Just in from Kaiser Family Foundation (and good one for anyone in DC early for White House Conference on Aging. Note ... you also can call in from out of town): “The Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates will release their 4th annual survey documenting the increasing costs of retiree benefits for both large private-sector employers and their retirees. The new survey adds an in-depth examination of employers’ plans for both 2006 and in future years. The survey also assesses the bottom-line impact of the federal subsidies related to the new Medicare drug benefit, which provide financial incentives for employers that continue to provide drug coverage to Medicare-eligible retirees. The Kaiser/Hewitt survey will be released at a reporters-only briefing in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, December 7 at 11 a.m. ET. (Reporters unable to attend in person will be able to participate via a conference call.) ... Space is limited for the briefing. Reporters should RSVP to Tiffany Ford at (202) 347-5270 or href=tford@kff.org to participate either in person or via teleconference.”
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Something NOT said in State of Union
In his weekly radio address today, President Bush said there are “challenges” in the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, but still said it would work out. Here's a link to a story. You can read or hear the address on the White House Web site here -- and even subscribe to a podcast. (You go, George.)
Three new studies to check out
Post on ResourceShelf Docuticker this morning, three aging related studies (find them and links on the Docuticker Web site, under Feb. 11):
- Alzheimer's Disease--Patient Care, Source: MetLife Mature Market Institute. From press release: “A survey by the MetLife Mature Market Institute® shows that 61% of assisted living facilities in the U.S. provide specialized care for those suffering from dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, with fully 50% charging extra for the service. Of those with additional costs, rates ranged considerably, from $50 to $3,000 per month with the majority reporting additional costs of up to $1,000 per month.”
- Public Attitudes towards the Severity of and Treatments for Chronic, Debilitating Conditions. From press release: “A new report issued today by the National Consumers League (NCL) has found that the American public believes that patients suffering from chronic, debilitating conditions are lacking adequate treatments.”
- Retirees--Substance Abuse--Treatment. Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Office of Applied Studies (OAS) “About four in five admissions among retired persons (80 percent) reported alcohol as the primary substance of abuse -- a substantially higher proportion than other admissions (44 percent) -- in the 29 States reporting retirement status (Figure 1). Retired admissions were correspondingly less likely to report illicit drugs including opiates (5 vs. 13 percent), cocaine (4 vs. 14 percent), marijuana (3 vs. 18 percent), or stimulants (1 vs. 6 percent) as their primary substance.”
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Health, Media, Alzheimer's
Is the assisted suicide debate really back?
In his NY Times Beliefs column today, Peter Steinfels looks at whether the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in assisted suicide really will reopen the debate. Whether it does or doesn't, Steinfels says “the question will not go away” because “the public is evenly divided over legalizing doctor-assisted suicide.” He mentions a Pew study -- see my previous blog post about it -- from a survey taken last November. In other right-to-die news earlier this week, St. Pete Times reporter Curtis Krueger wrote about the dueling books that are coming about the death of Terry Schivao - one from her husband and one from others in her family. (Of no particular relevance, I was an intern at Commonweal magazine in New York City in 1978 when Peter Steinfels was an editor. I almost gave up the profession, because I thought he and the other editors -- Edward Skillin, James O'Gara and my friend and teacher Ray Schroth -- were so much smarter and better journalists than I was that I would never make it. Peter, of course, would be horrified to hear that, since I remember him as a most gracious -- but tough -- editor. For agebeaters into trivia and coincidences, Daniel Callahan of the Hasting Center -- and a great source on death and dying issues -- was once an editor at Commonweal in the 1960s.)
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Media, Death/Dying
Will boomers go to senior centers?
Here's a good topic -- how are communities planning for the recreational needs of aging boomers? Do they expect them to have the same interest in senior centers? This comes from San Jose Merc on Friday:
An effort to assess the inevitable impacts of the aging Baby Boom generation on Palo Alto's recreational and community services is under way, the city announced Thursday.
A city-led task force plans to meet for six months and eventually produce a ``white paper'' describing the repercussions of the changing demographics. The paper will also outline how Palo Alto should prepare for a senior citizen population to double what it was in 2000.
