Cantwell, Portman Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help People Receive Care in their Homes, Reduce Health Costs | Maria Cantwell – US Senator for Washington
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) have introduced the Ensuring Medicaid Provides Opportunities for Widespread Equity, Resources, and Care Act – or EMPOWER Care Act – to help Medicaid beneficiaries receive long-term services and support in their community or home and help save taxpayer dollars in the process. The bill would renew and expand the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration Program, which promotes community-based care and services and is as a sterling example of an initiative that improves patient outcomes while saving money for state and federal taxpayers.
I Am Not an Inspiration Because I Have a Disability | Self
If you’re a person with a disability*, particularly a wheelchair user or an obviously impaired person, you live very differently than your non-disabled peers. One of those differences is in the way other people discuss and view your body. Over my lifetime, and during various different manifestations of my impairment, I have experienced many uncomfortable and often inappropriate interactions. Some of those have come from medical staff, some from social workers or people paid to support me, some from friends or family, but many have involved total strangers.
The Health 202: Industry is tackling opioid abuse as Washington drags its feet | The Washington Post
Congress still can’t agree on directing more dollars to combat the U.S. opioid crisis. But over the past year, private industry has stepped up its own efforts to stem the troubling tide of overdose deaths from prescription painkillers and other opiate drugs. Over the course of 2017, insurers and drugmakers announced new goals to reduce the prescribing of opioid painkillers, limit how many pills patients can get at one time and give them better access to medication-assisted treatment. Furthermore, new medications came on the market to help those struggling with addiction.
Everything you want to know about Medicare’s rules on health savings accounts | PBS nEws Hour
The rise of high-deductible employer health plans has created one of the most unpleasant surprises for older employees: anyone on Medicare is no longer allowed to make tax-free contributions to a health savings account (HSA). To the further consternation of many such employees, anyone age 65 or older receiving Social Security benefits must, by law, also be signed up for Part A of Medicare. This requirement, seemingly unrelated to their health plan, also will end their ability to make HSA contributions.
Milkshake Duck: what it is, and why it’s coming for us all | Vox
To those who follow such things, this week’s internet backlash looks oddly familiar. Keaton Jones, a boy from Knoxville, Tennessee, went viral earlier this week when he tearfully protested the unkindness of school bullies in a video his mom shared online. As celebrities lined up to commiserate with him, offering him perks like a trip to the next Avengers premiere, skeptics dug a little deeper into the situation and realized Keaton’s family was kinda racist. Keaton’s swift viral rise and subsequent fall is one we’ve seen before in the age of social media, and in the past year or so in particular. We’ve seen it so often, in fact, that there’s a name for it, one as confusing as the phenomenon itself: Milkshake Duck.
Why a drug for aging would challenge Washington | Politico
What if you could live to 85, 90 or even 100 with your mental faculties intact, able to live independently without debilitating conditions until the last year of your life? What if just one medical treatment could stave off a handful of terrifying ailments like heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s? The idea of a pill for aging sounds like science fiction or fantasy. But the hunt is increasingly real. At the cutting edge of research, scientists and doctors are already deep into the quest for a drug that could transform the experience of aging. The goal isn’t a pharmaceutical fountain of youth, exactly; nobody is promising to stretch human lifespans indefinitely. Instead, they’re looking for a way to ensure healthier aging—a drug that could make it more likely people reach their eighth or ninth decade of life with fewer of the ailments that make old age painful and disabling for millions, and cripplingly expensive for the health care system.
Giving States A Tool To Improve Long-Term Services and Supports | Health Affairs
AARP’s Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) State Scorecard aims to pick up the pace of improving LTSS by providing comparable state data to benchmark performance, measure progress, identify areas for improvement, and improve lives. The Scorecard includes twenty-five indicators in five dimensions of performance: affordability and access, choice of setting and provider, quality of life and quality of care, support for family caregivers, and effective transitions. The numbers give comprehensive, multidimensional insight into LTSS. Our goal is for the Scorecard to stimulate a dialogue among key stakeholders, encouraging them to collaborate on strategies for improving a given state’s LTSS system.
How bankers and doctors can collaborate to detect ‘early warnings’ of Alzheimer’s | STAT
Banking and medicine have little in common. One is for creating and managing wealth, the other for managing health. Yet together they could help detect and fight the growing burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. I call this partnership of banking and medicine “whealthcare.”
