilities
Posted on November 07, 2008RL34728 Section 811 and Other HUD Housing Programs for Persons with Disabilities November 03, 2008 Download Locations: Open CRS (User submitted) Summary: The ability of persons with disabilities to live independently in affordable, accessible housing became a prominent issue starting...
Washington State passes Death with Dignity measure
Posted on November 05, 2008Washington will become the second state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication for terminally ill patients seeking to hasten their deaths. Initiative 1000 was leading in most counties across the state Tuesday. "I'm elated," said former Washington...
Prof. Israel Doron (Univ. of Haifa) named to ABA Commission on Law and Aging
Posted on November 03, 2008Israel Doron is a professor of law and a senior lecturer in the Department of Gerontology at Haifa University, Israel, and the founder of the Law in the Service of the Elderly Association, also in Israel. He is a Distinguished...
ABA's Bifocal Calls for creative contributions
Posted on November 03, 2008Making the Stories of Our Clients and Our Lives Accessible Through Poetry and Prose Lawyers are more than the sum of their academic degrees and professional experiences. Between a demanding work load and a plurality of professional obligations, many lawyers...
Opportunities and Challenges for Dispute Resolution Processes in Elder Care: Panel discussion coming up
Posted on November 03, 2008ACR Chicago Chapter and the Center for Conflict Resolution Present: Opportunities and Challenges for Dispute Resolution Processes in Elder Care Please join us to explore the role of conflict resolution in the elder care field today. A panel of distinguished...
GAO report addresses CMS financial audits (or lack thereof) of Part D contracts
Posted on October 31, 2008Summary: The Medicare Part D benefit was first available in January 2006, and that year it provided federally subsidized prescription drug coverage for nearly 28 million beneficiaries at a cost of $47.4 billion?almost 12 percent of total Medicare spending...
ABA Senior Lawyers' Div. Oct. eNews now available
Posted on October 31, 2008Oct issue available here: http://www.abanet.org/srlawyers/publications/enewsletter/home.shtml Upcoming conference, Senior Lawyers' Division: Providing Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly with Equal Access to Justice Sponsor: ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section Co-sponsor: ABA Senior Lawyers Division December 5, 2008 Stetson University...
News from NHeLP
Posted on October 31, 2008NHeLP has issued a new fact sheet that answers the most commonly asked questions about Medicaid?s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program. EPSDT provides early health screenings, preventive care, comprehensive treatment, and health education to children and...
Advocacy for limited-English-proficient seniors
Posted on October 29, 2008The Shriver National Center on Poverty Law has just published "What You Need to Know About Advocacy for Limited-English-Proficient Elders" Growing numbers of limited-English-proficient senior citizens frequently encounter language barriers when attempting to access government services and programs...
WEBCAST OCT. 30 on the Economic Crisis -- what we can do about it
Posted on October 28, 2008The Economic Crisis Webcast Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM EDT / 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM PDT Click here to register now How we got into this mess. What we as a nation and as...
Assisted Living Consumers Alliance host free Web seminar on assisted living advocacy
Posted on October 28, 2008Register here! https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/254313901%3E Are the following statements true or false? "Assisted living is a social model of care, so health care standards don't belong." "Nursing homes don't work well because they've been overregulated -- we don't want to make those...
NAELA and AARP Host Free 'Aging in America' Webcast on Oct. 30
Posted on October 27, 2008October 21, 2008 -- With a massive Baby Boomer population approaching retirement age and the current economic squeeze impacting American wallets, advanced long-term care planning is now more crucial than ever. To help educate families on these senior issues, the...
TOC: Vol 68 No. 2 Social Security Bulletin
Posted on October 27, 2008Alternate Measures of Replacement Rates for Social Security Benefits and Retirement Income by Andrew G. Biggs and Glenn R. Springstead Replacement rates are common and useful tools used by individuals and policy analysts to plan for retirement and assess the...
Some farmers take jobs off-site to get health insurance
Posted on October 24, 2008As in the rest of the nation, the rural United States is facing increasingly expensive health care options. With an aging population of farmers and ranchers, those in the agriculture sector are watching premiums rise and, often, making hard choices...
Check it out: Missouri Elder Law Blog
Posted on October 23, 2008University of Missouri law student Julie H. (last name withheld as a matter of her personal preference) launched the Missouri Elder Law Blog a few months ago. Not sure how I missed it, but check it out: http://www.elderlawmissouri.com/ I met...
Bee Gees can help with CPR. Seriously.
Posted on October 18, 2008S medics have found the Bee Gees' 1977 disco anthem, Stayin' Alive, provides an ideal beat to follow when performing CPR on a victim of a cardiac arrest. A University of Illinois medical school study said it contained 103 beats...
Australia News: Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for community care
Posted on October 17, 2008The nearly 56,000 older Australians who receive help at home through community aged care packages will get a greater say in the provision of their services - under the Rudd Labor Government. The Minister for Ageing, Mrs Justine Elliot today...
SS COLA for 2009
Posted on October 17, 2008From the Social Security Administration: Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for more than 55 million Americans will increase 5.8 percent in 2009, the Social Security Administration announced today. The 5.8 percent increase is the largest since 1982...
Center for Elder Rights Advocacy to partner with AoA's National Legal Resource Center
Posted on October 16, 2008The Center for Elder Rights Advocacy (CERA) is proud to announce that it will be the partner in the the Administration on Aging's National Legal Resource Center that provides technical assistance to senior legal helplines throughout the nation. After years...
New Census products: Profiles of Older Workers
Posted on October 16, 2008The U.S. Census Bureau, in partnership with 31 states, has launched a series of reports on older workers that presents a detailed picture for people 55 and older in the work force. Individual reports will present data at the county...
Elder Law Study Group seeks survey respondents
Posted on October 15, 2008The Elder Law Study Group, a group of legal academics and elder law experts brought together by the Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging and the Institute for Laws of Health and Aging at Pacific McGeorge School of Law,...
Not elder law: World's oldest footprints confirmed in Italy
Posted on October 13, 2008Source: New Scientist It's official: the oldest human footprints ever found are 345,000 years old, give or take 6000. Known as the "devils' trails", they have been preserved in volcanic ash atop the Roccamonfina volcano in Italy. The prints were...
Upcoming conferences: elder law and related topics
Posted on October 13, 2008NAELA Advanced Institute Oct. 23-26 Kansas City, MO http://www.naela.com//pdffiles/2008_NAELA_Institute_Kansas_City_Materials/BEGIN.pdf Canadian Conference on Elder Law, Nov. 13-15, 2008 Vancouver, BC http://www.ccels.ca/ National Aging and the Law Conference Dec...
Census report profiles the uninsured in USA
Posted on October 13, 2008A new report from the Census Bureau provides a detailed analysis of the uninsured population in the U.S., providing breakdowns by state, county, and demographic groups, the Denver Rocky Mountain News reports. For the study, researchers at the bureau's Small...
Recent CRS reports of interest
Posted on October 13, 2008Recent CRS reports of interest RL32697 Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2007 October 03, 2008 http://opencrs.cdt.org/document/RL32697 RL34558 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: FY2009 Appropriations September 27, 2008 http://opencrs...
AARP International--October 2008 Newsletter
Posted on October 13, 2008TOC Honoring International Employers AARP is going global in its search for companies that have created workplaces that welcome age-50+ workers. In this, its first year, the AARP International Innovative Employer Awards competition attracted a stellar selection of companies representing...
New federal foster care law will aid grandparent caregivers
Posted on October 09, 2008Via Generations United/MKCA: The President has signed into law the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoption Act of 2008. The act is a bi-partisan compromise between the House and Senate that includes many of the provisions of the Kinship...
New GAO report recommends more accountability in disabled vet program
Posted on October 09, 2008Summary: Recent military conflicts have increased interest in federal efforts to support servicemembers preparing to leave military service. Through the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD),...
Walgreen to settle Medicaid billing case for $9.9 million
Posted on September 30, 2008Walgreen has agreed to pay $9.9 million to settle allegations by the Department of Justice and four states -- Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota -- that the company improperly billed Medicaid, DOJ said in a statement on Monday. According to...
ADA strengthened with recently signed amendments
Posted on September 30, 2008ADA Amendments Act of 2008 On September 25, President Bush signed the ?ADA Amendments Act of 2008,? (S. 3406) into law. The new law reinforces the original objectives in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of eliminating discrimination against individuals...
Mental health parity bill clears House
Posted on September 24, 2008Congress approved legislation yesterday that would require private insurers to provide the same level of benefits for mental illness as they do for physical maladies, a change lauded by advocates as a great shift in the nation's understanding of mental...
Tribute to Del Martin
Posted on September 24, 2008Here's the start of a recent post from the Elder Abuse Prevention Blog: ?When you add our society?s propensity toward violence with ageism and sexism, you have a dangerous situation.?Del Martin, 1995 The flags at San Francisco?s City Hall flew...
British veteran united with WWII medals lost in the Thames
Posted on September 20, 2008A 93-year-old veteran of the Dunkirk evacuation has been reunited with war medals after they were recovered by scuba divers from the River Thames. Charles Brown lost two rows of medals last Sunday as he boarded a boat during the...
AARP International Newsletter-Sept.-TOC
Posted on September 19, 2008Global Perspectives on Family Caregiving On the occasion of the global celebration of the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, AARP, the National Alliance for Caregiving, and the United Nations Programme on Ageing will host a meeting to discuss...
CMS will launch new "Ask Medicare" site
Posted on September 17, 2008Via Neil Hendershot's Elder, Estate, and Fiduciary Law Blog: On September 18, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will launch its new online service offering "information, tools, and materials to assist caregivers in making informed healthcare decisions...
Could mental health parity be in the offing?
Posted on September 17, 2008Lawmakers will try to move mental health parity legislation by attaching it to a tax bill that will be addressed by the Senate this week, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 9/17). Lawmakers reached an agreement in July that would combine the...
Upcoming Event: Student Health Law Conference: Taking the Health Law Career Path
Posted on September 17, 2008Student Health Law Conference: Taking the Health Law Career Path October 17, 2008 University of Pittsburgh School of Law 3900 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA The American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law...