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Baby Boomers, Media
Friday, February 10, 2006
What's a Technorati tag?
I have started to tag my blog entries. Basically, this means assigning each entry a subject or category -- Aging, Baby Boomers, Social Security, etc. By clicking on a word, you will be taken to Technorati's web site to see other blog entries on the Internet that are similarly tagged. So, if you want to see what people, for example, are saying on blogs about Medicare, on a day when I post on Medicare, click on the Technorati tag and see. You also can search yourself for tag entries here.
Social Security: A 2008 campaign issue?
From Newsday this afternoon:
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday attacked President Bush's Social Security proposals as "morally and fiscally bankrupt" because it seeks to end some payments to widows and orphans.
Perhaps the prediction in the earlier post was correct.
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Media, Social Security, Aging
Wisc. extends Medicare coverage
Anyone else following extended it this long? I thought other states extended it a month or so. It comes from AP story on Duluth New Tribune, Wisc. web site:
MILWAUKEE - The state is extending its emergency Medicare coverage through March 15 to give the federal government more time to work the glitches out of its new drug program, Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday. "Wisconsin's seniors are still facing obstacles to getting the prescriptions they need. These people shouldn't have to pay the price because of the federal government's mess," Doyle said in a statement.
Social Security keeps on giving
This comes this morning on Philly.com from Inquirer columnist Andrew Cassel:
Fellow pundits, it is time to face the truth. We are doomed.
Our fate is sealed. For the rest of our working lives, we ink-stained media wretches (and that includes you with bytes under your fingernails) will be writing, blogging and podcasting about Social Security.
It is the Sisyphus story, the issue that never goes away.
Thank my stars I am not a pundit anymore, but I do recall we were all thinking Social Security was off our radar after President Bush's last attempt to "save" it.Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Media, Social Security
The numbers game in Medicare
How many people are enrolled in Medicare, the Detroit Free Press asks this morning?
The Department of Health and Human Services says 24 million of the 42 million eligible Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled. Others say only 3.6 million have voluntarily enrolled in the new prescription drug plans.
Seems like good question...and good story.Thursday, February 09, 2006
'Naughty old-timers" in movies
A commentary in the LA Times opens with this question: "What's with naughty old-timers in movies lately?" It looks at older people as "figures of fun" in film
Move over and let the boomers eat
From PR Newswire today (and is anyone surprised!):
NEW YORK, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether they're cooking, dining out, feeding their children, entertaining, or eating on-the-go, Baby Boomers are not afraid to put their money where their mouths are when it comes to food, according to Baby Boomers and the U.S. Food and Beverage Industry, a new report from market research publisher Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, a leading provider of industry-specific market research reports.
Technorati Tags: Media, Aging, Agebeat, Baby Boomers
Why Chip blogs
A little off the agebeat, but Chip's a boomer, so maybe not. Chip Scanlan of Poynter recently started a blog, the Mechanic & the Muse. Yesterday he posted a column about seven reasons why he blogs,
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Baby Boomers, Media, Blogs
For the rich...and the elderly...
Here is a link to the NYT article I mentioned last night, about aging in place in Boston. When I read it, I thought of the Googlezon presentation, which first predicts the Times becomes a niche publication for the wealthy and the elderly, before going offline in 2014. It's a fun and scary presentation about one future for our business that you can watch here.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
NYT on housing for aged
New York Times is promoting a House and Home article to appear Thursday on housing alternatives for the aged "determined to grow old in familiar settings."
Is there a privatization plan in budget?
A column in today Washington Post notes a reference on Page 321 of President Bush's budget proposal.
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Media, Social Security
Death to death benefit
I missed this in President Bush's proposed budget -- an end to the $255 Social Security death benefit. Here's a Business Week article on Bush, Death and Taxes.
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Media, Social Security
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
A tale of survival ... and excellent journalism
Be sure to read Barry Bearak's excellent NY Times magazine piece from Sunday on survivors of last year's tsunami. With its echoes of John Hersey Hiroshima, it is as good a piece of work as I've read in a while. It's OK to read online, but massive, so try to find the hard copy. (I'm a big Hersey fan, and proud owner of a first edition of Hiroshima, so I was skeptical heading into the piece.)
