More Than 3M Seniors May Have To Switch Drug Plans
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (AP)

WASHINGTON — A plan by Medicare to try to make it simpler for consumersto pick drug coverage could force 3 million seniors to switch plans next year whether they like it or not, says an independent analysis.

That risks undercutting President Barack Obama’s promise that people can keep their health plans if they like them. And it could be an unwelcomesurprise for many seniors who hadn’t intended to make a change duringMedicare’s open enrollment season this fall.

The analysis by Avalere Health, a leading private research firm, estimated that more than 3 million beneficiaries will see their prescription plan eliminated as part of a new effort by Medicare to winnow down duplicative coverage and offer consumers more meaningful choices.

Seniors would not lose coverage, but they could see changes in their premiums and copayments.

Medicare officials dismissed the Avalere estimate without offering their own number. "Anybody who is producing that kind of analysis is simply guessing," said Jonathan Blum, deputy administrator for Medicare.

But Bonnie Washington, a senior analyst with Avalere, said the company’s analysis used Medicare’s specifications. For example, Medicare has already notified insurers they will no longer be able to offer more than one "basic" drug plan in any given location. Several major prescription plans, including CVS-Caremark and AARP, offered two basic options throughout the countrythis year, Washington said.

Eliminating that particular form of duplication among the top plans would force 2.75 million beneficiaries to find new coverage, according to Avalere’s estimate.

When other changes are taken into account, as many as 3.7 million Medicare recipients may have to switch, the analysis concluded. That amounts to about 20 percent of the 17.5 million enrolled in stand-alone drug plans.

Avalere serves industry and government clients with in-depth research on Medicare and Medicaid. The company’s president was a health care budget analyst in the Clinton White House.

Former Medicare administrator Leslie Norwalk said the change might make things easier for people signing up for Medicare but harder for those already in the program.

"If you’re in a plan that you like and you have to change it, it will be disruptive," said Norwalk, acting administrator under President George W. Bush. "It depends on how (Medicare) handles it to try to make it as seamlessas possible."

Article source…

For information about how Andelcare can help you and your family care for a loved one in the Seattle WA area, visit www.andelcare.com.

As August comes to a close, I wanted to share one more article about the importance of eye care for Cataract Awareness Month. Vision is something we should not take for granted!  If you or a loved one need care and assistance for someone who is losing their vision in the Bellevue WA area, please visit www.andelcare.com.

Eye Care Advice for Aging Eyes
 
(ARA) – Growing older and getting reading glasses seem to go hand in hand, just like getting gray hair or wrinkles as you age. But that doesn’t have to be the case if you take steps to care for your eyes as you age.

Presbyopia, a natural effect of aging, happens to just about everyone around the age of 40, even if you have had laser eye surgery. As you age, the lens in each of your eyes begins to lose its ability to change focus quickly on an object or page of text, causing blurred vision at reading distance. Chances are that you know several people who have this condition, and you may develop it yourself, now or in the future.

Some simple, yet often overlooked steps can help you take care of your eyesight as you age:

• During prolonged intervals in front of a TV, computer or other electronic device, try blinking more often than you might normally. Every so often, look away from the device and focus on a distant object.
• Be sure to have adequate light while reading; a simple lamp may not do the trick, causing you to strain your eyes.
• Maintain a healthy diet. Contrary to popular belief, carrots are not the best vegetable for your eyes: spinach and other dark, leafy greens contain high amounts of lutein and zeaxanthin, beneficial antioxidants for vision.
• Visit your eye care professional regularly.

Beyond a healthy lifestyle, there are solutions to common age-related vision problems. With presbyopia, bifocals or reading glasses (for contact lens wearers) are a common solution. However, reading glasses can be cumbersome and easily misplaced, and bifocals require you to use a magnification lens intended for reading anytime you look down, which can make mundane tasks as simple as walking down stairs unnecessarily difficult.

