Older Americans Report articles from May 2004

Older Americans Report archives from May 2004

Universal health insurance is overdue, say advocates for older women.(Older Women's League )
May 7, 2004... Noting that women--even more so than men --cannot afford to wait until they are 65 to start getting Medicare, the Older Women's League (OWL) this week renewed its campaign for a system of universal health coverage. The current,...

EEOC rule may have unforeseen effect on benefits for younger spouses.(Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
May 7, 2004... When the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted last month to give employers greater latitude in providing retiree health benefits, the focus was on whether employers could make a legal distinction between retirees who were eligible for...

Overtime reg rebuffed.(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... OVERTIME REG REBUFFED. An attempt by the Labor Department to rewrite overtime rules has run into trouble in the Senate, which this week voted to protect anyone now eligible for overtime from losing it. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao says the final...

Trust funds solvent for now.(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... TRUST FUNDS SOLVENT FOR NOW. The Public Policy Institute (PPI) at AARP has published a summary of the 2004 report of the Social Security trustees. The trust funds for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance programs will...

High-tech aid.(Preventive Services Selector )(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... HIGH-TECH AID. Healthcare professionals can get instant access to the latest recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force by downloading an application from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Preventive Services...

Nursing homes drop restraints, but residents remain inactive.(bed rest-influence)
May 7, 2004... Although nursing homes are using restraints much less than they used to, residents often act as if they are still restrained, spending most of their days in bed when they should be getting up and about, according to a study of 413 residents at...

Physical activity must be in care plan, but ingenuity remains essential.(exercise-health care)
May 7, 2004... At the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR), Public Policy Director Janet Wells concurs with recent research on the importance of providing physical activity for nursing home residents, and not assuming that a lack of...

Federal government no longer takes all nursing home data at face value.(Data Assessment and Verification Project)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... One of the things that led John Schnelle at the Borun Center for Gerontological Research to conduct in-person observations of nursing home residents and their degree of physical activity (see previous story) is a lack of confidence in the...

CMS takes steps to crack down on power wheelchair abuse.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... Responding to reports that people have bilked the government for millions of dollars in power wheelchairs that were never delivered or obtained well below the $5,297 price it pays for them, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will...

Craig endorses elder justice proposal as list of co-sponsors reaches 39.(Larry Craig)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... Proponents of a bill that would create offices of elder justice at Justice and HHS scored a long-awaited victory last month, when Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), chairman of the Aging Committee, joined the list of supporters. Craig brings to...

Communities can develop innovations to make up for senior service gaps.
May 7, 2004... Without using more public funding, transit agencies can help seniors get around by redesigning their services, according to Jane Hardin, a transportation specialist at the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA). This week,...

Transit agencies want to keep seniors from overloading paratransit services.
May 7, 2004... Older adults who can still drive safely should stay behind the wheel and transit agencies have reasons for encouraging them to do so, according to Richard Weiner, a consultant at Nelson/Nygaard. Although a popular conception holds that...

Transportation law extended again, but advocates get impatient.(Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-First Century of 1998, American Public Transit Association)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... One of the top priorities for aging service providers this year is reauthorizing the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, but the deadline keeps slipping. Originally scheduled to expire Sept. 30, 2003, the law has been...

Loans warning in Spanish.(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... LOANS WARNING IN SPANISH. The federal government has published a Spanish version of its guide to taking out home-equity loans, with an eye to avoid predatory lending. The elderly are often a victim of such tactics, which tend to saddle people...

Making it personal is key to survival, says nursing aide-turned-author.
May 7, 2004... Nursing assistants know how to keep a professional distance from their clients. Likewise, they honor their clients' privacy. But former nursing assistant Thomas Gass says the rules of personal space are sometimes worth breaking to reach the...

Guidelines available.(palliative care)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... GUIDELINES AVAILABLE. A consortium that includes the Last Acts Partnership, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine has produced a set of clinical guidelines on...

More money for aids.(federal aid)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... MORE MONEY FOR AIDS. Nursing homes will get a large boost in payments for patients with AIDS, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In keeping with the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (P.L....

Nursing home fact sheets lay out rights of residents, family members.(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... Advocates for seniors may wish to distribute two fact sheets produced by the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR), starting with Resident Rights: An Overview. The document outlines several rights, including access to...