Age Beat Online for Feb. 7
AGE BEAT ONLINE
Newsletter of the Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA)
Feb. 7, 2006 -Volume 6, Number 5
NOTE: Let ABO Editor Paul Kleyman know if you have technical problems receiving issues of ABO or if you'd like to be removed from the list. Phone: (415) 974-9619; e-mail: paul@asaging.org. Thanks for help on this issue go to John Cutter, Marilynn Larkin and Mary Johnson. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat.Send news about substantial articles or series on aging, special sections, your book, awards or other developments to paul@asaging.org. And check out ABO the Blog at http://agebeat.blogspot.com.
IN THIS ISSUE: News budgets cut 8.4%
1. "PART D IS FOR ____________"
2. AGE BOOM SEMINAR DATES ANNOUNCED
3. "LARKIN'S LINKS" on Compelling "Almost Home"
4. "AGE BEATLES NEWS": Romance, Romance, Romance; Thoughts on Betty Freidan; When Age and Mortgage Matter (or Ba-a-ad Boomer)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
1. "PART D IS FOR ____________"
MEDICARE PART D EXPERTS: Former Los Angeles Times Washington correspondent ROBERT A. (BOB) ROSENBLATT sent along a notice that the nonpartisan National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), where he is a Senior Fellow, offers background resources for those interested in learning more Medicare Part D. All these resources can be downloaded from www.nasi.org.At the Academy's 18th annual conference last month, experts examined the progress made in signing up Medicare beneficiaries and paying for their prescriptions. Speakers included KAREN IGNANNI, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP); TRUDY LIEBERMAN, Director of the Consumers Union's Center for Consumer Health Choices; MARILYN MOON, president of NASI and a former public trustee of Medicare; and Bob. The audio webcast of Implementing Medicare Part D: The First 60 Days is available from www.nasi.org One aspect of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 is that it encourages private health plans to expand their participation in Medicare and offer prescription drug coverage. Two Academy publications provide background on the role that private health plans play in Medicare: Payment and Participation: A Renaissance for Medicare's Private Health Plans? and The Role of Private Health Plans in Medicare: Lessons From the Past, Looking to the Future.
Historical note: How smoothly did things go 40 years ago when the government enrolled the first beneficiaries in the original Medicare program? Read Reflections on Implementing Medicare at the NASI site. It includes interviews with the two key officials responsible for implementing Medicare-Robert M. Ball, Commissioner of Social Security, and Arthur E. Hess, Director of the Bureau of Health Insurance at the Social Security Administration. Another article looks at the demands placed on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in implementing Part D and what can be done to help CMS operate more efficiently: Improving Medicare's Governance and Management.
In addition to these reports, the NASI website offers a Medicare Sourcebook, a primer written by Rosenblatt that explains the program's history, benefits, and financing. The Sourcebook includes a list of Medicare experts to contact for more information. Reporters with questions can contact Bob Rosenblatt (703) 698-0239; e-mail: brosenblatt@nasi.org.
IN HER INIMITABLE "TELL IT LIKE IT IS" STYLE, the above-mentioned Trudy Lieberman wrote "Part D From Outer Space," in the Jan. 30 issue of The Nation. The drug program, she writes, "looks like the first step on the way to destroying Medicare as a benefit for all senior Americans." To read on , link to http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060130/lieberman. In the streamed NASI panel referred to by Rosenblatt, expect to hear a different view from Karen Ignanni, whose organization, AHIP, is a leading lobbying power in the health insurance industry.
REPORTERS ATTENDING THE NCOA-ASA JOINT CONFERENCE IN Anaheim in March should get a chance to hear from Marilyn Moon, who directed research on health at the American Institute for Research, Silver Spring, Md. She is one of the most respected and articulate Medicare analysts and critics of the Part D legislation. At this juncture, she is scheduled to be part of a special Press Lunch presentation sponsored by The Commonwealth Fund, on Friday, March 17, at noon. She will discuss research being done to track developments in Medicare Part D in the coming months, what questions policy researchers are asking and when reporters can expect results to start turning up. If you're coming to the Anaheim conference, be sure to send in your press registration: www.agingconference.org/press.
