confronting aging, a world in transition
Menu

weekly blog--one for the ages

A Perfect 7

5/25/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Seven goslings making their way across Newton’s Crystal Lake under the protective guard of their parents. Since the dawn of time, the number 7 has had a special place in most civilizations. Seven is mentioned over 700 times in the Bible, starting off as the number of days it took to create the world.

There are seven unique notes in our common musical scale, seven colors in a rainbow, seven visible planets in the heavens, seven pillars of wisdom, seven branches of the tree of life, and seven ages of man. The seventh ray of the sun is the path by which human beings pass from this world to the next. 

Learn more:
https://www.gaia.com/article/seven-cycles-of-life
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-meaning-number-7-medium-maria
http://www.crystalinks.com/numerology2.html  

0 Comments

To Your Health--A Medicare Update

5/18/2017

0 Comments

 
The New York Times reports that a former well-placed official at UnitedHealth Group asserts that the big insurance companies have been systematically bilking Medicare Advantage programs by making patients look sicker than they were to game the payment system. The sicker the patient, the more they made. The Government Accountability Office reported last year that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had identified $14.1 billion of overpayments to insurers in 2013, and did not have a clear plan for recovering the money.

CNBC reports that forty percent of Medicare enrollees who earn below $24,000 annually (15 million elderly and disabled Americans) spend 20 percent or more of their income on monthly premiums and out-of-pocket health expenses. Lower-income people are also the least likely to be able to afford supplement Medigap insurance that can help control health costs.
Overall, excluding premiums, average out-of-pocket costs for people on Medicare are $3,024 per year. 5.4 million Medicare beneficiaries do not have any supplemental coverage and spent an estimated $5,374 on out-of-pocket costs in 2016 compared to $2,587. For low-income people with high medical needs, out-of-pocket costs averaged more than $7,000 annually if they lacked supplemental coverage.

AARP reports that the new Republican health care bill (AHCA) would reduce Medicare’s revenue and hasten the program’s insolvency by as much as four years, and weaken its ability to pay for future services.

MarketWatch reports that the component of the AHCA legislation that restructures Medicaid would impact nearly 7 million people ages 65 and older. For these low-income seniors, Medicaid covers Medicare cost-sharing (such as premiums and deductibles), services that Medicare does not cover (such as vision and hearing) and long-term care. Under current Medicaid arrangements, states and the federal government share the financing of benefits. The new AHCA would replace the matching arrangement with a set amount per enrollee which would vary by state. Essentially, the cost of insuring seniors will likely increase faster than the federal payments for seniors, leaving the state responsible for an increasing share of Medicaid costs.

Learn More
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/business/dealbook/a-whistle-blower-tells-of-health-insurers-bilking-medicare.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
​

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/12/income-hit-to-many-medicare-beneficiaries-from-premiums-health-costs.html?utm_campaign=KHN%3A%20Daily%20Health%20Policy%20Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=51924070&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--ROKxSuAA4FreAVs8QorKUWU1Ba7YVARMj_E9Ko1jVVHlR97VC6jN0vUAyCcgkzmiQAGxsjy7SYThEJm0ESyePaQ7mWQ&_hsmi=51924070
http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2017/effects-of-repealing-health-care-bill-fd.html?cmp=EMC-DSO-NLC-RSS---CTRL-050417-P1-2102473&ET_CID=2102473&ET_RID=22549025&encparam=TXUU51fhUbMJtIgXGB3zVUcNv1632st7CSdd49SOF0k=
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-does-the-republican--care-bill-affect-the-elderly-2017-03-22

​
0 Comments

Another Point of View

5/11/2017

0 Comments

 
Given all of the machinations taking place in Washington this week, it seemed like a good time to step back and view life from a different lens. Photos from a recent trip to the Museum of Fine Arts and a bike ride in Needham.
0 Comments

Shooting the Breeze around the Ole Maypole

5/4/2017

0 Comments

 
Sheryl Sandberg, the CEO of Facebook, was in Boston last week to promote her new book, “Option B, Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy”. She wrote it following the death of her husband. Sandberg’s book was also the focus of a discussion in my Saturday morning Talmud class. Sandberg’s take on overcoming life’s negative events…Aging, sickness and loss are inevitable. Recognizing that life’s hardships aren’t personal, pervasive or permanent makes people less likely to get depressed and better able to cope.

Enter the realm of Rabbi Harold Kushner (author of "When Bad Things Happen to Good People") who adds that the question we should be asking is not, “Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?” That is really an unanswerable, pointless question. A better question would be “Now that this has happened to me, what am I going to do about it?”

Breaking News…For the first time in Canada’s history, there are more seniors than children. The government’s Stat agency reports that there are now 5.9 million Canadians aged 65 and older, and 5.8 million children aged 14 and under. AP
​
Learn more:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/24/sheryl-sandbergs-new-book-a-tale-of-grief-resilience.html 

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/when-bad-things-happen-to-good-people
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
    • Caring for Elderly Parent
    • Eating & Exercise
    • Emerging Technology & Concepts >
      • End of Life Options/Issues/Grieving >
        • VSED Primer
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Health Challenges
    • History of Aging >
      • Ancient Egypt, India, China
      • Before 1500
      • 1500s & 1600s
      • 1700s & 1800s
      • 1900s & 2000s
      • Early New England (1600s)
      • Quest To Look Young
      • Books
    • Housing Options & Aging in Place Guide
    • Insurance, Security, Fraud
    • Intergenerational Programs
    • LGBT
    • News & Trends
    • Positive/Successful Aging
    • Retirement/Estate Planning
    • Science of Aging
    • Support Resources
    • Travel
    • Weekly Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Home
    • Caring for Elderly Parent
    • Eating & Exercise
    • Emerging Technology & Concepts >
      • End of Life Options/Issues/Grieving >
        • VSED Primer
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Health Challenges
    • History of Aging >
      • Ancient Egypt, India, China
      • Before 1500
      • 1500s & 1600s
      • 1700s & 1800s
      • 1900s & 2000s
      • Early New England (1600s)
      • Quest To Look Young
      • Books
    • Housing Options & Aging in Place Guide
    • Insurance, Security, Fraud
    • Intergenerational Programs
    • LGBT
    • News & Trends
    • Positive/Successful Aging
    • Retirement/Estate Planning
    • Science of Aging
    • Support Resources
    • Travel
    • Weekly Blog
  • About
  • Contact