LONG TERM CARE

CONCLUSION
Medicaid’s long-term care services are a critical source of support for millions of poor and lowincome
people. The long-term care system we have today is primarily financed by Medicaid,
and without significant policy changes, Medicaid is likely to be the major source of long-term
care coverage in the future. Medicaid, however, has important gaps and inequities. Medicaid is
not an option for many; for those who do qualify, Medicaid does not provide insurance
protection against large financial losses, but requires impoverishment. Eligibility and benefits
are limited in many states, and waiver programs may not be available to all who need them and
are financially eligible for them. Efforts to address these gaps are needed. Medicaid eligibility
policies could be revised to make the program’s means-testing less harsh. Federal financing
could be expanded to make it easier for states to provide community-based services for people
with long-term care needs. Barring major changes in the structure of long-term care financing,
improving Medicaid’s long-term care protections for people of modest means is likely to be a
key part of any future strategy for meeting the long-term care needs

A need for Defibillators at new senior center Malden

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

——————

PETITION OF:





Bruce J. Ayers

Michael W. Morrissey









——————

In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

——————
I looked at the law listing, the concern of our legislators, their coming a goings
and come to the conclusion that their is concern besides mine for the safety and welfare of the Senior population. I may be "in the dark" because it is hard to keep the general population in Malden informed of action being taken I have faithfully attended the Senior Building Committee Building meetings and have made a suggestion that a Defibillator be placed in the New Senior Community Center before opening of the exercise facilities. I would rather be considered always agitating rather than wait for a tradegy, I am sure it is on the adgenda but I hope not on the back burner


An Act requiring defibrillators in senior housing facilities.




Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:





SECTION 1. Section 8B of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting before the definition of “Buyer” the following definition:-

"AED”, an automatic external defibrillator medical device approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration that: (i) is capable of recognizing the presence or absence of ventricular fibrillation and rapid ventricular tachycardia in a patient; (ii) is capable of determining, without intervention by an operator, whether defibrillation should be performed on the patient; (iii) upon determining that defibrillation should be performed, automatically charges and requests delivery of an electrical impulse to the patient’s heart; and (iv) then, upon action by an operator, delivers an appropriate electrical impulse to the patent’s heart to perform defibrillation.

SECTION 2. Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 57D the following section:—

Section 57E. All public and private senior housing facilities with an occupancy of 30 or more persons shall have on the premises at least 1 AED and shall have in attendance at least 1 employee or authorized volunteer as an AED provider as defined in section 12V½ of chapter 112. The provisions of said section 12V½ of said chapter 112 shall be applicable to any action under this section.

SECTION 3. Chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 12V, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 12V. Any person, unless the usual and regular duties of such person include providing emergency medical care, who in good faith and without compensation renders emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation, to any person who apparently requires cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation, shall not be liable for acts or omissions, other than gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct, resulting from the rendering of such emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation.

Short Supply of geriatricians

Public radio’s “Marketplace’’ recently offered an interesting segment lamenting the short supply of geriatricians.

At a time when the 85-and-over set is the fastest growing cohort in the American population and the nation’s 77 million baby boomers, like it or not, are heading into old age, this is unfortunate.

Geriatricians — essentially family doctors for the elderly — earn about $150,000 a year. That’s less than half the $400,000 of, say, radiologists, in a health care system that rewards specialists who do the most procedures and often spend the least time with patients.

Few experts in the field of geriatrics see any likelihood this will change, absent an overhaul of the reimbursement system. Instead, their focus is on teaching the core principles of their specialty to everyone in the medical arena who comes in contact with the elderly, from surgeons to discharge planners.

“If we got to the point where everybody in the health care system was an expert in caring for older people, we wouldn’t need geriatricians,” Dr. Leo M. Cooney of Yale University School of Medicine told me a few years back. “Or we wouldn’t need them as frontline providers. We’d be like consultants, making sure everyone else was as skilled as possible.’’

To listen to the “Marketplace” update, click here. And to read my earlier story, “Geriatrics Lags in Age of High-Tech Medicine,” click here.

Tell us about your experiences with your geriatrician — or your frustrations in trying to find one.