AoA: title III projects.(Administration on Aging plans to get information about performance of area agencies on aging)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... AoA: Title III projects. Information collection. The Administration on Aging intends to collect information from state units on aging to better understand how Title III projects are being administered. Specifically, the agency wants to know if...

Census bureau: age search fees.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... Census Bureau: Age Search fees. Proposed rule. The Census Bureau is raising the fee for its Age Search service from $40 to $65 and creating a $20 fee for expedited requests. This service helps people qualify for Social Security and other...

FTC: telemarketing.(Federal Trade Commission to rise fee)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... FTC: Telemarketing. Proposed rule. The Federal Trade Commission is raising from $25 to $45 the fee it charges telemarketers for access to the Do-Not-Call list for each area code of data above five. The change is prompted by a...

SSA: alternative signatures.(Social Security Administration)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... SSA: Alternative signatures. In order to facilitate electronic applications, the Social Security Administration will start permitting attestations in lieu of pen-and-ink signatures. The attestations are by SSA employees, that applicants have...

SSA: representative payees.(Social Security Administration)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... SSA: Representative payees. Information collection. The Social Security Administration wants to make sure payments made to institutions and agencies on behalf of Social Security and SSI beneficiaries are properly used and that payees continue...

You can! Awards made.(Administration on Aging's You Can! Steps to Healthier Aging campaign)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... YOU CAN! AWARDS MADE. The Administration on Aging has selected 20 organizations to receive grants of $10,000 under its You Can! Steps to Healthier Aging campaign. The goal is to get seniors to exercise more and eat better (OAR, Jan. 30, p. 27...

Dental expenses.(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... DENTAL EXPENSES. People over 65 who visited a dentist spent an average of $400 out-of-pocket in 2000, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In contrast, people ages 45-64 who visited a dentist spent $264 out-of-pocket....

More help on Medicare.(customer service representatives-recruitment)(Brief Article)
May 7, 2004... MORE HELP ON MEDICARE. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has hired 1,000 new customer-service representatives to handle the surge in calls relating to the Medicare and the new prescription drug discount cards, the agency announced...

Foundation uses Web to showcase collaborative efforts for seniors.(joint ventures-planning)
May 14, 2004... When foundations review grant proposals, they always want to know how applicants intend to dovetail their efforts with work by other agencies. But at Community Partnerships for Older Adults, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,...

Medicare managed care plans get payment boost for 2005.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will give managed care organization at least 6.6 percent more money in 2005 to care for Medicare beneficiaries. "Medicare Advantage offers more comprehensive benefits at lower cost for...

Older persons who are self-employed tend to have disabling conditions.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... About 40 percent of self-employed individuals are in their 50s and older. Yet policymakers have given little thought to the needs of such individuals and how they will prepare for retirement, according to research commissioned by the Public...

Area agencies on aging seek funds to field calls on new Medicare law.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... Almost 80 members of the House wrote to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan this week, asking him to allocate funds to area agencies on aging so they can better respond to calls about the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization...

Hospice groups say schiavo ruling reaffirms patients' preferences.
May 14, 2004... A week after a Florida court rejected a law granting Gov. Jeb Bush (R) special powers to intercede in end-of-life care disputes, advocates say the ruling confirms the long-held doctrine that a patient's wishes, including wishes conveyed by a...

Make end-of-life decisions now to avoid legal battles later.
May 14, 2004... As a result of the coverage of the Terri Schiavo case (see previous story), end-of-life care groups and hospices are advising people to avoid costly legal hassles and sign advance directives for designated family members to follow in the event...

HHS Launches campaign to reduce incidence of type 2 diabetes.(Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... Saying that the number of Americans at risk of developing diabetes is twice as high as previously thought, the Department of Health and Human Services is making a special effort to get people to exercise, lose weight and watch their diet. ...

When injuries mean taking time off, nursing assistants are vulnerable.(accidents)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... How hazardous is it to be a nursing assistant? There is not a perfect answer, because the number of injuries per hours worked has not been calculated. But by at least three measures, it is a very dangerous job, according to the Bureau of Labor...

