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 [...]
Medicare is the 1965 Ford Mustang of healthcare. It was cutting-edge back in the day. But, like that half-century old car, Medicare no longer runs very well and needs a remake. The real issue is not its finances, which is what most of Medicare’s 50th anniversary commentary is about. It’s about redesigning how it delivers care, which is what really [...]
Family caregivers are invisible. Those children, spouses, or other relatives who provide personal assistance to loved ones with physical or cognitive limitations are often taken for granted or even ignored. But without them, our system of long-term supports and services would collapse. Frail elders and younger people with disabilities would get sicker. Hospitalizations would increase. Medicare and Medicaid costs would [...]
A new Medicare pilot program will make it easier for patients to access some hospice benefits without giving up standard medical treatment for a terminal disease. It is an important step towards building a health system that fully integrates social, spiritual, and palliative care such as pain management with health care. But it doesn’t get all the way there. Today, [...]
What are the odds you’ll need assistance to help with personal activities such as bathing or dressing before you die? For those about to turn 65, it’s about 50/50, according to an important new study. On average, you can expect to need this high level of care for about two years. But one-in-five Americans will need such assistance for less [...]