ACTEC/ALI-ABA host webcast on ethical issues in estate planning
Posted on September 17, 2008Second Annual ACTEC/ALI-ABA Live Telephone Seminar/Audio Webcast Top Ten Ethical Challenges Facing Estate Planners Thursday, October 16, 2008 Eastern 12 noon ? 2 pm | Central 11 am ? 1 pm | Mountain 10 am ? 12 noon Pacific &...
Iris Freeman to join core faculty of Center for Elder Justice and Policy
Posted on September 06, 2008September 5, 2008 The Center for Elder Justice and Policy at William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, is pleased to announce the appointment of Iris C. Freeman, MSW as Adjunct Professor Iris C. Freeman is a Public Policy...
Call for papers: deadline
Posted on August 30, 2008Australian Guardianship and Administration Council 2009 National Conference Social Inclusion: The Future of Ageing, Disability and Substituted Decision-Making BRISBANE : 19-20 MARCH 2009 Hilton Hotel FIRST & FINAL CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Closing date for receipt of abstracts: Tuesday 30 September,...
GAO says CMS should audit Part D sponsors due to fraud and abuse
Posted on August 27, 2008Summary: The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) established a voluntary outpatient prescription drug benefit, known as Medicare Part D. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with private companies to serve as Part...
Upcoming conference--A Jewish Approach to End-of-Life
Posted on August 26, 2008Sent to me by Neil Hendershot, PA Elder, Estate, and Fiduciary Law Blog: "On Sunday, September 14, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Yeshiva University, in New York City, will conduct a seminar entitled "The Sanctity of Life: A...
Professor Kenny Heglund:: End of life conversations video now online
Posted on August 25, 2008A new video on intensive care, hospice and the value of candid family conversations is available online. It will be part of a continuing series on elder law topics designed for the general public, and it is based on the...
Call for book reviews: Pace Law Review, Women and the Law
Posted on August 25, 2008Call for Book Reviews: Women and the Law Proposals Due September 25, 2008 The editors of Pace Law Review invite proposals from scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals for contributions to a special book review issue to be published in Winter...
CMS Part D website is confusing and almost useless for most seniors
Posted on August 20, 2008About three-fourths of older adults with basic computer skills could not find the most beneficial prescription drug plan on the Medicare Web site, and could not take the necessary steps to enroll to receive home health care services, according to...
Not elder law: eBay insect fossil is new species
Posted on August 20, 2008A scientist who bought a fossilised insect on the web auction site eBay for £20 has discovered that it belongs to a previously unknown species of aphid. Dr Richard Harrington, vice-president of the UK's Royal Entomological Society, bought the fossil....
GAO Report recommends stronger oversight of PBGC
Posted on August 19, 2008Summary of the report: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insures the retirement future of over 44 million people. As a federal guarantor of private defined benefit plans, PBGC finances its operations through insurance premiums, investment income, and funds from...
SSA continues to over-withold Part D premiums
Posted on August 17, 2008Some Medicare beneficiaries still are having incorrect amounts withheld from their Social Security checks for Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug benefit premiums, but the programs have made significant improvements since 2006 in matching their databases to deduct the correct...
States don't notify CMS of Medicaid provider sanctions as require by law and regs
Posted on August 12, 2008States regularly fail to notify the HHS Office of Inspector General when they have expelled health care providers from their Medicaid programs for incompetence, fraud and other reasons that would prohibit them from receiving federal reimbursements, according to federal investigators...
Kuchinich bill would replace Part D with new program
Posted on August 08, 2008Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) recently introduced a bill (HR 6800) that would replace the Medicare prescription drug benefit with a new program in an effort to reduce costs, CQ HealthBeat reports. The legislation would require Medicare to negotiate directly with...
GA) report addresses Indian Health Service/CMS relationship
Posted on August 08, 2008Indian Health Service (IHS) may retain reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid without an offsetting reduction in funding. Ensuring that IHS-funded facilities enroll individuals in?and obtain reimbursement from?Medicare and Medicaid can provide an important means of expanding the funding for health...
Cool new teaching resource: 1000 Voices Video Archive
Posted on August 06, 2008The 1000 Voices Archive, www.1000VoicesArchive.org, is a new online teaching resource for law educators. Recently launched, this is a national collection of video stories created by filmmakers and communities across the country that helps to put a human face on...
Spotlight on: The Elder Law Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law
Posted on August 06, 2008Wake Forest's Elder Law Clinic provides free legal assistance to moderate income seniors, and serves as a resource center for lawyers and other professionals. In a partnership with the School of Medicine, the E-Clinic offers law students a unique opportunity...
Walgreen expands drug plan
Posted on August 06, 2008Walgreen recently announced that it has expanded its Prescription Drug Savings Plan to include 90-day prescriptions of generic drugs for $12. The program was launched last year and offers reduced prices on more than 5,000 brand-name and generic drugs...
Prof. Kaplan (IL) on planning for retirement
Posted on August 05, 2008Dick Kaplan's article entitled ?A Guide to Starting Social Security Benefits,? has just appeared in the Journal of Retirement Planning (July-Aug. 2008) and is available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1192902 Abstract: When a person should begin taking Social Security retirement benefits is a...
Not elder law: Secrets of the world's oldest calculator are revealed
Posted on July 31, 2008T he secrets of the worlds oldest calculating machine are revealed today, showing that it had dials to mark the timing of eclipses and the Olympic games. Ever since the spectacular bronze device was salvaged from a shipwreck after its...
Scottish researchers claim benefits from new Alzheimer's drug
Posted on July 31, 2008Alzheimer's researchers from Scotland announced on Tuesday that for the first time they have developed a drug that can halt cognitive decline in patients with mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease. In the largest Phase II clinical trial of its kind,....
Canada: Pill pack limitation criticized
Posted on July 31, 2008An Ontario health ministry decision to severely limit pharmacists from dispensing so-called pill packs will push independent seniors into long-term care facilities, according to critics. Effective Friday, the Ontario government will pay for only two pill packs per month under...
KFF report analyzes Medicare Advantage plans
Posted on July 31, 2008Medicare Advantage plans enrolled a record 9.8 million beneficiaries, more than one in five of the nation?s 44 million people on Medicare as of April 2008. That represents an increase of more than 800,000 beneficiaries in just four months, continuing...
Call for nominations: National Aging & Law Award
Posted on July 28, 2008Call for Nominations The 2008 National Aging and Law Conference (NALC) will take place December4-6, 2008. A highlight of the NALC is the presentation of the National Aging & Law Award at an Awards Dinner Thursday evening, December 4th. We...
Canada: Reform Urged for Enduring Power of Attorney laws
Posted on July 28, 2008Uniform Improvements Recommended for Enduring Powers of Attorney in the Four Western Provinces Many people rely on enduring powers of attorney (EPAs) to authorize an attorney to handle their financial affairs while they are mentally incapable. In its report, Enduring...
AARP Foundation will offer scholarships to attend NALC conference
Posted on July 28, 2008In 2005, the AARP Foundation created a scholarship program in honor of Jerry E. Florence, former Director of the AARP Foundation who passed away suddenly during his tenure. Mr. Florence was a visionary leader who was respected and admired by...
Upcoming conference--elder abuse and related topics
Posted on July 24, 2008August 26 - 29, 2008 The 19th Annual National Adult Protective Services Association Conference Adult Protective Services: Advocating, Protecting and Serving Vulnerable Adults Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers Chicago, Illinois Email: Anne.Kincaid@APSNETWORK...
Loyola-Chicago announces 4th Summer Institute on Aging
Posted on July 23, 2008LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO The Fourth Annual Summer Institute on Aging Dates August 11-August 14, 2008, 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Location Loyola Law Center, 25 E. Pearson Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611 Aging and Financial Exploitation The Summer Institute on Aging...
Borchard Center RFP: Academic Research grants
Posted on July 23, 2008The Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging Requests Proposals for 2009 Academic Research Grants The Borchard Fellowship in Law & Aging awards up to 4 grants of $20,000 each year. This Request for Proposals is open to all interested...
Penn State Elder Law clinic newsletter now on-line
Posted on July 22, 2008Here is a link to the most recent issue (Summer '08) of Penn State's Elder Law and Consumer Protection Clinic newsletter: http://www.dsl.psu.edu/faculty/pearson/AdventuresSummer08.pdf Thanks to Katherine Pearson.
Ed McMahon sues for elder abuse
Posted on July 22, 2008Ed McMahon sued a hospital, two doctors and an investment tycoon Friday over a neck injury he has said has left him unable to work, a circumstance he has blamed for his recent money woes. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified...
Century Foundation report disputes Social Security "crisis"
Posted on July 18, 2008Scare Tactics: Why Social Security Is Not in Crisis Opponents of Social Security have been striving to convince American workers, especially young adults, that Social Security will no longer exist by the time they retire. Phrases such as "imminent crisis"...
National Health Law Program announces two job opportunities
Posted on July 18, 2008* NHeLP Job Announcement: Director of Communications (July '08) www.healthlaw.org/library/item.201504 * NHeLP Job Announcement: Reproductive Health and Justice Staff Attorney (May ' 08) http://www.healthlaw.org/library/item.147714
Tripe A Foundation publishes update on senior traffic fatalities
Posted on July 18, 2008The document compiles traffic fatality data on seniors for all fifty states: Senior Passenger?Vehicle?Driver Fatalities by State, Year, and Age Group (2002 ? 2006, Ages 65+)
New AARP report discusses state LTC reform
Posted on July 18, 2008Summary: This AARP Public Policy Institute research paper examines the extent to which states have balanced the delivery of Medicaid-funded long-term care (LTC) services and supports to people in their homes (or in more home-like settings in their communities) and...
SSA OIG publishes report on bank fees charged for illegal garnishments against SS funds
Posted on July 17, 2008The SSA's Office of the Inspector General has published a report on financial institutions that have been charging service fees for garnishing accounts holding Social Security funds. Federal law prohibits involuntary alienation of SS funds on deposit except in very...