OSHA seeks comment on effectiveness of site-specific targeting program.(Occupational Safety and Health Administration )(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... Now that nursing homes are no longer subject to a National Emphasis program at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OAR, Nov. 7, 2003, p. 351), advocates, unions and nursing home administrators have a stake in the agency's...

Republicans, Dems offer rival bills on occupational safety, health.(Democrats)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... As the Occupational Safety and Health Administration solicits comments on how to improve its approach to workplace inspections (see previous story), lawmakers are debating the role Congress should play. In the House, Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.)...

Underfunding of Alzheimer's programs may alter pace of research advances.
May 14, 2004... Advocates for people with Alzheimer's disease took their case for more funding to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel on aging this week, where NIA director Richard Hodes said investigators have discovered a gene they believe...

High-intensity counseling works well for spouses of people with Alzheimer's.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... When wives or husbands of people with Alzheimer's disease reach for help, the quality and intensity of the support they receive can make a big difference, according to researchers at New York University's Silberstein Aging & Dementia Research...

Family friends program at NCOA moves to expand number of project sites.(National Council on the Aging)
May 14, 2004... With support from the Administration on Aging, the Family Friends program run by the National Council on the Aging is launching seven new projects, bringing the total to 36 nationwide. The program pairs older adults with children who have...

Calendar update.(Calendar)
May 14, 2004... Stopping elder abuse. The Virginia Coalition for the Prevention of Elder Abuse will meet June 3-4 in Virginia Beach, Va. The event includes workshops on the TRIAD program and forensics, as well as domestic violence and new APS regulations....

Funding opportunities.
May 14, 2004... ACF: Grandparents as caregivers. The Administration for Children and Families has $400,000 to develop programs that will assist grandparents and other relatives caring for children of substance-abusing or HIV-positive women. The maximum grant...

AHRQ: family assessments of nursing homes.(Federal Register)(Agency for Healthcare Research)
May 14, 2004... AHRQ: Family assessments of nursing homes. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is looking for ways to capture family members' impressions of nursing home care and asks researchers to share any survey instruments that could be used...

CMS: long-term care hospitals.(Federal Register)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... CMS: Long-term care hospitals. Final rule. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updates its payment rates for inpatient services provided by long-term care hospitals and changes the way its determines the average length of stay, which...

CMS: PACE program.(Federal Register)(centers for medicaid and medicare services)(elderly patients-care)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... CMS: PACE program. Information collection. Mathematica Policy Research has been awarded a contract to study the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) as it transitions from a set demonstration programs toward permanent sites. The...

CMS: rehab facilities.(Federal Register)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... CMS: Rehab facilities. Final rule. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is gradually resuming enforcement of a rule that 75 percent of a hospital's patients must have one or more designated conditions in order for the facility to...

PBGC: underfunding notices.(Federal Register)(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... PBGC: Underfunding notices. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is revising the penalties for pension plan administrators who fail to notify participants that a plan is underfunded. The new policy will tie penalties to the number of...

SSA: special veterans benefits.(Federal Register)(Social Security Administration)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... SSA: Special Veterans Benefits. Final rule. The Social Security Administration makes additions to a final rule published last year on how it pays benefits to World War II veterans who no longer live in the United States and used to receive...

VA: legal rulings.(Federal Register)(Department of Veterans Affairs)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... VA: Legal rulings. The Department of Veterans Affairs publishes a summary of various rulings by its general counsel. For example, veterans are not required to prove that they are 100 percent unemployable to establish that they cannot maintain...

Nominations due.(gerontology-research-awards)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2004... NOMINATIONS DUE. The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is accepting nominations of individuals who have done research that could change the lives of older individuals. Applications for the $10,000 Maxwell A. Pollack award are due June 7....

It remains a long shot.(federal aid to stem cell research)(Brief Article)
May 21, 2004... IT REMAINS A LONG SHOT, but the chances that President Bush will alter his position on stem-cell research are getting better. Last week, NIH Director Elias Zerhouni wrote to Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Michael Castle (R-Del.), who...

Supreme court breathes life into ADA by denying state's claim to immunity.(Americans with Disabilities Act)
May 21, 2004... Seniors will have more leverage in forcing public agencies to make their programs and services accessible to people with disabilities under a Supreme Court ruling this week, but advocates say the victory is incomplete. The issue in...

