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Elder Care Information |
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Respiratory Help Is Available For Seniors With COPD
As HMOs Continue to Drop Coverage for Seniors - Now Over 500,000 Victims - Those Needing Expensive Respiratory Medication, Support and Homecare Services are the Hardest Hit One Patient Advocate, Geriatric Services of America, is Providing Relief to Victimized Patients Through a Unique, Often No-Cost Program More than 536,000 US senior citizens are scrambling to find new doctors or new coverage because their health plans terminated their Medicare managed-care services, according to a Nonrenewal Report issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the year 2002. Among the hardest hit are seniors in California (84,000), Florida (59,000), Pennsylvania (55,000), New Jersey (53,000), Texas (46,000), and Michigan (31,000), who will be losing coverage in the coming year. Even those with continuing coverage face substantial premium hikes and dwindling drug benefits. Particularly hard hit will be those with chronic illnesses such as respiratory disease, who will bear the brunt of high medication and healthcare costs. Though all seniors 65 and older are covered by Medicare, those enrolled in managed-care programs agree to see doctors within a limited network and receive additional benefits, such as preventative care and prescription-drug coverage. The current coverage crisis stems from rising delivery costs and limited government reimbursement, as doctors and hospitals increasingly balk at seeing Medicare HMO patients, since they aren't sufficiently reimbursed for their services. Without enough doctors and hospitals providing care, an HMO can't serve its members. The problem is worst in large urban markets, where more than half of Medicare + Choice beneficiaries live nationwide but where reimbursement rate increases have trailed rising costs since 1997. To compensate for the funding shortfall, premiums for seniors retaining Medicare HMO coverage are expected to spike while benefits dwindle in the coming year. In California's Sacramento-area, for example, monthly premiums for Kaiser Permanente's Senior Advantage Medicare Plan will double from $40 to $80 starting Jan. 1st. Healthnet, following suit, is raising premiums 50 percent, from $40 to $60 per month for its Seniority Plus members in the area. Pacificare and Western Health Advantage, while holding monthly premiums at $50 in their Sacramento-area Medicare plans, will eliminate brand name drug coverage next year. Across the nation, seniors caught between rising premiums and shrinking coverage will find themselves in a similar bind. Even those with Medigap policies will feel the squeeze. Medigap policies A through J, for instance, have minimum standard benefit packages, and the H, I, and J plans covering prescriptions have annual drug caps ranging from $1,250 to $2,000. For the 30 million Americans with a Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary Disease (COPD) such as asthma, emphysema or cystic fibrosis - collectively the fourth leading cause of death in the US, however, help is available with Geriatric Services of America (GSA), a national community service organization based in Tempe, Arizona which provides direct help and support to older Americans suffering from chronic respiratory disease. Through its Respiratory Disease Control Program, GSA provides access to a comprehensive range of special medication benefits, as well as support and homecare services, which eliminates out-of-pocket expenses for patients with primary or supplemental insurance coverage. Through GSA's patient support center, nebulizers and respiratory medication are provided and paid for with free home delivery, conveniently packaged and ready to use. GSA handles all paperwork, and clinical Patient Care Coordinators work with doctors and insurance companies once a patient has enrolled in the Respiratory Disease Control Program. Patients can enroll themselves in the program; there is nothing to buy, and no enrollment or membership fees. Currently, Medicare, AARP, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and over 180 other insurers have special benefits for patients with respiratory disease. GSA provides access to these benefits, and coordinates all elements of care to help patients, doctors, and insurance companies combat respiratory disease. At a time when US seniors face restricted health care access, rising premiums, and shrinking benefits, GSA stands out as a welcome ally for those needing respiratory medication benefits, support, or homecare services. For more information about GSA, or how someone you know can enroll in this special wellcare program, write to 4812 South Mill Ave., Tempe, AZ 85282; call 800-307-8048; fax 800-345-2425; or email Gary Rheault directly at grheault@geriatricservices.com. About The Author Del Williams is a technical writer based in Torrance, California.