Not elder law: Astronomers challenge historians re: dates of Julian invasion of Britain
Posted on July 17, 2008Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain in 55 BC could not have occurred on the dates stated in most history books, a team of astronomers has claimed. The traditional view is that Caesar landed in Britain on 26-27 August, but researchers...
Predicted costs of retirement are creeping higher
Posted on July 16, 2008With medical care and other costs soaring, the portion of their pre-retirement pay that Americans will need in retirement to keep the same standard of living is rising, financial planners say. For years, a common projection was that workers needed...
Medicare patients who bring a family member or other companion are more satisfied with care
Posted on July 16, 2008More than one-third of Medicare beneficiaries appear to be accompanied by family members or companions during medical encounters, according to a report in the July 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Such medical visit...
Australia will raise nursing home accreditation standards
Posted on July 16, 2008Accreditation standards for the nation's nursing homes are to be toughened to improve infection control in the wake of the deaths of 10 residents of a NSW nursing home from gastroenteritis.The Rudd Government will also develop new national guidelines for...
Not elder law: For 90 year old Olympian "Swimming is my life"
Posted on July 02, 2008Adolph Kiefer celebrated his 90th birthday last Friday as he celebrates every day -- with a 30-minute workout in the water. "Swimming is my life," the Wadsworth resident said. What a life it has been. Growing up in Chicago, he...
Irish study shows caregivers "under threat"
Posted on July 02, 2008The tradition of relatives caring for sick, elderly or disabled loved ones at home is under severe threat, a new report warned yesterday. Many of Ireland's 161,000 carers are struggling to cope and feel over-burdened, unappreciated and unable to have...
Korea is "least ready" for retirement as its boomers age
Posted on July 02, 2008Koreans are the least prepared financially for retirement among countries worldwide. It is time to take this seriously and prepare by investing in a variety of assets, instead of relying solely on property, said Fidelity International, a global asset manager...
IL governor launches "Break the Silence" elder abuse prevention campaign
Posted on July 02, 2008Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today launched the fourth annual statewide ?Break the Silence? campaign and proclaimed July as Elder Abuse Awareness Month in Illinois. The Governor and the Illinois Department on Aging (IDoA) are encouraging those who are victims or...
New Zealand nursing home under investigation
Posted on July 02, 2008Healthcare New Zealand says it has launched its own inquiry into Belhaven Rest Home in Auckland. It follows allegations an employee taped shut the mouth of an elderly resident, to keep her quiet. Police and the Ministry of Health are...
EU drafts plan for cross-border health care access
Posted on July 02, 2008The European Commission has unveiled a healthcare package designed to make it easier for patients to get medical treatment elsewhere in the EU. Under the proposals, patients would not have to get their doctor's approval for non-hospital care abroad. The...
GAO says CMS needs to provide more oversight over supplemental Medicaid payments
Posted on June 30, 2008Medicaid program is shared between the federal government and states. States pay qualified providers for covered Medicaid services and receive federal matching funds from the Department of Health & Human Services? (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for...
National Health Service publishes snapshots of itself then and now
Posted on June 30, 2008In 60 years the NHS has changed dramatically - in terms of what it provides, how it is administered, who works there and how much it costs to run. Here is an at-a-glance look at some of the changes. Kinda...
the 17th International Congress on Palliative Care is September 23-26, 2008
Posted on June 25, 2008The Detailed Programme of the 17th International Congress on Palliative Care, to be held September 23-26, 2008 at the Palais des Congrès in Montréal, Canada, is now available on the Congress web site at www.pal2008.com Founded in 1976 under the...
NCEA Webcast--Tomorrow-- the latest Elder Abuse research
Posted on June 25, 2008Upcoming Webcast: JUNE 26, 2008, 1:00 ? 2:00 PM EST The New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study Plus Other Elder Abuse Research Featuring Dr. Mark Lachs Brought to you by the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) Hosted by...
Minnesota Vulnerable Adults Act Coalition compiles elder abuse documents
Posted on June 25, 2008As part of an ongoing effort to examine and revise the Minnesota Vulnerable Adults Act, Kevin Hansen of the Elder Care Rights Alliance has compiled an impressive listing of documents addressing a variety of policy issues pertaining to elder abuse....
PETA wants nursing home residents' stimulus payment..!
Posted on June 24, 2008This morning, PETA dispatched a letter to the country's five leading nursing-home chains asking them to urge their residents who haven't yet filed a tax return for their economic stimulus check to do so and to donate the money to...
"Green Houses" are possible alternative to nursing homes
Posted on June 24, 2008Attempts to create popular alternatives to nursing homes have realized mixed results, but the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is betting on an eight-year-old movement called ?Green Houses,? a WSJ Page One story reports. The foundation is investing $15 million over...
Ontario Health Minister will not require minimum care standards for nursing home patients
Posted on June 24, 2008Ontario's health minister will not impose a minimum level of care for nearly 75,000 seniors living in long-term care homes, disappointing critics who called on him to mandate at least 3.5 hours of care per day. "The number alone is...
Geo. J. on Poverty Law and Policy seeks submissions for special isue on elderly
Posted on June 24, 2008Next fall, the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy (GJPLP) will be publishing two important issues. The first is devoted to the issue of housing and poverty, and the second is devoted to the unique issues involving poverty and...
Not elder law: Coffee rocks!
Posted on June 19, 2008Middle-aged adults who enjoy a few cups of coffee every day apparently have a lower risk of dying from heart disease than people who don't drink coffee, researchers reported Monday. The findings, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, come...
Free economic stimulus webinar--sign up now!
Posted on June 19, 2008There is still time to help our seniors who can really use the money file for their Economic Stimulus Payment. Join us for a Webinar that will give you the latest information from the IRS, National Women?s? Law Center, Center...
Soem antipsychotics increase risk of death in dementia patients, FDA warns
Posted on June 19, 2008The Food and Drug Administration warned doctors Monday that prescribing a certain group of psychiatric drugs to seniors suffering from dementia can increase their risk of death. Antipsychotic drugs are approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disease, but doctors frequently...
Bankruptcies among seniors climb
Posted on June 19, 2008From 1991 to 2007, the rate of personal bankruptcy filings among those ages 65 or older jumped by 150%, according to AARP, which will release the new research from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project. The most startling rise occurred among those...
GAO report: long term fiscal health of USA tied to "shrinking window of opportunity"
Posted on June 18, 2008Summary: GAO was asked to provide its views on the long-term fiscal outlook. This statement addresses four key points: (1) the federal government?s long-term fiscal outlook is a matter of utmost concern; (2) this challenge is driven primarily by health...
AARP Int'l posts forum interviews on elder abuse issues
Posted on June 17, 2008Throughout the world, abuse and neglect of older persons has been largely under-recognized or under-treated as an unspoken problem. Today, it is increasingly being seen as an important problem but may also be likely to grow as many countries experience...
Not elder law: Methuselah tree grows from 2000 year old Masada seed
Posted on June 17, 2008The 4-foot-tall sapling looks just like any other young date palm. But the tree, growing in a laboratory in Jerusalem, is anything but ordinary. Named "Methuselah" by one of its cultivators, the sapling grew from a 2,000-year-old seed - the...
Maryland study investigates relationship between nursing home ownership status and quality of care
Posted on June 17, 2008Alarmed that the purchase of nursing homes by larger companies could cause a decline in care, Maryland is studying whether restrictions should be placed on ownership as regulators face criticism that private equity groups make it more difficult for the...
Australia: Reports of elder abuse soar
Posted on June 17, 2008The number of elderly Queenslanders reporting they are victims of abuse has surged in Queensland ? and the perpetrators are usually their adult children. Queensland's Elder Abuse Helpline received 651 new cases of abuse in the nine months to March,...
Not elder law: Lending new meaning to the term "snail mail"
Posted on June 17, 2008Muriel, Austin and Cecil are snails for the electronic age. The gastropods hav e been fitted with equipment to allow them to send e-mails on behalf of visitors to a website. Instead of instantaneous communication, sent messages will travel at...
Wake Forest Elder Law Clinic--Spring 2008 newsletter now online
Posted on June 15, 2008Get it here: http://law.wfu.edu/clinics/elder/newsletter/
Upcoming settlement hearing in CA ADA class action
Posted on June 15, 2008Chambers et al. v. City and County of San Francisco, Case No. C06-06346 WHAr 11, was filed on October 16, 2006 against the City and County of San Francisco alleging discrimination in the form of unnecessary institutionalization under the Americans...
Ireland: study says most community nurses don't report elder abuse
Posted on June 15, 2008Many community nurses don't intervene in cases of elderly abuse according to a new study. The majority of nurses say they have witnessed this type of abuse at least twice but considered intervention to be beyond their authority. Minister for...
Not elder law: Jamelao dies at age 95
Posted on June 15, 2008Brazilian samba singer Jose Bispo Clementino dos Santos, better known as Jamelao, has died at the age of 95. His career spanned more than five decades during which he sang in countless carnivals and recorded more than 20 records. With...
Stetson L.R. special issue on guardianship
Posted on June 13, 200837 STETSON LAW REVIEW NO. 1, FALL, 2007. Guardianship. 37 Stetson L. Rev. 1-295 (2007). Morgan, Rebecca C. Introduction. 37 Stetson L. Rev. 1-5 (2007). Whitton, Linda S. Durable powers as an alternative to guardianship: lessons we have learned. 37...
2010 Conference on Aging will be in Melbourne
Posted on June 13, 2008The 10th International Federation on Ageing (IFA) Global Conference on Ageing will be held in Australia as a result of a successful bid by the Victorian Council on the Ageing. Experts on ageing from around the world will converge on...
Egypt bans May - September marriage
Posted on June 13, 2008Egyptian authorities have banned a 92-year-old man from marrying a 17-year-old girl, the Egyptian al-Akhbar newspaper has reported. The ministry of justice invoked a law which says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years. Egypt brought in...