Middle Class

The Middle Class in America Isn’t Happy
by Kelly on July 23rd, 2008
There has been a lot of talk about which presidential candidate has the best tax plan for “middle class” America. It’s an interesting question because I’m not sure that anyone can actually define “middle class” anymore - my readers seem to feel that it’s all over the place.

Middle class - as it’s widely defined - is generally defined as those families who are in the middle of income brackets. That can be confusing. Based on 2005 Census Bureau reports, 40% of Americans earned less than $36,000 a year (the bottom 20% earn less than $19,000). The next 40% - the so-called middle class - reported betwen $36,000 and $91,705 of earnings. The top 20% of earners, making $91,705 or more, earned 50% of the income reported in the US.

[Kelly’s geeky note: From a math perspective, that’s pretty interesting: while the richest 20% took in nearly 50% of income, the middle class (representing 40% of Americans) earned a fairly representative proportion of total income (37.5%).]

So there you have it, statistically you are middle class if you earn between $36,000 and $91,705 (adjusted for inflation since 2005) per year. Easy, right?

Not so fast.

There are a lot of factors that pure numbers don’t take into consideration including the size of your family and the cost of living in your geographical location. Lots of folks who make more than $75,000 per year may live comfortably in some areas of the world - but that kind of money won’t take you very far in areas like New York City or San Francisco where housing costs alone can easily reach $1 million for relatively modest homes.

The reality is that almost everyone thinks that they’re middle class, though of course, you can’t be. And realistically, you don’t want to be right now. Here’s why.


Elizabeth Warren, professor at Harvard Law School, just testified before the Joint Economic Committee in Congress that the middle class is suffering. How much so? Adjusted for inflation, median household income for middle class families has dropped by $1,175 between 2000 and 2007 - that represents a significant decline. While income is dropping, expenses are rising. The average family is spending $4,655 more each year on basic expenses, such as gas, food and health insurance.

Let’s talk the bane of my existence (as most working parents): child care costs. Families with children under the age of 5 spend $1,508 a month more on child care costs (yes, do the math, that’s more than $18,000) - older children cost about half that much. You don’t escape during the teens, either: the cost of sending a child to college has more than doubled over the last 20 years, far outpacing increases in income.

Also in the news these days are those folks who cannot afford housing. The proportion of families who spend more than 35% of income on housing has quadrupled in a single generation - a disproportionate number of middle class families spend nearly half of their income on housing. Two “middle class” Americans earning an average salary could not afford to pay the mortgage of a median-priced home in 2/3 of the nation’s metropolitan areas including my own Philadelphia (which is reasonably priced, I might add). In addition to the increased costs of housing stock, real estate taxes have also increased. Most municipalities have not tweaked their systems to account for a disproportionate increase in property “value” (albeit somewhat artificial) - this means that taxpayers are often paying too much (for reassessed properties at historic rates) or too little (for properties that have not been reassessed) in real estate tax from neighbor to neighbor. The high costs, as much as $10,000 in some middle class neighborhoods, are hitting folks in the pocketbook.

According to Warren, if you include real estate taxes, along with Medicare and other taxes, the total tax burden for a two income family today is 38% more compared to one income families a generation ago. And yes, I realize in a progressive tax system, that was bound to happen. It’s not so much that it happened that’s surprising, it’s what it means. It means less money in the pockets of middle class Americans at the end of the day.

Income is decreasing and expenses - including taxes - are increasing. So what are people doing? Charging up a storm. Credit card debt for middle-income families rose 75% between 1989 and 2001, according to Demos, a non-partisan public policy organization. Warren’s report claims that 10% of total disposable income in the United States goes to paying off credit cards. This, of course, jives with much of what you told me you would do with your economic stimulus check.

There has been a clamoring for a second stimulus package to offer some relief. Despite the rumors to the contrary, no such package has yet been seriously proposed. Jared Bernstein, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute, has advised that a package should rely on getting funds together for the states, particularly for infrastructure projects, and not into the hands of taxpayers. Infrastructure means jobs - this was made abundantly clear when Congress thought about tinkering with the gas tax.

Second stimulus package or not, it’s clear that something needs to change. What is the breaking point before the middle class is no longer middle class?

