Author: Jaffe.KHN@gmail.com

Innovative Day-Care Program Seeks To Keep Frail, Low-Income Seniors In Their Homes

By Susan Jaffe | December 21, 2010 | Kaiser Health News in collaboration with

 Several mornings a week, a white van stops at Geraldine Miller’s house just east of Baltimore to pick her up for ElderPlus, a government-subsidized day-care program for adults on the campus of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Because videoMiller, who is 75 and uses a walker, has trouble getting down the stairs from her second-floor apartment, the driver comes inside to help. When she feels wobbly, he lends her an arm. When she feels strong, he faces her and steps down backward on the steps so he can catch her if she falls. When it rains, he shelters her with an umbrella. This is the sort of extra care that makes ElderPlus different.  ElderPlus is part of PACE, the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, which provides comprehensive medical and social services to frail, low-income seniors with serious health problems.   [Continued at Kaiser Health News or The Washington Post.]   Video: “Picking Up The Pace”

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Medicare Steps Up Efforts To Monitor Seniors’ Prescriptions

By Susan Jaffe | KAISER  HEALTH  NEWS | March 23, 2010

This story was produced in collaboration with

Irene Mooney survived four heart attacks and still copes with high cholesterol, persistent indigestion and heart problems. Recently, she developed some dangerous new symptoms – suspicious bruising all over her body and severe fatigue. “I could barely put one foot in front of the other,” she says. A pharmacist discovered the culprit: Some of the very medications Mooney was taking to manage her medical conditions.

The pharmacist met with Mooney, examined her 13 medications and then contacted her doctor, who cut the dosage of one drug and replaced another, reducing her risk of uncontrollable bleeding. Mooney, 82, one of the devoted card players at her seniors’ complex, soon noticed the change. “I’ve been so much better,” she says.

The help Mooney got – called “medication therapy management” – was provided by Senior PharmAssist, a Durham, N.C., non-profit group that makes sure seniors use the right prescription drugs and take them correctly to prevent harmful side effects or drug interactions.

Now, medication management is coming to nearly 7 million seniors and disabled Americans enrolled in Medicare drug plans. [Continued at Kaiser Health News and USA Today

 

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Medicare drug plan backfires on states

Seniors’ switch from Medicaid will boost costs by millions 

By Susan Jaffe  |  Plain Dealer Reporter | March 9, 2005

The Medicare prescription drug benefit is backfiring on states–running up millions of dollars in extra drug bills instead of the savings promised by its Republican supporters. [Continued here ]…