Urban Institue to host webcast on the retirement
Posted on June 11, 2008The Urban Institute, Civic Ventures, and Public Agenda will host RETHINKING RETIREMENT: OPINIONS, OBSTACLES, OPPORTUNITIES on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:00-10:30 a.m. ET To attend this event in Washington, D.C., RSVP at http://www.urban.org/events/other/rsvp...
KFF issues 2008n update on Medicare Advantage
Posted on June 10, 2008Medicare Advantage plans enrolled a record 9.8 million beneficiaries, more than one in five of the nation?s 44 million people on Medicare as of April 2008. That represents an increase of more than 800,000 beneficiaries in just four months, continuing...
Related: OIG report discusses role of nursing homes, pharmacies in Part D plan selection
Posted on June 10, 2008"Role of Nursing Homes and Long Term Care Pharmacies in Assisting Dual-Eligible Residents With Selecting Part D Plans" (OEI-02-06-00191, June 2008, .pdf format, 7p.). Abstract: This memorandum report provides information about the role of nursing homes and long term care...
HHS OIG report discusses Medicare Pard D and dual eligibles
Posted on June 10, 2008US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORTS: "Availability of Medicare Part D Drugs to Dual-Eligible Nursing Home Residents" (OEI-02-06-00190, June 2008, .pdf format, 28p.). Abstract: This final report provides an assessment of the availability...
UN releases latest world aging population data on CD-ROM
Posted on June 10, 2008World Population Ageing 2007 is a CD-ROM with the Population Division?s new estimates of population by age and includes information for the major areas, regions, and countries of the world. The CD-ROM contains a set of Excel tables with the...
SSA will offer SS debit card
Posted on June 10, 2008The government plans to announce today that it will offer MasterCard debit cards to the estimated 4 million Social Security recipients who don't have bank accounts. Instead of getting a paper check, a recipient's monthly benefit would be electronically transferred,...
GAO reports on incentives for small businesses to fund IRAs and related issues
Posted on June 10, 2008Congress created individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with two goals: (1) to provide a retirement savings vehicle for workers without employer-sponsored retirement plans, and (2) to preserve individuals? savings in employer-sponsored retirement plans...
Website lets you plan your own funeral--for free
Posted on June 09, 2008A new website, mywonderfullife.com, is aimed at boomers who want to take charge of their own funeral arrangements. The goal is to help people who might otherwise resist thoughts of the hereafter to plan their exit strategies. "What this audience...
Universal design becomes more common as Boomers remodel, build
Posted on June 09, 2008As baby boomers age, and issues such as compromised eyesight and dexterity become apparent, there's a lot more thought being given to design and remodeling concepts that make physical tasks easier. Design modifications are being made both in architecture and...
June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Posted on June 09, 2008The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) announces the 3rd Annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) on June 15, 2008. Communities and municipalities will make proclamations declaring June 15, 2008 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day...
Medicare drug coverage is costing most seniors more
Posted on June 06, 2008As if escalating prices for food and gas weren't enough of a worry, most seniors in Medicare's prescription-drug program are paying considerably higher monthly premiums for coverage this year, according to a study to be released today. Those in the...
Immune block tackles Alzheimer's
Posted on June 01, 2008Immune block tackles Alzheimer's There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease The body's immune system could be harnessed to fight back against Alzheimer's disease, research suggests. Turning off a part of the immune system cleared away harmful brain deposits...
Important Information about Credit Card Debt for Everyone During Tough Financial Times
Posted on May 27, 2008Getting squeezed by credit card companies Card issuers use all sorts of tactics to wrestle every penny out of customers. Here's what you need to know. By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer Last Updated: May 27, 2008: 1:04 PM EDT...
Can Alzheimer's Be Prevented?
Posted on May 22, 2008Can Alzheimer's Be Prevented? Monday, May. 19, 2008 By LAURA BLUE Ian Shaw / Alamy Few things are as terrifying as losing one's mind. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia among the elderly and affects as many...
Medicare-Medicaid agency announces low-cost equipment providers
Posted on May 20, 2008The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Monday released the names of the 325 suppliers that have signed contracts with Medicare to provide certain medical equipment and supplies to beneficiaries in Kansas City and nine other communities throughout the...
Not elder law: French divers discover oldest ever bust of Julius Caesar
Posted on May 15, 2008Divers in France have found the oldest known bust of Roman dictator Julius Cae sar at the bottom of the River Rhone, officials have said. The marble bust was found near Arles, which was founded by Caesar. France's culture ministry...
CMA study highlights serious health and safety issues in nursing homes
Posted on May 14, 2008Nursing home decisions issued by the Department of Health and Human Services' Departmental Appeals Board (DAB) in 2007 highlight serious failures in care that cause residents to suffer unnecessary pain, injury, trauma, and death. "Despite the serious deficiencies reflected by...
ABA CLA updates APS/mandatory reporting charts
Posted on May 12, 2008New charts on mandatory (and voluntary) reporting to adult protective services (APS) are now available. These charts were prepared for the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) by the ABA Commission on Law and Aging (ABA Commission). http://www.ncea.aoa...
UN celebrates disabilty rights convention - in force on May 3
Posted on May 12, 2008The UN is celebrating the coming into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) - a landmark agreement that aims to give the world's 650m disabled people full equality. Adopted in 2006, and opened for...
Latest issue of NCEA E-news now online
Posted on May 09, 2008The May issue of the NCEA E-News is now online at: http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/Resources/Newsletter/current_newsletter.pdf Contents: Calendar?15 WEAAD Webcast Archived?14 Elder Abuse Research?13 Federal Legislation Update?11 Funding and Scholarship Opportunities?10 Delaware Celebrates 25 Years of APS?8 Question of the Month?7 National PSA Series...
New report on residential care and assisted living--get it while it's hot
Posted on May 09, 2008U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Residential Care and Assisted Living Compendium: 2007 Robert Mollica and Kristin Sims-Kastelein, National Academy for State Health Policy Janet O'Keeffe, RTI International November 30, 2007 http://aspe.hhs...
This one pretty much ruined my breakfast...
Posted on May 09, 2008Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest ? dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain. The process is called alkaline...
And now for the How Did I Miss This report
Posted on May 08, 2008Pittsburg prof and all around wild and crazy guy Larry Frolik recently published "Residence Options for Older and Disabled Clients" This book is a comprehensive guide to the many different types of housing available for aging and disabled individuals...
Not elder law: Genenic code of world's oldest mammal revealed
Posted on May 08, 2008Scientists have deciphered the genetic blueprint of the duck-billed platypus, one of the oddest creatures on Earth. The animal comes from an early branch of the mammal family, and like mammals it is covered in fur and produces milk. However,...
How much less do prescription meds cost in UK? inquiring minds want to know
Posted on May 07, 2008Summary of the data: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) provides details of the number of items and the net ingredient cost of all prescriptions dispensed in the community in England. The drugs dispensed are listed alphabetically within chemical entity by British...
Profs. Doron and Mewhinney publish collection of international documents relating to rights of the elderly
Posted on May 07, 2008Received from Dr. Israel Doron, Haifa University: It is with great pleasure that I am letting you know that a new book, which I and Prof. Kate Mewhinney have edited, has just been published. "The Rights of Older Persons: A...
May is Older Americans Month!
Posted on May 02, 2008How do you plan to celebrate the older persons in your life? Here are some ideas: http://www.aoa.gov/ http://www.midlothianexchange.com/npps/story.cfm?ID=1842 http://www.ci.tracy.ca.us/modules/news/article.php?storyid=85 http://www.goldenbuckeye.com/oam/ http://www...
National Health Policy Forum (NHPF) reports on legal services to elderly
Posted on May 02, 2008The National Health Policy Forum (NHPF) recently issued reports on programs that provide services to older Americans: . The Aging Services Network: Accomplishments and Challenges in Serving a Growing Elderly Population [http://capwiz.com/ncoa/utr/1/DPERIKBPNG/OIEDIKBPQT/1951062716] examines the expanding number of seniors and their...
NALC conference is Dec. 3-6, 2008
Posted on April 30, 2008Save the Date National Aging and Law Conference 2008 Setting the Agenda: Advocating for Elders after the Election December 3-6, 2008, Arlington, Virginia
Costs for nursing home increase at average rate of 7%/year since 2004
Posted on April 30, 2008Via KFF Daily Health Policy Report: Costs for nursing homes, assisted living facilities and some in-home care services have increased for a fifth consecutive year and might continue to increase as a result of an expected shortage of long-term health....
ABA publishes Spanish-language materials on planning for incapacity
Posted on April 29, 2008In 2003, the ABA Commission on Law and Aging produced a Spanish version of its most popular consumer brochure Health and Financial Decisions: Legal Tools for Preserving Your Personal Autonomy. The Commission also produced a 19-minute Spanish-subtitled version of the...
Last chance for $100 discount on Elder Mediation Training, June 13-14
Posted on April 28, 2008Register by May 1 and save $100! Two-day Elder Mediation Training at William Mitchell College of Law St. Paul, MN June 13-14, 2008 Online registration: http://www.wmitchell.edu/news/events/event.asp?mo=6&ye=2008&id=4003 $100 discount ends Thursday, May 1...
ABA posts health care issues legislative updates
Posted on April 28, 20082007 Health Decisions Legislative Summary PDF Surrogate Consent in the Absence of an Advance Directive - January 2008 PDF Health Care Power of Attorney and Combined Advance Directive Legislation - January 2008 PDF
Senate fast tracks Medicaid bill
Posted on April 27, 2008Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday granted fast-track status to legislation (HR 5613) that would block for one year seven new Medicaid regulations, the Wall Street Journal reports (Zhang, Wall Street Journal, 4/25). The legislation would delay implementation...
Not elder law: our ancestors were were one, then two, then one species. Hmmm....
Posted on April 24, 2008Ancient humans started down the path of evolving into two separate species before merging back into a single population, a genetic study suggests. The genetic split in Africa resulted in distinct populations that lived in isolation for as much as...
CMA report discusses true truth about Medicare cost-sharing
Posted on April 24, 2008>Guidance released recently by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sheds new light on an issue that has created hardships for beneficiaries and challenges for advocates trying to help them. The guidance addresses two issues: balance billing of...