Tags: America, cost of living, Economic Policy Institute, economic stimulus, economy, Elizabeth Warren, gas-tax, middle-class, second stimulus package
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Boomers' Second Careers Include Social Causes

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By Carol Hazard
Tens of millions of Baby Boomers are interested in second careers that combine income and personal meaning with social impact, according to a national study. As many as 9.5 percent of Americans ages 44 to 70 are in encore careers.

An additional 44.7 percent are interested in pursuing encore careers, according to the MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey. The foundation was established by insurer MetLife to support educational, health and civic and cultural organizations.

Encore careers, as defined by this study, are predominantly in education, health care, government and nonprofit organizations.

"What is the healthiest, best educated and largest generation going to do for the second half or one-third of their working lives?" said Marc Freedman, chief executive officer of Civic Ventures, a research organization on boomers, work and aging.

They are looking at retirement as an opportunity to do new things and take on new challenges, he said.

The study was based on telephone interviews with 1,063 people, followed by an Internet survey of about 2,500 people. The margin of error for the telephone survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Most respondents interested in encore careers are worried that positions will be hard to find or not flexible enough to meet their needs, the study shows.

Also, the slowing economy may make it more difficult to find jobs, Freedman said in a conference call with the news media.

However, Boomers are interested in careers in sectors projected to have critical labor shortages.

Boomers are responding to a combination of powerful forces, Freedman said. Many need to work longer for income and health benefits. But they also seek a sense of purpose.

The top reason respondents gave for working in second careers was to stay active, productive and challenged, said Allan Rivlin, a partner with Peter D. Hart Research Associations Inc., which conducted the phone survey.

Researchers said they were surprised that so many people were already working in encore careers. They said they expected the number to be in the low single digits, not high.

Also, most of the Boomer trailblazers are working full-time, at least 40 hours a week, and their satisfaction level is high, Rivlin said.

"About a third are deeply satisfied," he said. "They feel appreciated and they see their contributions."

Where They Work
About 8.4 million people ages 44 to 70 are employed in second careers that combine income, personal meaning and social impact. Here's where they work:

Education: 30 percent

Health care: 23 percent

Government agency: 16 percent

Nonprofit groups: 13 percent

For-profit business: 7 percent

Other: 11 percent
What They Want in a Second Career
About 8.4 million people ages 44 to 70 are employed in second careers that combine income, personal meaning and social impact. Here's what they want in a second career:

Advocate for group or issue: 36 percent

Working with children and youth: 32 percent

Working to preserve the environment: 31 percent

Teaching at any level: 31 percent

Working to protect the safety of our communities: 24 percent

Working on poverty: 23 percent

Working with religious, spiritual organization: 23 percent

Working with the elderly: 17 percent

Working in health care: 17 percent
SOURCE: MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey
Contact Carol Hazard at (804) 775-8023 or chazard@timesdispatch.com.

Voice For Quality long-term care

NCCNHR The national consumer voice for quality long-term care
1828 L Street, NW, Suite 801 Alison Hirschel, President
Washington, DC 20036 Alice H. Hedt, Executive Director
202 332-2275 Fax 202 332-2949
www.nccnhr.org
NCCNHR (formerly the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform) is a nonprofit membership organization
founded in 1975 by Elma L. Holder to protect the rights, safety, and dignity of America’s long-term care residents.
Support the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act!
Congress is considering the most important nursing home legislation in 20 years. Two of Congress’s leading supporters of nursing home reform, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, and Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, have introduced S. 2641, the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act. A companion bill is expected soon in the House of Representatives.
NCCNHR worked with congressional staff to develop the legislation, which would increase transparency of nursing home ownership, operations, staffing, and expenditures; improve the consumer complaint process; increase civil monetary penalties; and expand public information about nursing home quality, including penalties and staffing levels. Please inform your members, colleagues, friends, and nursing home residents and their families about the bill:
• Check the NCCNHR website (www.nccnhr.org) for information and updates.
• Download S. 2641 by clicking on [S.2641.IS].
Summary of major provisions in S. 2641
Transparency and accountability in the ownership and operations of nursing homes
Corporations would be required to disclose their owners, operators, financers, and other related parties. Facilities that were part of chains would be required to submit annual audits. Purchasers would have to demonstrate that they were financially able to run facilities.
Disclosure of how Medicare and Medicaid funds are spent
Providers would have to report wage and benefit expenditures for nursing staff on cost reports. Cost reports would be revised to categorize spending for direct care, such as nursing and therapies; indirect care, such as housekeeping and dietary services; capital costs, including buildings and land; and administrative costs, which often include the company’s profits.
Independent monitoring of chains
The federal government would develop a protocol for an independent monitor of chains to analyze their financial performance, management, expenditures, and nurse staffing levels. It would provide for corrective action and collection of civil monetary penalties.
Accurate information about nurse staffing
The government would collect data electronically from nursing homes on the number of RNs, LPNs, and nursing assistants, using payroll records and contracts with temporary agencies as the source. Data would include turnover and retention rates and hours of care per resident provided by each category of worker.
Better