MORE RESOURCES: Visionaries Unite: How the West Coast Conference on Aging is Rewriting the Future of Senior Care The Daily Scan Commentary: The monthly tab for her in-home elder care: $18,000. She can cover it, but how many others can? Los Angeles Times NTI Invests in Community Facilities for Elder Care Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Nova Scotia Health’s Dignity of Risk Program leading change in caring for older adults living with frailty and dementia Nova Scotia Health Alumni Impact Series: Kevin Ye – Shaping the Future of Elder Care through Entrepreneurship University of Waterloo AI Companions Redefine Elder Care: 3 Ways They Fight Loneliness, Boost Safety And Scale Support Forbes Amid nursing home sector’s press for relief on immigration blockade, new bill emerges McKnight's Long-Term Care News The Care Squeeze: how to have the aged care conversation with your loved ones Australian Broadcasting Corporation Rescue work continues at site of impact near elder care facility in central Israel The Times of Israel Anglican elder care specialist and advocate named to Order of Canada The Anglican Journal Letters to the Editor: Increasingly expensive elder care ‘almost sounds like a conspiracy’ Los Angeles Times BPK student research looks to history to find a way forward for Indigenous elder care Simon Fraser University ‘What they wanted to see’: Rankin Inlet elder facility to welcome 22 residents in April Nunatsiaq News 'Don't open another bed': St. John’s doctor says there's a better way to keep seniors out of long-term care PNI Atlantic News Bay of Quinte Mohawks donate $60K each to Elder Care Home project, Belleville General Hospital Foundation Kingstonist News Health Caregiving Market to Reach US$ 250 Bn by 2032, Driven by Aging Population Growth - openPR.com Hatfield senior citizen accused of indecent assault on sleeping victim at assisted living facility, police say North Penn Now Video: How the Immigration Crackdown Threatens Elderly Care The New York Times Midlands law firm opens Aiken office, adds estate attorney Columbia Business Report Rural Nebraska town warns of Medicaid cuts’ impact on elder care KOLN | Nebraska Local News, Weather, Sports | Lincoln, NE B.C. government close-lipped on watchdog report that finds seniors care is worsening - Vancouver Sun Should we subsidize elder care more? Stockholms universitet Cracks in home care need filling NB Media Co-op A Daughter’s Cautionary Elder Care Tale The Progressive No, COVID-19 isn’t over in aged care: why outbreaks persist Aged Care Guide Experts share tips for 'Sandwich Generation' as caring costs them $18k a year — as it happened Australian Broadcasting Corporation Stretched thin: how Australia’s sandwich generation is paying the hidden cost of care Aged Care Guide Deputy urges fresh talent to fill elder care gap China Daily Elderly care highlighted at China's 'two sessions' Global Times Senior Care Product Market Size & Trends 2025-2035 Future Market Insights A Model for Elder Care? Supported Housing Offers Some Hope for the Future Center for Retirement Research 25 Common Nursing Home Problems—& How to Resolve Them Justice in Aging The Care Squeeze Australian Broadcasting Corporation Organization brings awareness to elderly care resources after incident in Warner Robins - 41NBC News Iran-China relations + China drops tariffs for African countries + Elderly-care robots Mercator Institute for China Studies Half of Kansas nursing home investigator positions are vacant. One Olathe resident dies waiting for help Johnson County Post Nursing home and elder-care residents could be hit hard by potential Medicaid cuts The Washington Post Research Groundbreakers: Dr. Roxanne Weiss Is Advancing Elder Care and Delirium Prevention The University of Utah Elder care studies to be diversified China Daily The Robot Revolution: From Assembly Lines to Elder Care – How Automation is Transforming Work and Society. Quantum Zeitgeist China to use AI in elder care as population ages: official The Economic Times Digitalization for Improving Elder Care Asian Development Bank New long-term care home coming to Squamish BC Gov News We’re Suddenly My Difficult Mother-in-Law’s Full-Time Caregivers. It’s a Nightmare in Ways I Could Never Have Imagined. Slate Magazine Elderly-focussed health care is a demographic imperative Hindustan Times When Elder Care Is All in the Stepfamily The New York Times Elder Care Graduates in Hot Demand in China sixthtone.com A look at elder care initiatives in Northside - The Daily Tar Heel Officials strive for quality elder care China Daily - Global Edition Increasing Women's Workforce Participation in Mexico requires support for Child and Elder Care World Bank Blogs Assisted Living Locators of San Francisco: Compassionate, Inclusive Guidance for Senior Care Decisions San Francisco Bay Times A lifelong advocate for aged care National Seniors Australia |
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