Some really cool upcoming conferences...
Posted on April 22, 2008June 1-16, 2008 World Elder Awareness 2008: Online Global Forum Online June 3-4, 2008 OECD Forum 2008 Paris, France June 4-7, 2008 6th International Conference of Gerontechnology (ISG08) Pisa, Italy Too bad I ran out of conference money last October....
NCSL spring forum in DC will focus in part on Medicaid issues
Posted on April 22, 2008The National Conference of State Legislatures will host its annual Spring Forum where legislators will share ideas, strategies and best practices as well as hear the latest happenings on Capitol Hill. NCSL's Spring Forum will take place at the Hyatt....
2008 Conference on Aging in San Antonio
Posted on April 22, 2008The 2008 29th Annual Conference on Aging is titled "Geriatric Primary Care: Current Perspectives and New Horizons. It will be held on August 20-22 at the San Antonio Airport Hilton. For more information, visit http://www.sagrecc.org
Not elder law: World's oldest living tree confirmed
Posted on April 22, 2008The world's oldest tree has been found - 9,550 years after taking root. The spruce began growing in central Sweden shortly after the Ice Age and is still going strong. Researchers carbon-dated genetic material to suggest it hails from 7,542BC....
HHS must release Medicare claims data
Posted on April 22, 2008Via Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report: HHS last week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia filed an appeal of an August 2007 court decision that requires the department to release Medicare claims data on more...
NAELA student writing competition -- deadline extended
Posted on April 22, 2008The deadline for the 2008 NAELA Student Journal Writing Competition has been extended to June 1, 2008. All entries must be submitted electronically by 12:00 p.m. EDT on June 1, 2008 in order to be eligible. Submit entries to: sfobar@naela.com....
Elder mediation training--Early bird registration ends May 1!
Posted on April 16, 2008Senior Mediation and Decision-Making: Training for Mediators, Elder Law Attorneys, and Other Aging Service Professionals A Two Day (14 hour) Elder Mediation Program William Mitchell College of Law St. Paul, MN June 13-14, 2008 Hosted by the Center for Elder...
Health Beat Blog on the high cost of Medicare "Advantage"
Posted on April 16, 2008Here's how it starts: On Monday, the Bush Administration announced that next year payments to private insurers who offer Medicare to seniors will rise by 3.6 percent. This is a mistake. The last thing that the Medicare Advantage (MA) program...
New CRS report discusses impact of SS reform proposals on elderly poor
Posted on April 16, 2008Social Security Reform: Possible Effects on the Elderly Poor and Mitigation Options April 04, 2008 Download Locations: >Open CRS (User submitted) Summary: Social Security has significantly reduced elderly poverty. The elderly poverty rate has fallen from 35% in 1959 to...
Dateline show to expose annuity scams aimed at seniors
Posted on April 11, 2008Here's the promo for the show, which airs Sunday evening Sunday, April 13 (7:00 PM/ET) "With an estimated 15 trillion dollars under their control American seniors have become more of a sales target than ever for insurance agents seeking to...
New CRS reports on spouses' federal retirement benefits
Posted on April 10, 2008Retirement and Survivor Annuities for Former Spouses of Federal Employees April 03, 2008 Open CRS (User submitted) A former spouse of a federal employee may be entitled to a share of the employee's retirement annuity under the Civil Service Retirement...
Countdown to National Healthcare Decisions Day
Posted on April 10, 2008NATIONAL HEALTHCARE DECISIONS DAY - April 16, 2008 As a nation, we pay our taxes by April 15th of each year. It is the goal of National Healthcare Decisions Day, that by April 16th, we will talk with our loved...
MedPAC send recommendations to Congress re reimbursements
Posted on April 10, 2008The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission on Wednesday voted to approve several recommendations to Congress focused on Medicare reimbursements for skilled nursing facilities and primary care. The commission recommended amending the Medicare payment system for skilled nursing facilities to add a...
Shocking study finds parents more willing to talk about drugs, sex than end of life decision-making
Posted on April 07, 2008A new national survey indicates that Americans are more likely to talk with their children about drug use or sex than with a seriously ill parent about their end-of-life wishes. The survey, completed by more than 2,300 individuals, was conducted...
Pension plan funding ratios decline precipitously
Posted on April 07, 2008The funding ratio of a typical US pension scheme has fallen by nearly a quarter in the past nine months, suffering from a combination of volatile equity markets and declining interest rates. Acording to the US Pension Fund Fitness Tracker...
NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH: The Impact of Medicare Part D on Pharmaceutical R&D
Posted on April 07, 2008"The Impact of Medicare Part D on Pharmaceutical R&D," by Margaret E. Blume-Kohout and Neeraj Sood (w13857, March 2008, .pdf format, 17p.). Abstract: Recent evidence suggests that Medicare Part D has increased prescription drug use among the elderly, and earlier...
Urban Inst. report: the changing nature of work and retirement
Posted on April 07, 2008Author(s): Richard W. Johnson, Gordon Mermin, Matthew Resseger Other Availability: PDF | Printer-Friendly Page Posted to Web: March 28, 2008 Permanent Link: http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=1001154 The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration...
I knew it! Wine cuts dementia risk
Posted on April 07, 2008Women who drink wine are less likely to develop dementia over time than their teetotaling peers, while drinking hard liquor may actually boost dementia risk, Swedish researchers report. "There may be components in wine besides (alcohol) that protect against dementia,"...
Belgium pushes for cross-border pensions
Posted on April 07, 2008Creating a robust cross-border pension market is a priority for the Belgian government, the Belgian Pensions Regulator (BPR) has said. Speaking at an event organised by Towers Perrin, Henk Becquaert of the BPR outlined the steps the Belgian government has...
Elder abuse up in Massachusetts
Posted on April 07, 2008The number of elderly residents being abused or neglected is on the rise in Massachusetts, and advocates for the elderly say the state is not properly funding a program that was designed to protect vulnerable seniors. Elder service agencies northwest...
UK to initiate major study of elder abuse
Posted on April 01, 2008A new £2million joint research initiative, claimed to be the most exhaustive study ever undertaken, will examine the nature and extent of elder abuse in care homes and the NHS. Ivan Lewis, Minister for Care Services, today launched the study...
Feb. 2008 issue of "Bifocal" now online
Posted on April 01, 2008The March 2008 issue of BIFOCAL, Journal of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, is now available and features: Using Emeritus Attorney Pro Bono Programs to Meet Unmet Civil Legal Needs, by Holly Robinson National Healthcare Decisions Day Set...
CCELS issues call for papers
Posted on March 29, 2008The Canadian Centre for Elder Law, in partnership with the International Guardianship Network announces a Call for Papers for its joint conference on Nov 13 ? 15, 2008, Vancouver, Canada with the theme: ?Aging Citizens, Evolving Practices? CALL FOR PAPERS...
Center for Elder Justice and Policy publication: 50 State Survey of Family Caregiver Legislation
Posted on March 29, 2008The Center for Elder Justice and Policy at William Mitchell College of Law has just published a Fifty-State Survey of state legislation authorizing the use of paid time off for care of an adult family member. The survey was authored...
Udpate: 2008 Version of Older Americans, Key Indicators of Well Being
Posted on March 29, 2008The 2008 updated of this annual statistical overview of the state of the elderly in the US has been released. Get it here: http://agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/Data_2008.aspx
Not elder law: world's oldest recorded voice will be heard again
Posted on March 29, 2008An "ethereal" 10 second clip of a woman singing a French folk song has been played for the first time in 150 years. The recording of "Au Clair de la Lune", recorded in 1860, is thought to be the oldest...
Is this short notice or what???
Posted on March 28, 2008IRS Sets March 29 as ?Super Saturday? to Help Retirees, Veterans and Low-Income Workers Receive Economic Stimulus Payments http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=180648,00.html The 320 IRS offices located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be open on Saturday from 9...
Upcoming conference on health care decision-making for the unbefriended
Posted on March 28, 2008May 6-7, 2008 The Patient Alone: Making Health Care Choices for Patients Without Surrogates American Health Decisions Boston, MA There is a persistent problem of deciding what to do on behalf of patients who are incapacitated (or soon will be)...
CRS report on Medicaid provider taxes now available
Posted on March 28, 2008Provider-specific taxes have been used by many states over the last two decades to help pay for the costs of the Medicaid program. Such taxes are required to meet a number of federal laws and regulations, some of which have...
ALCA hosts free Webinar on assisted living and Medicaid
Posted on March 27, 2008Medicaid now can pay for assisted living care in more than 30 states. But the rules vary from state to state, and both facilities and residents often have difficulty in navigating the system. This session will explain common issues in...
AARP, NCOA launch stimulus-payment tool
Posted on March 27, 2008The AARP Foundation and the National Council on Aging (NCOA) lhave aunched a user-friendly online tool to simplify the economic stimulus payment application process for millions of Americans who are not otherwise required to file income tax returns. The online...
SS, HI Trustees' reports confirm ... what?
Posted on March 26, 2008The future cost outlook of Social Security and Medicare looked slightly better in the 2008 report from the programs' trustees released today, but the long-term financial viability of the benefit programs was just as problematic. 'The Social Security program is...
Elder Law Prof blog tops 100,000 visits!
Posted on March 25, 2008Actually, you could be the magic 100,000th visitor: current visits stand at 99,993....
Supremes deny cert. in AARP-EEOC health benefits case
Posted on March 25, 2008The Supreme Court on Monday gave employers a green light to reduce health benefits for millions of retirees who turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare. The justices turned away a legal challenge from AARP, the nation's leading senior citizens...
Tate on Caregiving and Testamentary Freedom
Posted on March 25, 2008Caregiving and the Case for Testamentary Freedom JOSHUA C. TATE Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law; University of Pennsylvania Law School UC Davis Law Review, Vol. 42, No. 1, 2008 Almost all U.S. states allow individuals to disinherit...
Jamie Lee Curtis graces cover of AARP magazine
Posted on March 23, 2008Jamie Lee Curtis went shirtless to pose for AARP The Magazine. Curtis is shown sporting gray hair and wading in water up to her chest on the cover of the magazine's May/June issue, which will be available Monday. The star...