Subsidized housing

Business Services IndustryAging Subsidized Housing Residents: A Growing Problem in U.S. Cities
Journal of Real Estate Research, The, Oct-Dec 2003 by Gibler, Karen M
E-mail Print Link Abstract Many low-income elderly live in subsidized housing in central cities. These aging tenants need adaptive physical structures and supportive services in order to age in place, but lack the resources to pay for them. The responses to the AHEAD Wave 2 survey are used to compare the housing conditions of elderly subsidized housing residents with unsubsidized tenants. Results indicate subsidized tenants have greater health and physical limitations. They are likely to have physically appropriate housing, but unlikely to have access to supportive services that would allow them to age in place, creating a problem policymakers must address.

As wealthier Americans migrated to the suburbs, many low-income residents were left behind in the inner city. There they have aged in place, growing old with their homes and neighborhoods. A number of the lowest income elderly left in the central city live in subsidized housing. These elderly tenants by definition have fewer financial resources to support themselves in old age than those who do not quality for housing subsidies. They may also be at a disadvantage in terms of health and social resources. Thus, the older Americans with the greatest needs may be those with the fewest resources to satisfy those needs.

The burden to provide for the housing and service needs of aging subsidized tenants falls to local, state and federal government agencies working in conjunction with charitable and community organizations. However, recent public policy trends toward dispersing subsidized housing tenants into privately owned geographically scattered facilities poses a significant problem for aging residents whose housing requirements are intertwined with supportive service needs.

Most of the research in the United States about housing the aging population focuses on market-rate seniors housing being constructed in suburban and destination retirement locations with supportive services and amenities designed to attract moderate- to high-income residents. These developments do not address the needs of the low-income elderly aging in the central city with insufficient income or assets to pay for market-rate seniors housing and limited family support to help them age in place. To expand our knowledge about the housing and service needs of this segment of the seniors market, this article uses data from the 1995 AHEAD Wave 2 survey to explore the topic of elderly subsidized housing. It will compare subsidized tenants to elderly renters living without housing subsidies in terms of resources, constraints and whether their housing adequately provides for their needs.

Background

Aging Americans

The U.S. population will continue to age and become more diverse in the coming decades. While the rate of growth of the elderly segment of the population has recently slowed as the smaller cohort born during the Depression reached retirement age, the leading edge of the baby boomers will reach retirement age in 2010, doubling the population age 65 and older by 2030. In addition, more people are living longer. By 2030, Americans age 75 and older are expected to comprise 9% of the population. Females make up a majority of the elderly. In 1995, 64% of people age 75 and older and 72% of persons age 85 and older were women. Only 37% of all persons age 75 and older and 22% of women were married and living with a spouse. The proportion of racial minorities is expected to grow to 16% and the proportion of Hispanics to 11% of the 75 and older population by 2030 (Siegel, 1996; U.S. Department of HUD, 1999; and U.S. AOA, 2001).

With increasing age often come health problems. Researchers assess elderly health and functional ability in three ways: self reported overall health, presence of chronic conditions, limitations to activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). ADLs include bathing, dressing, eating, getting out of bed, walking/getting around inside and using the toilet. IADLs include more complex tasks such as managing money, preparing meals, shopping, doing laundry, using the telephone, doing housework, getting around outside and traveling.

