medicaid

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Driving Senior Services Over the Fiscal Cliff

With the election behind him, Barack Obama’s first item of business will be dealing with the fiscal cliff–that toxic combination of tax increases and automatic spending cuts that are due to kick in on Jan 2, unless Congress acts to delay or replace them with a long-term deficit reduction plan.  Going over the cliff would mean deep cuts in a [...]

We Need Better Ways to Train and Support Family Caregivers

Last week, I wrote about an important new survey of family caregivers that shows nearly half are performing work that is often done by nurses, such as managing medications, caring for wounds, and operating medical equipment. The report, by AARP and United Hospital Fund, sheds important light on the often unrecognized role of these family caregivers. And [...]

Generation Gap

The pundit world was buzzing after the VP debate on thursday, but there is one aspect that went largely unnoticed. There is a blatant generational gap between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.

Talking Points Memo has an excellent photo gallery of each running mate that really illustrates the age gap between these two men. Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.

Why Do Hill Republicans Want to Make Home and Community Care So Hard?

Why would House Republicans slash programs that make it possible for the frail elderly and adults with disabilities to live at home? Especially since the alternative would often be more costly nursing home care. GOP lawmakers say they support Medicaid’s Home and Community Based programs that provide long-term services and supports in the community rather than [...]

Keep Moving On…

The greater disabilities community is clearly in the midst of a high-pressure, national crisis. Thus far in 2012, I have witnessed Disabilities Services in the State of Alabama take arbitrary across-the-board cuts of 9%. Just across the state line, Georgia is currently struggling to meet the demands of the Olmstead Decree and here in Florida, we have a Waitlist of more than 21,000 individuals who receive absolutely no services or supports. Health care reform is critically needed to address and mitigate access to service inequities for people with developmental disabilities.

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Sen. Corker: Long-Term Care is “Heading for a National Crisis”

Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) warned today that long-term care financing is “a major train wreck” and “heading for a national crisis.” Corker, the senior Republican on the Senate Aging Committee, said he was very worried about the viability of private long-term care insurance and added , “there is no doubt there is a public sector role” [...]

What Would Happen to Senior Care if the Supreme Court Strikes Down Health Reform

The fate of many important health reforms aimed directly at seniors is in the hands of the Supreme Court.  While the public has focused most of its attention on whether the High Court will strike down the individual mandate in the 2010 health reform law, the justices today are hearing arguments about another critical issue: What should happen to the [...]

The Constant, Wearying Assault on Elders

On Sunday, while I was reading and gathering information for yesterday’s post about the AARP secret meeting on Social Security, I could feel how tired I am of it all.

“All” being the necessity to maintain a constant watch on politicians and their corporate overlords together with exhausting and usually confusing details of our financial and medical lives.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

On February 20, 2012, Florida’s Governor Rick Scott signed a proclamation recognizing March as Developmental Disabilities month in the state.  Ironically, at the same moment, legislative leaders over at the Capitol continued proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts that would jeopardize the health and well being of Florida’s most vulnerable, many of [...]

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The Slow Starvation of Senior Services

Congress is slowly starving senior services programs.  In the 2012 budget it passed as it was leaving town last weekend, Congress froze or cut spending for a broad range of government programs aimed at seniors and their caregivers–everything from Meals on Wheels to long-term care ombudsman training to information and referral services.  Most of these cuts were not [...]

The Good and Bad News About Aging in Place

Government funding for programs to support aging in place was still growing through 2008, but much more slowly than in the past. At the same time, states were making it harder to enroll, limiting benefits, and forcing  people to wait longer before they could participate in these programs. And all that was happening before Medicaid home care faced major [...]