THE MEDICARE RIGHTS CENTER (MRC), based New York City, has launched a national hotline to help professionals-social workers, nurses, care managers, and so on-help their clients and patients get the drugs they need through the new Part D private drug benefit. MRC is analyzing the calls in order to identify new and persisting issues surrounding the new drug benefit. To learn more about what's happening on the ground with the new drug benefit, contact MRC communications director DEANE BEEBE at (212) 204-6219; e-mail: dbeebe@medicarerights.org.
2. AGE BOOM SEMINAR DATES ANNOUNCED
2006 AGE BOOM ACADEMY FOR REPORTERS SET FOR SEPT. 24-29. The International Longevity Center in New York City has announced the dates for the seventh annual Age Boom Academy, an almost week-long seminar on issues in aging for a selection of 10-15 reporters each year. It is sponsored by the New York Times Company Foundation. The invitation-only program covers transportation and accommodations for participating journalists. Breakfast and lunches are also provided. To apply, send a letter of interest, a resume and work samples, which should include stories on issues in aging. Send the information to: Age Boom Academy Selection Committee, International Longevity Center - USA , 60 East 86th St. , New York, NY 10028; fax: 212-288-3132; e-mail: meganm@ilcusa.org. A list here of age-boom alumni is posted at Age Boom Alumni 2000-2005.
3. "LARKIN'S LINKS"
"ALMOST HOME" PULLS NO PUNCHES
By MARILYNN LARKIN
In the opening moments of the documentary "Almost Home: Changing Aging in America," I thought, "Oh, no, is this going to be a puff piece about the wonders of the relatively new 'person first' nursing home culture?" I had little to fear. The film, by BRAD LICHTENSTEIN and LISA GILDEHAUS, is painfully, wrenchingly real--difficult to watch, impossible to stop watching once you start. Anyone who works with elders, or who has aging parents, or relatives or spouses with dementia or other chronic illnesses, is likely to identify with the individuals and families depicted in the film.
"Almost Home" is scheduled to be broadcast on the PBS program "Independent Lens," Feb. 21, 10 p.m. Eastern. Providing context for the documentary is an information-packed website (www.almosthomedoc.com) where you can check local listings for the broadcast and also find that background on aging and long-term care, as well as interviews, photos, outreach tools, discussion guides and video clips aimed at prompting dialogues in communities and centers that provide services to elders. The DVD includes the full-length feature plus related short clips on such topics as helping certified nursing assistants achieve economic security and ways of initiating a culture change process. Review copies for the media are available by contacting MARY LUGO at lugo@negia.net; (770) 623-8190.
"Almost Home" is a coproduction of 371 Productions and Wisconsin Public Television, produced in association with ITVS, with funding provided by some foundations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and support from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts.Marilynn Larkin regularly contributes "Larkin's Links" to Age Beat Online. Readers can reach her at MLAgebeat@aol.com
3. "AGE BEATLES NEWS"
"AND NOW, A WORD FOR OUR DEMOGRAPHIC," is the headline over last week's (Jan. 29) refreshingly pungent New York Times op-ed by TED KOPPEL about the sorry state of television news today. Koppel, who left ABC News last year after 42 years with the network, skewers news executives for the accelerating slide into banality in the intensified quest for viewers age 18-34. Even network newscasts that mainly attract huge older audiences, "are struggling to find a new format that will somehow appeal to younger viewers," says Koppel. This trend accounts for the decline of international news or Washington coverage, for example. He contends that while news should not become "intellectual broccoli to be jammed down our viewers' unwilling throats," neither should news be pureed into palatability. "There are too many important things happening in the world today to allow the diet to be determined to such a degree by the popular tastes of a relatively narrow and apparently uninterested demographic,"Koppel says he finds it confusing that the major network broadcasters have fallen into competition with cable for the youth market. Cable has always had to narrowcast, that is, target niche audiences in order to stake a claim with viable but underserved advertising markets. "By focusing only on key demographics, by choosing to ignore their total viewership, [networks] have surrendered their greatest advantage," he writes, referring to their command of mass audiences. The remedy for television's woes, surmises