In the mid-1990s, 28% of persons age 65 and older reported their health as fair or poor, with poor health ratings more common among the oldest old, Hispanics and Blacks. Some 18% of noninstitutionalized people age 70 and older were visually impaired and one-third were hearing impaired. Almost four-fifths reported at least one chronic condition. The most common chronic conditions, as shown in Exhibit 1, are arthritis, hypertension, heart disease and cancer. One-third of these older Americans had difficulty performing and one-fourth was unable to perform at least one of nine physical activities such as climbing a flight of stairs, walking a quarter of a mile, stooping, crouching or kneeling. Similarly, 20% of noninstitutionalized persons age 70 and older had difficulty performing at least one ADL and 10% had difficulty with at least one IADL. These physical and health problems are more prevalent among women, the oldest old and minorities. In addition, the likelihood of severe disability increases with age from 1 in 30 for those aged 65 to 74 to 1 in 10 for those aged 75 to 84 to 1 in 3 for those aged 85 and older (Kramarow, et al., 1999; and Stucki and Mulvey, 2000).
Posted by marine41 at 8:26 AM 0 comments
Sunday, May 4, 2008

CAUTION IN ENROLLING HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN

New rule would limit insurers contact with elderly, disabled

Agents selling private health insurance plans to the elderly and disabled would be barred from cold-calling, door-to-door solicitations and pitching their products outside hospital waiting rooms or pharmacies, under a federal rule proposed Thursday.

The rule is designed to make it harder to pressure Medicare beneficiaries into signing up for insurance products they don't need or want. It essentially restricts face-to-face solicitations to those initiated by the customer.

A new Medicare drug benefit began Jan. 1, 2006. Since then, participants and state insurance commissioners have complained that some agents use false information to enroll people into certain plans, particularly those offering comprehensive health insurance.

"We want to make sure that beneficiaries aren't pressured into sales," said Kerry Weems, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "In parking lots, waiting rooms and those kinds of places, a salesman can create a pressure environment or a threatening environment where a beneficiary will agree to anything just to get away."

.

About 27 million people get coverage for their prescription drug needs either through a private insurance plan that offers only the drug benefit or through a "Medicare Advantage" plan that offers comprehensive health benefits. In some cases, people were enrolled in plans even after they made it clear they didn't want the product.

Advocacy groups said the rule is a step in the right direction, but it won't be enough. They want states to regulate the insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans. Currently, states only regulate the activities of the agents selling the plans.

"CMS doesn't have the boots on the ground to enforce even good rules like this," said Paul Precht, policy director for the Medicare Rights Center.

But Weems said the rule also gives CMS authority to issue fines of up to $25,000 per beneficiary affected by the company's conduct. Previously, the fine was $25,000 per contract.

"That is an extremely powerful enforcement tool," Weems said.

Several provisions in the proposed regulations are already part of voluntary guidelines for the industry. But there are some areas where Medicare went beyond what the insurance industry sought. For example, insurers routinely sent brochures in the mail explaining a product to a potential customer. Then agents would call to make sure they got the brochure. They would no longer be allowed to make those calls under the proposed rule.

Also, insurance agents commonly used their meetings about the drug benefit to pitch other types of products such as long-term care insurance or disability insurance. The regulation would prevent them from doing so _ unless the agent cleared it with the potential customer before the meeting.

Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, said the rule would prevent agents from marketing at health fairs or anywhere else where health care is delivered. She said the rule is an important step in protecting beneficiaries and questioned the need for more state regulation.

"Medicare is a federal program. Moving away from federal regulation toward 50 states approaching this in 50 different ways doesn't set a uniform standard for beneficiaries," Ignagni said. "That's why our board urged additional federal requirements."

Medicare officials said they hoped to issue a final rule by late October, which would allow for the changes to take effect before the next open enrollment season for the drug benefit.

___

On the Net:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: http://www.cms.hhs.gov

Social Security

Lyric Wallwork Winik
Published: August 7, 2005
Social Security Turns 70

Social Security turns 70 this month. While both sides debate how to keep the program healthy, here are a few fascinating facts about it:

* A legal secretary was the first person to collect monthly benefits. She paid $24.75 in taxes to the program (1937-39) before retiring and got back more than $22,000, living until 1975.

* The tax rate for Social Security (including the employer contribution) initially was 2%; it’s now 12.4%. In 1937, only the first $3000 of income was taxed; today, it’s $90,000.

* Last year, 48 million Americans got Social Security. Until 2004, even felons on the run were allowed benefits by law. A 2001 audit showed that $31 million had been paid to the dead, mostly because of poor record-keeping.