Thanks to decades-long advances in personal and public health, the average 65-year-old American can expect to live another 19 years. This remarkable progress presents a challenge: Many people might not have enough money to live that long.
Jimmy Kimmel makes emotional plea for CHIP | NBC News
he late night host delivered an emotional appeal to re-up the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which helps cover nine million kids who don’t have health insurance, on his broadcast Monday night.
20 percent of America’s youth suffer from a mental, emotional or behavioral condition | NBC News
NBC News’ Cynthia McFadden speaks with Dr. Harold Koplewicz, head of the Child Mind Institute, about new research that shows the biological differences in kids with mental health disorders.
Remodeled space for aging in place | The Oklahoman
Amy Brewer wanted her mother closer, especially when memory issues began to surface. But it took several years and an Alzheimer’s diagnosis for things to come to a head. “In April, she got lost for five hours,” she said. “That’s when I decided that she needed to move.” Her mother, Deborah Brewer, raised a finger. “Now I have a different story,” she interjected. She offered her explanation, mostly off the record, possibly tongue-in-cheek. “So I knew where I was,” she concluded with a nod.
Scientists aim to wipe out dementia and other diseases of aging | San Francisco Chronicle
In 1997, when Japanese researchers accidentally discovered a gene variant that appeared to speed up aging in lab mice — which they stumbled upon while conducting an unrelated study on high blood pressure — they named it Klotho. The figure in Greek mythology, one of Zeus’ many daughters, was said to spin the thread of life, determining when one is born and when one dies.
Disability and the Daily Grind | The Huffington Post
I am a crank and its high time I admit it. I’m blind, but that’s not the source of my Hypos as Herman Melville would say. Bear with me. I’m a crank and not a malcontent—a distinction important to us disabled types. The thing is, I just don’t fit in. From movie theaters to clothing stores I represent a problem. “How will we serve the blind guy? Should we panic?” I produce social distress wherever I go.
The other big drug problem: Older people taking too many pills | The Washington Post
Consider it America’s other prescription drug epidemic. For decades, experts have warned that older Americans are taking too many unnecessary drugs, often prescribed by multiple doctors, for dubious or unknown reasons. Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions, a figure that jumps to nearly 46 percent for those between 70 and 79. Doctors say it is not uncommon to encounter patients taking more than 20 drugs to treat acid reflux, heart disease, depression or insomnia or other disorders.
Expert: Science Behind Anti-Aging Research Is Solid, but the Funding Isn’t | Futurism
Aubrey de Grey is a pioneer of anti-aging research. The biomedical gerontologist and co-founder of the SENS Research Foundation has been vocal about the threat to humanity that aging poses, and how it should be seen as one of the major challenges we need to overcome. Last year, de Grey joined several other scientists who want to have aging classified as disease, arguing that it is the result “garbage material” that our cells cannot break down.
Holly Gallagher: Caring for your aging parents | Tennessee City Record Eagle
The need for a long-term plan for the aging population has never been greater in the United States — 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day. Middle-aged adults increasingly find themselves caring for elderly parents as well as their own children. While helping your parents when they can no longer care for themselves is admirable, jeopardizing your own health or financial well-being only transfers the problem. As your parents get older, discussing their plans for the future and the role you will play in their care is essential. Without the proper strategy, this caretaking burden can lead to undue emotional and financial stress.
Is your aging loved one still safe living at home? Watch for these warning signs | USA Today Network
Going home for the holidays? If you have older parents, relatives or friends you don’t see on a regular basis, it could be a good time to make sure they don’t need more help than they have in the past. Even regular phone conversations are no substitute for seeing someone in person, in his or her own home, said Susan Long, director of the Knoxville-Knox County CAC Office on Aging.
Aging for Amateurs: Taking better care of our brains to mitigate Alzheimer’s risk | the Post and the Courier
This is our present circumstance, as described by the Alzheimer’s Association: Someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease every 66 seconds. Five and a half million people in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer’s disease today. One in 10 adults, ages 65 and older, has Alzheimer’s disease. The burden for women is great. Two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease are women and 60 percent of Alzheimer’s caregivers are women. The rate for Alzheimer’s disease in blacks is twice that of Caucasians. Meanwhile, Hispanics are one and a half times more likely than Caucasians to develop the disease.
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