As ranks of Alzheimer's patients grow, Hispanics face special challenges.
May 21, 2004... Although the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease is growing among all races and ethnic types as people live longer and the baby boom cohort ages, the long-term picture for Hispanics is particularly frightening, according to a report by...

Senators join colleagues from House in urging change in stem-cell policy.(stem-cell research)
May 21, 2004... Proponents of broader stem-cell research are picking up support in the Senate, where a letter is circulating asking President Bush to alter his ban on using federal dollars for research using stem cells created after Aug. 9, 2001. As OAR...

LTC insurance lacking.(Long-Term Care insurance)(Brief Article)
May 21, 2004... LTC INSURANCE LACKING. Most older Americans are still unprepared for the cost of aging, according to representatives of the long-term care insurance industry. Among people in the 45-64 age range, 89 percent have neither private long-term care...

GAO says fake TV news segments about Medicare violated law.(United States. General Accounting Office )
May 21, 2004... Critics of the Bush administration's use of pseudo television news spots to promote the Medicare Prescription Drug Act scored a victory this week when the General Accounting Office said the materials violated laws against using public funds for...

Workbook offers step-by-step guide to problems faced by seniors.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2004... Aging service providers and consumers can find a lot of advice in an online resource guide from the Foundation for Health in Aging, an arm of the American Geriatrics Society. Eldercare at Home covers physical problems, such as bone...

Seniors help parents with disabilities cope with stress, keep their children.
May 21, 2004... Parenting is difficult under the best of circumstances. But when parents have cognitive or learning disabilities, the stress can mount to the point where a social worker might recommend removing the children. That's where the Family Friends...

Local communities can use template to inventory transportation options.
May 21, 2004... In an attempt to get transit agencies and social service groups to collaborate, Easter Seals has put together a customizable document that can be used to show all the resources available to seniors and people with disabilities. The Senior...

U.S. urged to look abroad for clues to shoring up social security.
May 21, 2004... With Social Security headed toward bankruptcy by 2042 and with Democrats and Republicans sparring over what to do, many experts say it is high time for the United States to take a look at what other countries are doing to sustain their...

Traditional pension plans grow even harder to find; deficits mount.
May 21, 2004... The health of the nation's pension system continues to decline, according to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, weakening the floor underneath the aging services network. Two-thirds of all claims ever filed against the PBGC for...

House drops demand for Medicaid cuts in budget resolution for fiscal 2005.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2004... Low-income seniors got a reprieve this week when the House yielded to the Senate in negotiations over the budget resolution for Fiscal 2005. As a result, House committees will not have to trim Medicaid benefits by $2.2 billion. The news on...

CDC: coroner data.(Funding Opportunities)
May 21, 2004... CDC: Coroner data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has $55,000 to improve the collection of data from medical examiners and coroners. Only one award will be made. The issue matters to seniors because medical examiners and...

CMS: Real Choice.(Funding Opportunities)
May 21, 2004... CMS: Real Choice. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has $31 million under the Real Choice Systems Change Grants program. This includes improving the quality of home and community-based services; integrating support services with...

OSHA: Harwood grants.(Funding Opportunities)
May 21, 2004... OSHA: Harwood grants. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has $5.3 million under the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. This includes $1.3 million for training in four targeted topics, including ergonomics and the healthcare...

CMS: demonstration project.(Federal Register)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
May 21, 2004... CMS: Demonstration project. Information collection. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is requesting emergency clearance from the Office of Management and Budget to implement a two-year demonstration project under which...

CMS: inpatient rates.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Inpatient Prospective Payment System)(Brief Article)
May 21, 2004... CMS: Inpatient rates. Proposed rule. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is changing the way it pays hospitals under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System. In addition, it proposes to limit the rate of increase in payments to...

HHS: drug card penalties.(Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
May 21, 2004... HHS: Drug card penalties. Interim final rule. The Office of the Inspector General at HHS will penalize sponsors of prescription drug cards who engage in false or misleading marketing, charge too much or misuse transitional-assistance funds...

Trial date set.(Montgomery County (Md.) Department of Health and Human Services' cases )(Brief Article)
May 21, 2004... TRIAL DATE SET. A social worker for the Aging and Disabilities Services unit of the Montgomery County (Md.) Department of Health and Human Services who claims the agency took too long to relieve her of fieldwork duties in order to accommodate...