* The average monthly retirement benefit is $955; 40% of Americans over 65 reportedly would be in poverty without Social Security. In general, to qualify, you must spend 10 years in the workforce and earn the minimum each year (now $3680).

TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS

We are concerned about getting to the downtown area and to have access th the New Senior Center.
It appreciated that since calling the senior concerns to the attention of Human Services Director Christine DiPietro the problem of getting to the New Community Senior Center with the moving of the buses from Pleasant Street and elimination of the stop on Washington Street will be addressed before the opening planned for December 2008
We still find that it is still an issue with not only the Seniors and disabled but for all the "shoppers" and "dining out" people the get "downtown" conveniently with a bus service that turns out to be an "express Service" around the downtown area circling right to the Malden Orange Line Rapid Transit Service to travel to areas outside Malden Center.
Since this issue affects all of the citizens of 8 wards of the City I think that ALL
of the Ward City Councilors to look into methods to improving access of the downtown area (with the backing of our at large councilors)
Concerns: Safety in crossing the dangerous intersections, shuttle service to the downtown area, local taxi service ,
We now have a service provided to the Seniors for Medical Transportation that is working well and because it is so in demand it is stressed to the "breaking point"
There is a limited service for Grocery shopping.
In checking out options that are available for seniors and disabled in the local area
mostly the City of Somerville, Cambridge and Medford (limited availability Malden residents) I talked to a representative of SCM about the services they provide and find that they are expanding services to meet the demands for better access to "giving the community a left" They have a service called "Pauls Ride"
"They will take you somewhere instead and not limited to Drs Appointment.
617 625 1191

Since MSAC and the writer are supporters on this service we receive their news letter
and I would like to take THE points from the SCM Executive director Reed Cochran
It is another part of the puzzles facing Seniors.
"It should be easier to give up driving"
Many stories appear every day about elderly drivers in tragic driving accidents
Our State calls for mandatory driver testing for the elderly.
Unfortunately this response alone would not fully solve the problem
The real question at hand is: How do we provide reasonable transportation options to
those who can neither drive, nor easily navigate public transportation, nor afford
a taxi (IF ONE IS AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL SERVICE)
Now not only around the country but right here in Malden citizens who fall into this category are dependent on the generosity of family friends, neighbors as well as under-funded Council on Aging in order to get out and about.
(We have some non profits who should and promise to provide service but come up short with a program no "warm bodies" volunteers)
Im Malden the Vans are always fully booked up getting Seniors to medical appointments.
We all have tragically few transportation options if we wish to age with dignity in our homes and also maintain an enjoyable lifestyle.
Visits to friends, theaters, library's, shopping malls OR THE POLLS Should nt be coveted luxuries.
Inconvenient bus stops to our Malden Downtown area for a difficult treacherous walk especially on stormy days.
Transportation for all of us as we age is not just a convenience. It is a critical link back to our communities and vital to our ability to control our own lives.
Rather than spending money making it difficult for seniors to drive, why not spend it making it easier for them to give up driving?
Councils on Aging, community transportation agencies, and even for profit companies should be working to create inexpensive options that span 24 hours and all kinds of destinations.
Policy makers might spend their dollars funding organizations-across sectors- that can solve the larger problem.
AS LONG AS NOT DRIVING MEANS BEING STAANDED, WE ARE SURE SENIORS ALL ARE GOING TO TRY TO STAY BEHING THE WHEEL

'So Called Universal Health Care"