Medical device companies spend 28 million to lobby in 2007
Posted on March 21, 2008Medical device companies in 2007 spent more than $28 million on lobbying the federal government, compared with $26.5 million in 2006, according to a preliminary analysis of U.S. Senate records conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics, the St. Paul...
ABa offers free CLE podcasts on aging issues--from NALC
Posted on March 21, 2008The ABA Commission on Law and Aging is offering Online, Complimentary CLE programs from the 2007 National Aging and Law Conference (NALC) at http://www.abanet.org/aging/podcast/2007/national_aging_and_law_conference.html Topics include: Holding Guardians Accountable: What Can Courts Do? Promising Practices from a National Study Recorded:...
Belgian author chooses aid in dying
Posted on March 21, 2008Belgian writer, poet and artist Hugo Claus has died aged 78, ending his life by euthanasia, his wife has said. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and had "picked the moment of his death", Veerle De Wit added. He...
Marquette hosts symposium on long term care--March 28
Posted on March 20, 2008Marquette University Law School invites you to: The Kindness of Strangers: Enhancing Lives Through Long Term Care The event will be held at the Marquette University Alumni Memorial Union on Friday March 28th. Speakers and panelists will address challenges facing...
Elder mediation training at William Mitchell--June 13-14
Posted on March 19, 2008Senior Mediation and Decision-Making: Training for Mediators, Elder Law Attorneys, and Other Aging Service Professionals A Two Day (14 hour) Elder Mediation Program William Mitchell College of Law St. Paul, MN June 13-14, 2008 Hosted by the Center for Elder...
National Healthcare Decisions Day is April 16
Posted on March 18, 2008National Healthcare Decisions Day is less than one month away. April 16 is the day, be there or be square. There will be particicipation of some sort in every single state, as well as Puerto Rico and internationally (thanks to...
NSCLC posts Low Income Advocate Alert re Part D
Posted on March 18, 2008The National Senior Citizens Law Center?s Low-Income Advocate Alert on Medicare Part D, March 2008, is available online at http://www.nsclc.org/areas/medicare-part-d/area_folder.2006-09-28.4596471630. In this edition you will find information on: CMS clarifies formulary guidance on prior authorization requirements, conversion to over-the-counter status,...
Coalition seeks input on Medicaid waivers for AD and dementia
Posted on March 18, 2008Via the Eldebar listserv: A grass roots effort has begun in California around the issue of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Dementia's not being covered by Medi-Cal due to a carve out from a Waiver and therefore not considered a mental...
UCLA study finds that federal elderly poverty standards underestimate living costs for seniors
Posted on March 14, 2008The federal poverty guideline, used to determine income eligibility for many public programs, covers less than half of the basic costs experienced by adults age 65 and older in the state. This report shows how the new Elder Economic Security...
Congress rejects Bush Medicare, Medicaid cuts
Posted on March 14, 2008Congress has rejected President Bush?s proposals to scale back spending on Medicare and Medicare, an indication that New Jersey hospitals may not need to reduce services or close to stay in business. The proposals were unpopular with congressional Democrats and...
Rising energy costs hit the elderly hard--so says CRS
Posted on March 13, 2008RS22826 Impact of Rising Energy Costs on Older Americans March 04, 2008 Energy-related expenditures include spending for utilities and fuel to operate, heat, and cool homes and spending for gasoline and motor oil for private transportation. Energy prices to consumers...
GAO issues report on CMS "hold harmless" rule
Posted on March 13, 2008Pursuant to section 801(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, the GAO has issued a report on a major rule promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), entitled ?Medicaid Program; Health...
CRS report discusses Roth and traditional IRAs
Posted on March 13, 2008RL34397 Traditional and Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): A Primer March 03, 2003 In response to concerns over the adequacy of retirement savings, Congress has created incentives to encourage individuals to save more for retirement through a variety of retirement...
US comptroller chides Congress for sticking its head in the sand on unfunded liabilities
Posted on March 12, 2008Comptroller General David Walker on Monday "chided" Congress for "ignoring the long-term financial crisis" for entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, CongressDaily reports. In an interview with National Journal Group writers and editors, Walker, who will leave his post...
CCELS releases report on predatory lending in Canada
Posted on March 12, 2008The Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL), a division of the British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI), has just released its Study Paper on Predatory Lending Issues in Canada. The subprime mortgage crisis in the United States has made the issue...
Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's annual March report recommends physician reimbursement increase
Posted on March 11, 2008The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's annual March report has recommended a 1.1% physician reimbursement increase for next year and a reduction in payments to Medicare private health plans. The report assumes that lawmakers again will act to prevent physician pay...
Congress unlikely to do much about health care reform
Posted on March 11, 2008Via KFF: As presidential candidates debate their health care proposals, Congress is "unlikely to pass any major health bill," this year preferring instead "a bite-sized approach," Roll Call reports. Among issues targeted by lawmakers this year are changes to Medicare...
101 years young and training for a marathon? Seriously!
Posted on March 10, 2008Already Britain's oldest employee, 101-year-old Buster Martin now aims to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette.Sprightly and bearded, he completed a half marathon at the...
NPR story focuses on elders victimized by reverse mortgages
Posted on March 10, 2008For many seniors who are rich in home equity but poor in cash, reverse mortgages are becoming a popular option. The growth in these mortgages has skyrocketed in recent years. According to a 2007 report from the Department of Housing...
The last acceptable -ism--ageist jokes are still ok, it seems
Posted on March 10, 2008Excerpted from the New York Times: In a campaign hypersensitive about race and gender, jokes that play on crude racial and sexual stereotypes may be muted. But not codger jokes. Comics have gone to town on Senator John McCain, who...
Not elder law: world's oldest vaccine has been destroyed
Posted on March 08, 2008he government announced Friday that it has said goodbye to one of the world's greatest lifesavers ? the oldest smallpox vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month made arrangements to dispose of the last of its...
Upcoming: May 2008 is Older Americans Month
Posted on March 08, 2008And in honor thereof, the Census Bureau has released its annual "state of the elderly" fact sheet: A meeting with the National Council of Senior Citizens resulted in President John F. Kennedy designating May 1963 as Senior Citizens Month, encouraging...
Low income Part D beneficiaries stand to lose subsidies on April 1
Posted on March 08, 2008From the Center for Medicare Advocacy:The Social Security Administration (SSA) has begun mailing "SSA Medicare Prescription Drug Assistance Notice of Termination" letters to some beneficiaries who are currently receiving the low-income subsidy (LIS) or "Extra Help...
2008 Ann F. Baum Memorial Lecture on Elder Law
Posted on March 03, 2008The 2008 Ann F. Baum Memorial Lecture on Elder Law will be delivered on Monday, March 3 at 12:30 p.m. in the Max L. Rowe Auditorium by Professor Jon Pynoos of the University of Southern California. The lecture is entitled...
Scottish nurse found guilty of murdering elderly patients
Posted on March 03, 2008A nurse has been found guilty of murdering elderly patients in his care at two Leeds hospitals. Colin Norris, 32, had denied killing the four women at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital in 2002 by injecting them with...
Iowa smoking ban legislation would not apply to nursing homes
Posted on March 03, 2008A sweeping statewide smoking ban passed the Iowa Senate Wednesday night, but whether it becomes law depends on House Democrats' ability to drum up the votes for it. After the 29-21 vote, there was jubilation among Senate Democrats who have...
Manufacturing honchos doubt Congressional resolve (caj--?) to reform health care
Posted on February 29, 2008CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chief executives from the U.S. manufacturing and transportation sectors say something must be done about soaring health-care costs but doubt the ability of Washington to come up with meaningful, bipartisan reform. "There is a lot of work...
How creepy is this????
Posted on February 29, 2008Life Gem is an Australian company that creates lab diamonds from cremains. Seriously. Here is the promo: The LifeGem® is a certified, high-quality diamond created from the carbon of your loved one as a memorial to their unique life. Love....
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services presents "Supporting Rural Family Caregivers"
Posted on February 29, 2008Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and DHHS New Freedom Initiative Subcommittee on Caregiving presents "Supporting Rural Family Caregivers" March 19, 2008 - 1-3:30 PM (Eastern Time) The purpose of this satellite broadcast is to conduct a discussion of the...
Feb. BIFOCAL now available
Posted on February 29, 2008The February 2008 issue of BIFOCAL, Journal of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging , is now available. This issue features: Team Approach to Guardianship Preserves Independence of Ward, Generates Savings for State, by Jean Callahan and Andrea Snelson,...
CRS report discusses pending congressional bills on estate tax
Posted on February 28, 2008Under provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA, P.L. 107-16), the estate tax exclusion is scheduled to continue to rise, from $2 million for decedents dying in 2008, to $3.5 million in 2009. The...
GAO report says that Medicare Advantage beneficiaries may pay more despite gov't subsidies
Posted on February 28, 2008In 2007, plans projected that relatively little of their rebates would be spent on additional benefits compared to cost-sharing and premium reductions. Of the average projected rebate amount of $87 PMPM, plans projected they would allocate about $10 PMPM (11...
Symposium issue on voting rights and cognitive impairment is now onl-line
Posted on February 27, 2008The McGeorge School of Law has put the entire special Symposium Issue on "Facilitating Voting as People Age: Implications of Cognitive Impairment" on its web site at: http://www.mcgeorge.edu/x762.xml At that page, scroll down to Issue 38, Number 4. Thanks to...
Part D structure is undermiining Medicare's long term financial security--duh
Posted on February 27, 2008When President Bush signed the Medicare drug prescription law in 2003, describing it as "the greatest advance in health care for America's seniors," he was criticized because the plan could prove to be hugely costly and someday end up wrecking...
Minn. non-profit to offer LTC resident dental plan
Posted on February 26, 2008A Minnesota nonprofit group has announced a pilot program that offers dental insurance specifically designed for long-term-care residents and their families. Care facilities that join will offer the insurance, said Dr. Michael Helgeson, chief executive officer of Apple Tree Dental...