Bausch + Lomb’s Multi-Focal contact lenses are designed with All-Distance Optics, a technology that delivers sharp, clear vision wherever you choose to focus. By using a gradual power shift across the entire lens, your eyes effortlessly adjust from up-close reading to mid-range computer work to distance vision while driving. There’s no need to reach for glasses to accommodate a quick change in distance.

Multi-Focal contact lenses mean you don’t have to sacrifice convenience for clear, crisp vision. Ask your eye care professional about how Multi-Focal contact lenses can help you say goodbye to your readers today, or log on to www.goodbyereaders.com to learn more.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

How To Handle An Elderly Parents Bad Behavior

"My mother is driving me crazy!"  This phrase is uttered (or screamed) by caregivers everywhere who are caring for elderly parents. As if they didn’t have enough to do, caregivers often have to deal with bad behavior by their elderly parents. The AgingCare.com message boards are filled with stories of demanding elderly parents, personality changes, hallucinations, temper tantrums…even abuse. We’ve compiled the top 10 bad behaviors that elderly parents exhibit, along with some tips for coping with them.

Bad behavior #1: Rage, anger, yelling
Age and illness can intensify longstanding personality traits in some unpleasant ways: An irritable person may become enraged, an impatient person demanding and impossible to please. Unfortunately, the person taking care of the elderly parent is often the target.

…continue reading from agingcare.com

For information about how Andelcare can help you and your family care for a loved one in the Seattle WA area, visit www.andelcare.com.

Employer Support for Care Giving Employees

“There are only four kinds of people in this world. Those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that in the year 2010, 54% of workforce employees will provide
eldercare for a parent or parents and that nearly two-thirds of caregivers will experience conflict between demands at home and demands from employers.

Today’s employed Baby Boomers are the caregiver generation for their parents. They are finding themselves juggling care responsibilities around their employment obligations. Sometimes employees find they have no option but to take leave from work or use sick time to meet their caregiving demands.

Employers also feel the toll it is taking on their employees. A report by the AARP describes the cost to employers:

“Companies are also seeing the emotional and physical toll that caregiving takes on their workers. In one study, 75% of employees caring for adults reported negative health consequences, including depression, stress, panic attacks, headaches, loss of energy and sleep, weight loss, and physical pain.

Businesses suffer, too, by having to pay high health insurance costs and in lost productivity. That doesn’t count the promotions or assignments workers turn down that require travel or relocation away from aging relatives."

Businesses that don’t offer benefits or address eldercare wind up paying for them. A recent study by the MetLife Market Mature Institute and the National Alliance for Caregiving states that U.S. companies pay between $17.1 billion and $33.6 billion annually, depending on the level of caregiving involved, on lost productivity. That equals $2,110 for every full-time worker who cares for an adult.

The AARP states eldercare cost businesses:

• $6.6 billion to replace employees (9% left work either to take early retirement or quit)
•  Nearly $7 billion in workday interruptions (coming in late, leaving early, taking time off during the day, or spending work time on eldercare matters)
• $4.3 billion in absenteeism

Typically, human resource departments work with employees on many issues that may affect their work productivity.  There are programs for drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, illness, absenteeism and child care; but, help with eldercare issues is not normally provided.

The AARP report follows several companies who are providing help with eldercare issues and what they are doing for their employees.

Freddie Mac has a free eldercare consultant and access to subsidized aides for a relative up to 20 days.

Verizon Wireless offers seminars on eldercare issues and allows full-time workers 80 hours a year in back-up care, 40 hours for part-time, and $4/hour for in-home help.

At the Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird LLP, workers can donate vacation time to colleagues who have used up theirs to care for family members.

A growing number of companies nationwide are directing their HR departments to provide resources, education and group help for caregiving issues by:

• Providing materials from community resources such as phone numbers to their local Senior Centers or Area Agencies on Aging.
• Making available brochures and booklets on specific programs and services by eldercare experts
• Providing speakers to educate employees on caregiving options
• Allowing options to use paid sick leave, employee job sharing and flexible hours
• Allowing employee caregivers to use business computers for caregiving research
• Contracting with companies who provide eldercare services to help employees

Eldercare service providers are also reaching out to help employee caregivers by providing informational presentations at the work place during lunch time or other times set up by employers. One such presentation provided information on reverse mortgages. Jason, who had been trying to help his parents pay for home care, learned at a work site presentation that a reverse mortgage was one way to cover caregiver expenses.