In 2006, Massachusetts made history when it became the first state to mandate health care coverage for all of its residents.
Since the passage of this landmark bill, nearly 300,000 individuals have obtained health insurance, and use of the state’s free care pool has declined by 16 percent. Payments to hospitals and health centers for treating the uninsured, which totaled $680 million in fiscal year 2007, are projected to fall to $438 million this year, as more people sign up for coverage.
By most measures, the new law has been a success. As with all major undertakings, however, the transition to universal health care in Massachusetts has not been without a few bumps in the road.
Small businesses, for example, have seen huge premium increases each year and are now paying an additional $175 million annually under the new health care law. Unless this problem is addressed, the private sector’s ability to continue to insure its employees will be put at serious risk.
From the beginning, critics and skeptics have warned that spiraling costs could undermine this historic undertaking and ultimately lead to its failure. This year, $618 million is being spent on Commonwealth Care, the state program that subsidizes health insurance for low-income residents, but Governor Patrick has allocated $869 million for this program in his fiscal year 2009 budget, an increase of more than 40 percent.
Obviously, annual cost increases of this magnitude cannot continue without universal health care becoming unsustainable. Fortunately, Senate President Therese Murray is determined not to see that happen.
Last week, Sen. Murray put forth a plan to help rein in costs and ensure that the state’s experiment with universal health care will succeed and not collapse under its own costs. Her bill — known as An Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the Delivery of Quality Health Care — contains a series of reforms she says will “modernize the health care system, reduce waste and inefficiencies, and improve health care quality for every citizen of the Commonwealth.”
Here are just a few of the provisions contained in the bill:
Cost transparency: To get a handle on rising health care costs, the bill calls for the Health Care Cost and Quality Council to convene annual public hearings with health care providers. Maintaining an ongoing dialogue will help identify what factors are driving costs and allow all parties to work together to reduce those costs.
The bill also establishes a special commission to review how health insurers manage their reserves and surpluses, and requires hospitals and insurance companies to fully disclose all costs passed on to consumers. If an insurer asks for a rate increase of more than 7 percent, the Division of Insurance and the Attorney General would launch a public review process, taking a close look at the company’s administrative costs and executive compensation packages to determine if the requested increase is justified.

A champion of MSAC principals?

Patrick's enslavement as an adolescent had to have been a critical factor in the development of his unique attitude toward the Irish. Even in captivity, he must have come to know them as human, hence, deserving of the gospel. This set the stage for his call to convert them.
As a result of his enslavement, Cahill, whose particular interest is the "hinges of history," says, "Patrick grew into a man that he truly would not otherwise have become. So you would have to say that Patrick's kidnapping was a great grace, not just for the people of Ireland, but for all of Western history."
Had he never been kidnapped, it seems quite likely that it would have been decades, probably centuries, before Ireland was converted. It certainly would not have been in a position to "save civilization," as Cahill so dramatically puts it in his book, when the Roman Empire crumbled and literacy was lost—lost, that is, by all but the Irish monasteries planted by Patrick and his successors.
Not surprisingly, his own experience in captivity left Patrick with a virulent hatred of the institution of slavery, and he would later become the first human being in the history of the world to speak out unequivocally against it.
"The papacy did not condemn slavery as immoral until the end of the 19th century," Cahill says, "but here is Patrick in the fifth century seeing it for what it is. I think that shows enormous insight and courage and a tremendous 'fellow feeling'—the ability to suffer with other people, and to understand what other people's suffering is like."
In fact, although he is renowned as the patron saint of the country and the people he evangelized, a better advocate than Patrick cannot be found for anyone disadvantaged or living on the fringes of society.
"He really is one of the great saints of the downtrodden and excluded—people that no one else wants anything to do with," Cahill says.
Women find a great advocate in Patrick

Mass Senior Action Resolution for change

Preserving Affordable Housing
We will take action to educate the community and our elected officials about the "expiring use" crisis
Peserving Public Housing for the elderly
MSAC will advocate for adequate funding for operational and capital needs to ensure quality service and Maintenance
Medicare and Prescription Drugs
MSAC urge our elected officials to demand repeal of the Medicare modernization Act. and replace it with a Medicare drug benefit run be Medicaire
Bring down the cost of Presciption Drugs
MSAC supports the practice and legislation that allows reimportation ofPrecription Drugs
into the United States.
Single Payer Health Care
MSAC continues its active support of single payer health care
Home Care
MSAC will use its rescouces to organize for state funding to enhance existing homecare programs and to provide service to mare seniors and disabled in need.
Safe Saffing Keep Patients Safe
Members of MSAC reaffirm their enthusiatic support for the Act Relative to Patient Safety.
Social Security
MSAC supports all workers in the United be subject to Social Security Withholding and opose the privatization of Social Security and destroing its concept.
Corporate Tax Responsibility
Corpoation Tax breaks repealed and Corporation pay their fair share.
Support for Veterans
MSAC urge the Administration Legislators public officials and all citizens enjoying their freedom
create a safe unconditional support for veterans and their families.