AoA updates annual "Profile of Older Americans"
Posted on February 26, 2008Profile of Older Americans 2007 http://www.aoa.gov/prof/Statistics/profile/profiles.asp or http://www.aoa.gov/prof/Statistics/profile/2007/2007profile.pdf [full-text, 19 pages] and Highlights http://www.aoa.gov/prof/Statistics/profile/2007/2.asp Courtesy Jon Forman.
KFF rounds up editorials on Bush Medicare "reform"
Posted on February 26, 2008Several newspapers recently published editorials and an opinion piece on a Medicare proposal recently announced by the Bush administration. Summaries appear below. Daytona Beach News-Journal: A "rich nation should care for its elderly in return for their lifetime of productivity...
CMA seeks associate director for advocacy
Posted on February 26, 2008The Center for Medicare Advocacy, the country?s foremost Medicare advocacy organization seeks an experienced attorney for a new, senior management position in its Connecticut office. The Associate Director for Advocacy will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the lawyers...
CRS Report: Medicare: FY2009 Budget Issues
Posted on February 21, 2008Abstract: Each February, the President submits a detailed budget request to Congress for the following federal fiscal year, along with projections for the five-year budget window. The budget informs Congress of the President's overall federal fiscal policy, based on proposed...
PBGC to diversify in effort to cover liabilities
Posted on February 20, 2008The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the US government-sponsored guarantor for pensions, plans to step up its investments in riskier assets such as equities as it seeks to plug a $14bn deficit. The move, quietly announced on the President?s Day public...
CRS report analyzes S. 2499, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007
Posted on February 19, 2008On December 29, 2007, the President signed S. 2499, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-173). This Act was passed by the House on December 19, 2007, and by a voice vote in the Senate on...
Hand-held Computers Prod Older Adults to Increase Exercise
Posted on February 19, 2008Via the National Center on Aging: Today's younger generation may reckon that "ne'er the twain shall meet" where technology and their elders are concerned. However, ongoing research by Abby King, PhD, professor of health research and policy and of medicine...
Dick Kaplan on Back to School: The New Parameters of Funding a Grandchild's College Education
Posted on February 19, 2008Richard Kaplan (Illinois) has just published "Back to School: The New Parameters of Funding a Grandchild's College Education" Abstract: This article examines several different mechanism for funding college expenses from the perspective of a grandparent...
NCOA develops fact sheet for low income recipients of stimulus package $$
Posted on February 19, 2008Source: National Council on Aging Fact Sheet: Your Clients Who Are Low-Income Social Security Recipients Must File 2007 Tax Return to Receive Economic Stimulus Check What is the stimulus package? To help spur a slowing economy, the IRS will send...
Maryland low income seniors to get drug subsidies
Posted on February 19, 2008About 7,500 low- and moderate-income seniors in Maryland would be eligible for a subsidy for their prescription drugs under a plan announced yesterday by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and health-care leaders. A deal reached with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the region's...
New GAO report says VA needs to improve pension management
Posted on February 14, 2008In 2006, most of the over 500,000 VA pensioners had nonpension incomes well below the federal poverty level, were beyond retirement age, and had multiple impairments, and the population has been decreasing in number. The average annual reported income of...
AoA updates OAA gateway--IAT (it's about time)....
Posted on February 13, 2008In June of 2007 AoA announced the online 'Gateway to the Older Americans Act 2006 Amendments.' The Gateway at http://aoa.gov/oaa2006/Main_Site/index.aspx provides an outline summary of new provisions in the Act, statutory text for each new provision (new/revised language only), and...
How did I miss this? AoA functions "streamlined" to "empower" the elderly
Posted on February 12, 2008We all know what it means when HHS, CMS, or any other agency charged with serving the needs of the elderly population talks about letting beneficiaries "take charge" of their own health care. Now I read that AoA's organizational structure...
Bush budget proposes funding to ease SS disability backlogs--but not enough
Posted on February 11, 2008President Bush's fiscal 2009 budget proposal will help the Social Security Administration tackle staffing shortages and a backlog on retirement and disability claims, the agency's commissioner said this week. The president requested $10.3 billion for Social Security's administrative expenses, a...
Not elder law: mini me--flying reptiles came in dimunitive sizes
Posted on February 11, 2008A new fossil species of flying reptile with a wingspan of less than 30cm (1ft) has been discovered in China. The nearly complete articulated skeleton was unearthed in fossil beds from north-eastern China. The 120-million-year-old reptile had not reached adulthood...
CMS fingers the worst nursing homes for bedsore and other appalling stuff
Posted on February 11, 2008Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services publicly identified over 4000 nursing homes - more than 25% of facilities nationwide - whose residents are physically restrained, or have pressure sores, or both, in excessive numbers. This should be...
Not elder law: world's oldest advice columnist dies at age 101
Posted on February 11, 2008Author, sex therapist and columnist Rose Hacker has died in hospital at the age of 101. She was widely acknowledged as the world?s oldest columnist and last year was accepted into the Guinness Book of Records. She joined the Camden...
CA sues to revoke assisted living facility license
Posted on February 11, 2008The California Department of Social Services has filed a lawsuit to revoke the license of Paragon Gardens, an assisted living facility managed by the Oregon-based Sunwest Management, and to exclude some of the company?s executives from providing care and services...
Proposed MI bill makes financial institutions mandatory reporters
Posted on February 11, 2008Aimed at stopping elder abuse, the Elder Financial Protection Act was unveiled by House Speaker Michael Sak and State Representative Robert Dean today. They said elder abuse can mean anything from physical and emotional abuse as well as financial exploitation...
Kaplan's Top Ten Myths of Social Security now available via SSRN
Posted on February 10, 2008This classic work by the indefatigable Dick Kaplan is a must-read for talking heads, law profs, and anyone else who thinks they know what's up with the Social Security. Abstract: Few federal programs are as well known and as widely...
WISER establishes new web-based National Education and Resource Center on Women and Retirement Planning
Posted on February 10, 2008FROM the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (via ELDERBAR list serv): The Administration on Aging and the Women?s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) have jointly established a web-based National Education and Resource Center on Women and Retirement Planning...
Not elder law: elderly man's dead body went "unnoticed" for 8 years
Posted on February 10, 2008Workers responding to neighbors' complaints of a bad smell coming from an apartment in western England discovered a body that lay decomposing on a couch for years while another resident lived there, officials said Friday. The British Broadcasting Corp...
National Guardianship Association: Call for Proposals
Posted on February 09, 2008Deadline for Submissions: March 1, 2008 The Annual Conference of the National Guardianship Association has earned a reputation for offering cutting edge information that is presented over a two-and-a half-day period of intense intellectual sharing and camaraderie...
National Health Care Decisions Day is April 16
Posted on February 09, 2008On April 16, 2008, join Americans across the country to talk to others about their future healthcare decisions and to complete your advance directive! National Healthcare Decisions Day will help Americans understand that making future healthcare decisions includes much more...
Report considers "elastic" early retirement age for SS eligibility
Posted on February 09, 2008Center for Retirement Research, An "Elastic" Earliest Eligibility Age for Social Security by Natalia Zhivan, Steven A. Sass, Margarita Sapozhnikov, and Kelly Haverstick IB#8-2 Abstract: n the early 1980s, Congress responded to the Social Security program?s long-term financing shortfall, in...
Mass. gov. wants to impose restrictive tests on senior drivers
Posted on February 09, 2008Gov. Deval Patrick, whose mother, Emily, used Milton?s senior citizen vans to get around in her later years, says older drivers should be tested to prove they can still handle a car safely. Patrick, however, says he isn?t sure at...
Advocacy group says elder abuse in Ireland is widespread
Posted on February 09, 2008Recent figures on elder abuse in Ireland released by the HSE represent only a fraction of the cases in Ireland, according to a spokesperson for Age Action. According to the figures, the HSE?s elder abuse officers dealt with 927 cases...
Organ transplant scam doctor arrested, deported
Posted on February 09, 2008A doctor accused of organising illegal organ transplants in India has been deported following his arrest in Nepal. Amit Kumar was detained late on Thursday, accused of heading an illegal kidney transplant ring in Gurgaon, a wealthy suburb of New...
The National Legal Training Project
Posted on February 08, 2008The National Legal Training Project (NLTP) is now accepting resumes from advocates and attorneys who would be interested in providing training on a variety of legal topics that impact low-income, older adults. Selected trainers would be asked to present a...
ABA Senior Lawyers Division seeks nominees for Pickering award
Posted on February 05, 2008The ABA Senior Lawyers Division is accepting nominations for the 2008 John H. Pickering Achievement Award. The award honors the life and accomplishments of John H. Pickering, an outstanding lawyer who was involved in a wide variety of pro bono...
Review of "The Sea Inside"
Posted on February 04, 2008Gerilaw maven Robert Fleming has posted a great review of the 2004 Spanish film "The Sea Inside". Here's an excerpt: No matter how you feel about the "death with dignity" movement, or assisted suicide, I think you will be moved...
CA physician pleads guilty to elder abuse
Posted on February 04, 2008A urologist who performed a painful cancer treatment on a patient who didn't have the disease has pleaded guilty to felony charges of elder abuse and insurance fraud. Ali Moayed, 41, of Monte Sereno is facing up to one year...
Benefits issues in the campaign? Just the fact, ma'am
Posted on February 03, 2008Get answers (not spin) to your burning questions on health care, social security, and private pension benefits issues from the Employee Benefits Research Institute.
OECD advises Netherlands to raise pension age
Posted on February 03, 2008In a report on the Netherlands, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says that the Netherlands should soften its redundancy laws and raise its pension age. Both measures are intended to keep more people in work. The OECD...
Robert Ball, Grand Poobah of Social Security, dead at age 93
Posted on February 03, 2008Robert M. Ball, an indefatigable champion of Social Security who was present practically at its creation in 1935 and rose in the bureaucracy to become its commissioner under three presidents, has died. He was 93. Ball, a resident of suburban...