The HR Department of a local business in Utah, invited the Salt Lake Eldercare Planning Council to present a “Brown bag, Lunch and Learn” during their employees’ lunch hour. In 30 minutes time, those who attended learned how the services of a Care Manger, Home Care Provider, Elder Attorney, Medicaid Planner and Financial Consultant can help with caregiving decisions. Problems were discussed, questions answered and employees left armed with information and the names of professional people they knew could help them.

“This was the most productive lunch I have ever attended”, related Mary, one of the attendees.
“I had been very hesitant to contact an attorney to discuss my parents’ estate, because of the cost involved.  The attorney at our ‘lunch and learn’ answered my few basic questions which will allow me to prepare what I need before I meet with him to finalize my parents’ estate planning.”

Besides workplace help for employers and employees dealing with caregiving, the internet is also a great research tool.

The National Care Planning Council website at http://www.longtermcarelink.net is a comprehensive resource for eldercare, senior care and long term care planning.  It contains hundreds of articles on all aspects of eldercare.

Professional providers list their services on the NCPC website.  Each of their listings provides unique information on specific eldercare services and how to obtain help.

Employers, employees and eldercare service providers working together can make parent or senior caregiving a workable solution for all.

Source: AARP

If you are needing help with care and assistance for a loved one in the Bellevue WA area, visit us at www.andelcare.com for more information.

Baby Boomer Generation Fears Dementia, Alzheimer’s and Memory Loss

"The words dementia, Alzheimer’s and memory loss instills fear of aging in the retiring baby boomer generation. Scientific research now shows that the causes of memory loss can be prevented or delayed. The studies also confirm that memory loss is not a normal process of aging."

As the baby boomer generation ages, we may experience a longer period of time to recall something in our memory bank. Forgetting where we placed something, not being able to recall events or incidents that were not significant to us at the time are normal processes of memory. We become distracted, multitask and do not give significance to what we are doing. In our present day culture, we are bombarded by TV, radio, cell phones and computers. We communicate in so many different fashions and do it while we are driving; cooking, eating and even when we are sleeping (we leave the TV on or listen to music).

Follow this link for the complete article: 
 

Visit us at www.andelcare.com with any questions, or if you need help for an aging loved one in the Seattle WA area.

Keeping Track of Seniors With Alzheimer’s

The e-mail alert shouted its message: "Missing Person with Alzheimer’s. PLEASE HELP." It was sent to Alzheimer’s Assn. chapters and to law enforcement officials within hours after an Orange County woman disappeared while on a short trip to visit a friend…

That story has a happy ending, but many confused seniors who become lost are never found again. The Alzheimer’s Assn. estimates that 60% of individuals with Alzheimer’s will wander at least once during the progression of the disease. Up to 70% of these individuals wander more than once, and up to several times. One study reported that nearly half of those not found within 24 hours die — usually from dehydration, exposure or injury.

Read more…

For information about how Andelcare can help you and your family care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease, visit www.andelcare.com.

 BIG NEWS! Andelcare is featured in this week’s Puget Sound Business Journal

Each week the Puget Sound Business Journal profiles an outstanding local business and this week it’s us! Andelcare is featured in the” Growing Your Business” section. The article talks about our growth and commitment to serving our customer’s needs.

The full-page feature even includes a terrific photo of our founder, Marla Beck. If you have the opportunity, please check out this week’s PSBJ. You can read a preview of the article by clicking on this link (if you are a
PSBJ subscriber you can read the whole article as well): seattle.bizjournals.com

If you would like more information about Andelcare and how we can help you and your family in the Seattle WA area, please contact us at 425.283.0408, 206.838.1844, or toll free 800.319.5979 or visit www.andelcare.com.

