Earlier this month, the federal department of Health & Human Services concluded that more than one of every five skilled nursing facility (SNF) patients suffered serious harm from events such as medication errors, falls, or infections in 2011. Half were sent to the hospital as a result of these events. Six percent died. And 60 percent of these adverse events [...]
Federal senior services programs are in for another very difficult year. In the 2015 budget he released yesterday, President Obama proposed freezing or even cutting spending for many key programs. And Obama’s blueprint may be the highwater mark for many initiatives, which are likely to see even deeper cuts as the budget works its way through Congress. Key House Republicans have [...]
The most important trend in care for the frail elderly and younger people with disabilities may be what’s called managed long-term supports and services, or MLTSS. This effort to combine medical care with long-term care would replace today’s disorganized, ineffective, and even dangerous system with one that can bring together complex care that’s being delivered by many different providers. Done [...]
Congress is about to agree to a bipartisan budget for 2014 that will at best freeze federal spending for many critical senior services. In a few cases, the fiscal plan will increase funding a bit from the low levels driven by last year’s across-the-board “sequester” spending cuts. But for the most part, programs will have to meet growing demand for [...]
Despite the fears of consumer advocates and the predictions of many insurance companies, seniors are flocking to Medicare Advantage managed care plans. It shouldn’t be a surprise since premiums for these policies are a fraction of the cost of traditional fee-for-service Medicare. This shift may be one driver of the recent slowdown in the growth of health care costs and [...]
More than one out of every five nursing home residents is still being given powerful antipsychotic drugs despite a growing consensus that they are inappropriate and often dangerous. These drugs frequently are given to “calm” dementia patients even though many are approved only for the treatment of diseases such as schizophrenia. Despite a federal initiative, a $2.2 billion legal settlement [...]
On Monday, I participated in a PBS NewsHour panel on how to improve services and supports for an aging America. PBS brought together a diverse group of long-term care experts to discuss some interesting international models for delivering supports and services to the frail elderly in a way that allows them to preserve their dignity and independence. The models ranged from [...]
On Monday, Nov. 4, I’ll be on a panel with a group of some highly respected long-term care policy experts to discuss some international creative models for delivering supports and services. The program, which will be held in Washington, is sponsored by the PBS Newshour and funded by the SCAN Foundation. We’ll be discussing a broad range of ideas—from the [...]
Where in the world would you want to age? According to a comprehensive new study by the group HelpAge International, you want to live your golden years in…Sweden. True, it’s cold. Really cold. But based on more than a dozen key indicators, including income security, health status, employment and education, and ability to live independently, Northern European countries such as [...]
How will Washington’s ongoing budget crisis affect seniors? Not much, at first. But it could become very costly in just a few weeks. One big unresolved question: Will Social Security benefits be paid if the government breaches the debt limit? Many seniors programs will continue to operate for at least a while. For now, Social Security checks are going out [...]