NSCLC posts CMS letter re 2008 Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy Income and Resource Standards
Posted on February 02, 2008Get it here: http://tinyurl.com/32kelf
CMA issues report and recommendations aimed at protecting members of Medicare private "Special Need Plans."
Posted on February 01, 2008In fulfillment of a grant from The Commonwealth Fund, the Center for Medicare Advocacy recently issued a report and recommendations aimed at protecting members of Medicare private plans known as "Special Need Plans." The documents are available from the Center?s...
GAO reports on problems facing elderly voters
Posted on February 01, 2008Ensuring that older voters or other individuals with disabilities successfully cast their votes in an election requires that policymakers think broadly about access. This includes access with respect to transportation, polling places, voting equipment, and alternative voting methods...
Call for Papers: Elder Law Review
Posted on January 31, 2008Submissions are now called for Volume 5 of the Elder Law Review. The theme for this volume will be undue influence. The guest editor is Professor Margaret Hall, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law. The closing date for submissions...
Half of Chinese urban elderly live alone
Posted on January 31, 2008Nearly half of all elderly people in China's cities live alone and have inadequate healthcare, state media said Wednesday, citing a recent survey. An estimated 49.7 percent of city dwellers aged 60 or older lived in "empty nests," Xinhua news...
PA House votes to give slots money to seniors for tax relief
Posted on January 31, 2008The PA state House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to relieve lower income seniors of their school property tax burden, undercutting a proposal that would have slashed property taxes for all homeowners but raised sales and income taxes...
Upcoming Conference: 2nd International Conference on Elder Abuse
Posted on January 30, 2008Reminder: 2nd International Conference on Elder Abuse: Medical Aspects & Multidisciplinary Responses February 11 & 12, 2008 in Newport Beach, California More info: http://www.elderabuseconference.org/
What is a recession? Inquiring minds (that is, one of your federal legislators) wants to know...
Posted on January 30, 2008Check out this CRS report, 'What is a Recession' A recession is one of several discrete phases in the overall business cycle. The term may often be used loosely to describe an economy that is slowing down or characterized by...
NAELA Hawaii--Be there, Aloha!
Posted on January 30, 2008Celebrate NAELA's twentieth anniversary in beautiful Hawaii this coming May. Details: http://www.naela.com/pdffiles/ka%20ohana%20prereg%20brochure%201_08.pdf
KFF updates Part D Plan Tracker with 2008 info
Posted on January 29, 2008To help people monitor changes in private plans in Medicare, the Kaiser Family Foundation has updated its interactive online resource, the Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plan Tracker, with new 2008 data. The Tracker provides local, regional and national information...
HHS solicits input on nursing home compliance manual revisions
Posted on January 29, 2008US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, _FEDERAL REGISTER_ NOTICE: ""Solicitation of Information and Recommendations for Revising the Compliance Program Guidance for Nursing Facilities," (_FR_, Vol. 73, No. 16, .pdf format, p...
Report says 19 deaths at Illinois VA hospital due to substandard care
Posted on January 29, 2008Nineteen deaths at the VA Medical Center in Marion, IL were linked to surgical errors or substandard care - a total nearly doubling earlier estimates of 10 patient deaths - in a report made public Monday from an investigation into...
National Elder Law Network back on-line
Posted on January 29, 2008Old timers may remember the early days of the Web, when the Kansas Elder Law Network was (I say immodestly) one of the best sources of up to date elder law info. I am happy to report that the National...
Center for Medicare Advocacy: President Punts Medicare...
Posted on January 29, 2008The President punted on Medicare in his State of the Union address, lumping together Medicare with Medicaid and Social Security and telling Congress to fix them. The Center for Medicare Advocacy works on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries to ensure they...
Sedentary lifestyle may accelerate aging...duh
Posted on January 29, 2008Leading a sedentary lifestyle may make us genetically old before our time, a study suggests. A study of twins found those who were physically active during their leisure time appeared biologically younger than their sedentary peers.>The researchers found key pieces...
SSA sent erroneous tax information; new mailing attempts to correct problems
Posted on January 28, 2008Around 2.7 million people have incorrect Social Security payment information on a needed tax document, the Social Security Administration said Thursday as the agency moved quickly to mail out corrections. The document affected is the Social Security Benefit Statement, or...
Washington Post three-parter on aging in America
Posted on January 28, 2008A package about aging in America appeared in the Washington Post's "Outlook" section yesterday. Articles include --"encore careers" for baby boomers, --the challenges that divorce has created for children who now need to care for aging parents and step-parents --the...
$ 13 billion in improper payments made by Medicaid
Posted on January 25, 2008In the fourth year of implementation of the Improper Payments Information Act of 20021 (IPIA), major executive branch agencies reported a total improper payment estimate of about $55 billion for fiscal year 2007. This increase from the prior year estimate...
Christie nominated for best actress for portrayal of Alzheimer's victim
Posted on January 25, 2008Julie Christie rose to fame in the 1960s as one of the great film beauties who lit up the big screen in movies such as Darling, Doctor Zhivago and Far From The Madding Crowd. But the Oscar-winning actress spent many...
Temple U's innovative "wisdom of elders" program to expand
Posted on January 25, 2008For several years, a local initiative based at Temple University has captured the energy and expertise of many of the area's elders by connecting them to nonprofits. Now, a $1.8 million grant over three years will allow Coming of Age...
Older Americans embrace alternative medicine
Posted on January 24, 2008More and more older Americans are trying complementary and alternative medicine. Practitioners across the country report an increase in the number of patients ages 50 and up seeking nontraditional treatment, from acupuncture to herbal supplements and chiropractic remedies...
Center for Medicare Advocacy alert: new poverty guidelines will affect Medicare/Medicaid eligibility
Posted on January 24, 2008New federal poverty level (FPL) guidelines published January 23, 2008 will affect eligibility levels for many public benefits, including health benefits for older people and people with disabilities. 73 Fed. Reg. 3971, (January 23, 2008). The new numbers are effective...
UK: Panel report says dementia treatment should be NHS priority
Posted on January 24, 2008Dementia must be viewed as an urgent priority after years of woeful neglect by the NHS, says the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The disease deserves the same attention accorded to cancer and heart disease, given that so...
Ohio pension fund sues Freddie Mac for fraud
Posted on January 24, 2008An Ohio pension fund filed an investor class action lawsuit against Freddie Mac, accusing the mortgage finance giant of securities fraud for failing to disclose risks from its investments in the subprime mortgage market. Ohio Attorney General Marc Dan, who...
Seniors line up for free transit rides beginning in March
Posted on January 24, 2008Illinois state officials say about 4,000 senior citizens have pre-registered for a new program that will allow the elderly to ride public transit for free. During a news conference in downtown Chicago, Governor Rod Blagojevich says response has been so...
More recent articles on elder abuse
Posted on January 24, 2008http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/01_08/01_23_08/fr_elder_abuse.html http://www.24dash.com/news/Communities/2008-01-24-Barnet-acts-to-prevent-elder-abuse http://www.northcountrygazette.org/news/2008/01/23/caregiver_elder_abuse/ http://www.communitycare...
Sexual abuse of nursing home residents a growing problem
Posted on January 24, 2008The details about John R. Riems' alleged assaults against nursing home residents seem grimly familiar to social workers. They say assaults against mute and helpless victims fit a pattern. The victims of sexual abuse in nursing homes tend to be...
Sri Lankan man forgotten in jail for fifty years--without a trial
Posted on January 14, 2008A Sri Lankan man has been released from prison after spending 50 years on remand, his lawyer said Monday. D.P. James, now 80, was arrested in August 1958 for attacking and wounding his father with a knife. He was sent...
Not elder Law: World's oldest footprints are in jeopardy
Posted on January 14, 2008They are the world's oldest human tracks, a set of footprints pressed into volcanic ash that have lain perfectly preserved for more than three-and-a-half million years. Made by a group of ancient apemen, the prints represent one of the most...
National Healthcare Decisions Day is April 16
Posted on January 14, 2008Now is the time for your organization to begin planning its activities for National Healthcare Decisions Day on April 16. For more information on this event, or to become a state liason, visit http://www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org/maintopics/sign_up
AARP seeks fulltime senior litigation attorney
Posted on January 14, 2008Senior Attorney-Litigation (Health/Long-Term Care) AARP Foundation Litigation provides legal advocacy on behalf of older persons in courts nationwide is seeking an attorney to participate in public interest health and long-term care advocacy. You will work collaboratively with a team of...
Weems says withholding from the public of nursing home problems is not his fault
Posted on December 26, 2007The acting head of the nation's Medicare and Medicaid programs said Wednesday that he would not have distributed a list of the nation's worst nursing homes to industry lobbyists and trade groups while withholding that information from the public. "That...
AMA says Medicare payment reform is critical
Posted on December 26, 2007Renewed urgency around balance billing comes amid increasing frustration with efforts to reform the Medicare payment formula?especially the component that requires Medicare to remain budget neutral. With health system reform looming as a central issue in the 2008 presidential race,...
Bill will allow families to place markers on veterans' graves
Posted on December 26, 2007Legislation that guarantees U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs gravestone markers for the families of deceased veterans has won Congressional approval. The bill, which a West Hartford man pushed for nine years in his father's memory, also provides medallions or bronze...
Aging population threatens China's economy
Posted on December 20, 2007hina's position as the world's major supplier of low-cost labour could be eroded by an ageing population, the authorities have warned. There are six workers for each retiree in China, but that could narrow to two-to-one between 2030 and 2050,...
Nursing home citations climb by 22%
Posted on December 20, 2007More nursing homes are being cited for serious violations as inspectors face increasing pressure to crack down on dangerous conditions, a USA TODAY analysis shows. From 2000 through 2006, the number of citations for putting patients in "immediate jeopardy" increased...
KFF Health Policy Picks for December 2007
Posted on December 20, 2007KFF Health Policy Picks for Dec. include (but are not limited to) Medicare Part D 2008 Data Spotlights The Faces of Medicaid II Nursing Home Quality 20 Years After OBRA View the full listing of publications at http://www.kaiseredu.org/picks/health_policy_picks...
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