Here is a great article that I found by Senior Daily Living that gives us some insite into Dementia.  Visit us at www.andelcare.com if you need help for an aging loved one in the Seattle area. 

Dementia-More Than Just Memory Loss

“As we age, we naturally have difficulty remembering things or finding the right words to say. This is normal. However, Dementia is not normal. The condition causes mental changes that make it difficult to function and carry out our normal lives, not just remember names and dates.”

Dementia causes a decline in mental functioning, particularly memory, which makes what was once a simple task into an impossible challenge. There is difficulty finding the right words, and confusion sets in when there are too many tasks at once. There can be a change in personality that leads to
aggression, paranoia, inappropriate or bizarre behavior, or depression.

Dementia in the elderly can take on two different forms; reversible and chronic. When symptoms are reversible, the short-term dementia has been caused by other illnesses or diseases. The National Institute on Aging has classified 100 conditions that can cause short-term dementia. These are often called "pseudodementias", and are treatable. Some examples include:

…continue reading

Caring About A Care Giver
By Byron Pulsifer

So many emotions and so many thoughts of being helpless come to our mind. If you know of someone who is dying, or who is seriously ill, our hearts always seem to rest squarely on that person. For those who are concerned about this seriously ill or dying person, we usually want to help, but can’t. We are not miracle workers; we are not able to heal them no matter what we may think of doing or wanting to do. But, in all our concern shown towards this person there may be someone else who desperately needs our help but seems to be far away in the shadows of our minds.

The person, who we can help, however, is the care giver especially if this person is the primary person extending at home care. Day in and day out, they are constantly vicariously living with their loved ones pain and anguish. The ups and downs that seem to come and go as if in a blur are there continuously. There is no way to escape the pain, the sorrow, the incessant question of being able to cope after their loved one has died. So, what can you do?

Frequently, the care giver needs to know there is someone there who they can talk to, to confide their inner emotions, their own anguish, and their feelings of deeper and deeper entrapment in a spiraling course of disease that they can not alter. The endless trips to the doctor, medical tests that seem to be repeated endlessly, the attempts to control pain or the progression of the disease, or the 24/7 knowledge that their life will be forever changed with the death of their loved one, is their constant diet.

If you are unable to visit because of distance, you can call the care giver on the phone every week. Of course, you’ll want to know how their loved one is, but you also want to know how the care giver is coping. This is the time when you want to develop your listening skills. Often, a good listener is more valuable than a great conversationalist. You want the care giver to feel free, to open up, and to spill their emotions out to you. And, your role is not to offer trite "I know they will get better soon’ meaningless phrases.

…continue reading

If your family needs help with the care and assistance for a loved one in the Bellevue WA area, please visit www.andelcare.com.

Senior Care Giver Services: When It Becomes Too Much
By Gordon Petten

Caring for an elderly family member can be overwhelming, especially if that family member is unable to live independently. There are many important decisions that must be made, some of which are revised on a daily basis. Caring for an elderly family member takes great commitment, and the ability to expect the unexpected. Often times, however, it becomes too much and families turn to care-giving facilities for assistance.

Since the goal is most often to keep the person at home as long as possible, thus avoiding a residential facility until absolutely necessary, it is a good idea to seek the advice of a care manager. This involves seeking the services of a professional coordinator who helps individuals remain at home or living in the residence of another family member who will assist with home care by addressing all aspects of life. These include: medical care, personal care needs, medication monitoring, home safety, and socialization.

The care manager then coordinates with doctors and other medical professionals, family members, trust officers, accountants, and other important members of the client’s community. The goal of care management is to insure the client receives the necessary care while improving the overall quality of life.

There are many services offered by care management facilities. The first, which is also the first step toward acquiring the necessary home care, is a clinical interview set up between the care manager and the client. The client’s family is also usually present, since various members will likely be helping with the home care process.
 

…continue reading

If you need help caring for a loved one in the Seattle WA area, please visit www.andelcare.com.