Advocates, CMS battle over impact of discount cards as prices rise.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services )
May 28, 2004... As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gets ready to launch a set of discount cards for prescriptions drugs June 1, a public-relations war is breaking out over whether seniors will get a good deal. AARP and Families USA this...

'Normal' temperature of 98.6 degrees could mean fever for many seniors.
May 28, 2004... As people grow older, their body temperatures gradually decline, according to research that could help make physicians and caregivers more aware of the early onset of fever in older adults. Speaking before the American Geriatrics Society in...

Understaffing at nursing homes tied to spending too much time in bed.(Brief Article)
May 28, 2004... Confirming what advocates have been saying, researchers at the Borun Center for Gerontological Research in Los Angeles say nursing home residents are most likely to spend too much time in bed when facilities are understaffed. Examining 882...

Ohio activist challenges seniors to get involved in local politics.
May 28, 2004... Editor's note: This story was spurred by an email from OAR subscriber Holly Atha, who took us up on our invitation to keep us posted on local developments. We invite similar inquiries. Contact Mark Sherman, editor, (301) 587-6300, ext. 360,...

Sen. Craig Mulls proposal to dovetail retiree health benefits with Medicare.(Larry Craig)
May 28, 2004... Senate Aging Committee Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho) says he has not decided whether to support a proposal by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to let employers reduce retiree health benefits when retirees become eligible for...

Hospice group awards nine grants to help veterans die peacefully.(National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization)(Brief Article)
May 28, 2004... In its campaign to encourage a simpler, less expensive path to death, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) this week named nine groups that will receive $5,000 each to promote palliative care for veterans. More...

Meals on wheels programs seek gifts to defray rising price of gasoline.(Brief Article)
May 28, 2004... Groups that provide home-delivered meals say their volunteer drivers can no longer afford to pay for gasoline, but neither can the groups absorb the cost themselves. In the last year, the price of gas has risen 39 percent, from $1.49 per...

Advocates lobby lawmakers to renew mental health and aging initiative.(Brief Article)
May 28, 2004... Unwilling to fold up shop when their money runs out, the organizers of a mental health initiative for seniors are pushing members of Congress to renew a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The CMHS...

Positive aging act would encourage collaborations on mental health.(Brief Article)
May 28, 2004... Seeking to build on an initiative at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (see previous story), Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) will soon reintroduce the Positive Aging Act. First...

Quartet of Medicare Savings Programs covers costs for low-income clients.
May 28, 2004... Although Medicaid sometimes covers the out-of-pocket costs for Medicare, it can be hard to get people to take advantage of these opportunities, collectively known as the Medicare Savings Programs (MSP), according to the Center for Medicare...

EPA aging initiative looks for material showing seniors' involvement.(Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief Article)
May 28, 2004... As part of its Aging Initiative, the Environmental Protection Agency is soliciting photographs, essays and poetry that portray or describe seniors' stake in combating pollution. Submitted items "must involve older adults working to improve...

Civic Engagement Project makes grants to foster new options for volunteers.
May 28, 2004... Saying seniors need to have a wider range of opportunities when it comes to volunteering, the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) last month released eight grants totaling $100,000 as part of its Civic Engagement Project. Some of the...

Federal government issues guidance on fair housing requirements.(Department of Housing and Urban Development)(Brief Article)
May 28, 2004... To reinforce laws that prevent housing providers from discriminating against people with disabilities, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Justice Department last week issued a 15-page document outlining the pertinent...

Calendar update.(Health maintenance organizations)(Calendar)
May 28, 2004... DIRECT-CARE WORKERS. The Iowa CareGivers Association (ICGA) will hold a series of workshops on the shortage of direct-care workers, starting June 8 in Cedar Rapids. The other events are June 15 in Des Moines, June 19 in Davenport and June 22 in...

AoA: pension rights.(Funding Opportunities)
May 28, 2004... AoA: Pension rights. The Administration on Aging has $450,000 for three awards under its Pension Counseling and Information Program. The goal is to help people understand and enforce their pension rights. A 25 percent match is required. The...

CDC: nutrition and physical activity.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
May 28, 2004... CDC: Nutrition and physical activity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will award $200,000 to the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors to train staff at State Nutrition and Physical Activity...