Older adults are getting too much medical treatment. No, I am not suggesting we ration treatment for seniors or empower the mythical death panels. Rather, the health system should replace aggressive but ultimately useless medical interventions with more care. This means rethinking the way we care for older adults with chronic disease. We should organize care around the goal of improving their quality of life rather than on [...]
Family caregivers help loved ones suffering from many illnesses, from heart disease to severe arthritis. But a new study shows that one condition—dementia—places an outsized burden on those family members. They spend more hours, do more difficult work, and provide assistance for more years than family members caring for older adults without memory loss. An article in the journal Health Affairs [...]
Older adults may be better off living in age-segregated communities than in neighborhoods or buildings filled with young adults or families with kids. They may have better support, access to more services, and even a better sex life. That, at least, is the conclusion of University of Florida professor Stephen Golant, an environmental gerontologist and expert in the housing of [...]
If the government doesn’t act soon, nearly one-third of Medicare beneficiaries face a 50 percent increase in their Part B premiums for 2016, while more than two-thirds will pay no premium hike at all. Most beneficiaries will pay the same monthly premium next year as they paid this year--$104.90. But others making the same income will pay $159.30. And some [...]
The public overwhelmingly thinks doctors should have end-of-life conversations with older patients. It even thinks Medicare ought to pay for those talks. It just doesn’t want to have them, at least not yet. Those are results of a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, which found that 89 percent of respondents felt physicians should discuss end-of-life choices with them. But only [...]
A typical American turning 65 this year is in line to receive about $500,000 in lifetime Social Security and Medicare benefits. That's more than $1 million for older couples. But many still won’t have enough money to pay for out-of-pocket medical care and long-term supports and services. While the wealthiest seniors will have the resources to pay these hefty out-of-pocket costs, most older adults won’t [...]
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among people 65 and older. One-third of older adults will fall, many will be hospitalized, and some will die. You’ve probably heard the common story: A frail senior is doing relatively well until she falls. She breaks a hip, everything seems to go downhill, and she dies. But many falls are preventable. [...]
One-third of nursing homes residents are admitted to the hospital at least once each year, and half of those admissions could be avoided. Preventing them could protect hundreds of thousands of older adults from potential harm and save Medicare billions of dollars. The problem is neither new nor surprising. But it is tough to fix. Last week, the federal Centers [...]
Many home health aides and other direct care workers are going to get raises. An important court decision on Friday, an aggressive lobbying campaign by unions, more generous state minimum wage laws, and—perhaps most important of all—growing demand for paid home care by consumers—will inevitably drive up wages for these aides. The question is: How will older adults, younger people [...]
A newly-released survey shows just how conflicted Americans are about long-term care insurance. And how unrealistic they are about how much long-term care costs and how much insurance they can buy for what they are willing to spend. The survey, completed in 2014 by the consulting firm RTI International and the survey research firm GfK Research for the US Department [...]