Koppel: "The tens of millions of baby boomers in their 40s and 50s and entering their 60s, who have far more spending power than their 18-to-34-year-old counterparts. Television news may be debasing itself before the wrong demographic." ABO will only add that the same case of tunnel vision on the young-adult market is being suffered in newspaper executive suits around the United States. ROMANCE, ROMANCE, ROMANCE, ROMANCE: ABO's items in the past two weeks noting a spate of recent books on love in midlife and beyond deserve an encore. In her New York times "Vows" column, Sunday (Feb. 5), LOIS BRADY SMITH featured a bride-and-bride marriage in Montreal between New Yorkers BETH GREENBERG and BETH SIMON. But that's not the item. Greenberg, an MD, is 52, and Simon, a VP of financial services for Standard & Poor's, is 55. As for the chronological factor, well, Greenberg admitted going into the age closet on her first e-mail encounter with Simon, who had indicated in her 2004 computer-dating profile that she was only interested in responses from those age 49 or younger. "So Dr. Greenberg fibbed," wrote Smith. "She said she was 41, instead of 51." The pair soon discovered by e-mail that they had so much in common, ah, well, age would not be a barrier. (Sheesh!) Not only did they live on the same street in Manhattan, four blocks apart, but "both love sheep dogs, blue jeans, the Beatles . . . and both are close to their octogenarian mothers." For some time the Times has been including same-gender unions, and reporters or columnists working up pieces for Valentine's Day next week might want to perk up stories with this dimension. Where marriage isn't easily accessible, reporters might find older boomer couples who have had commitment ceremonies.
IT'S BEEN A TOUGH WEEK FOR THE '60s. The death of CORETTA SCOTT KING was followed by news over the weekend that BETTY FRIEDAN had died at age 85 in Washington, D.C. A photo of Friedan sits atop this editor's cluttered file cabinet from 1995, when her book "The Fountain of Age," had recently been released in paperback. The black-and-while picture always makes me chuckle. In it Friedan is almost literally head to head with ROBERT BUTLER, the great geriatrician she credited as her "mentor" on the topic of aging. They were seated high on the dais with other panelists for the opening general session of the American Society on Aging Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Photographer BILL CRANFORD caught the pair in a pre-session tete-a-tete, as Butler leaned in close from the right, intently listening, Friedan earnestly extended her unusually long forefinger as if to spindle her point on it like one of those pink message slips people used to spike for immediate attention before the advent of e-mail. During the session that followed, she stated, "When I embarked upon the 10-year ordeal of writing 'The Fountain of Age,' I found an age mystique even more pervasive, pernicious, perverted and obsolete than the feminine mystique. It defined age as programmed deterioration from youth to terminal senility--only as a problem for society . . . . If we make this paradigm shift away from age as decline, we will be thinking in terms of a productive human life at 75 or 80 years or more" (Aging Today, May-June 1995).Friedan was notoriously abrasive. Earlier that day at the 1995 conference she bounded into the press room demanding immediate access to a telephone, barked orders into the receiver at an aide one could only image to be cowering at the other end, and blustered out the door with hardly a nod, much less a thank-you, to the disappointed journalist who had volunteered to help out and hoped she'd get to meet the author of "Feminine Mystique." Another reporter later confided to us, "Friedan's blind as a bat, you know." I was doubtful about the veracity of this intelligence but tried to take to heart the lesson that maturity isn't always graceful.Meeting Friedan, if briefly, carried a personal dimension for me. My sister, Judie, had once written a moving poem titled "Feminine Mystique" about the life of disappointment led by our mother. In the poem, Judie wondered whether our sweet-natured, anxious and intellectually curious mom might have met the world more happily and enjoyed a longer life had she been born only one generation later, in time to find liberation in Freidan's words -- and the pill. The culture of our parents' youth to middle-years, the 1930s to 1960s, was the last era when American women still commonly listed their occupation as "housewife," a designation that suited some better than others. (Even now, when a growing number of young women are taking time off to be stay-at-home moms, they tend to have more education than Greatest-Generation women, and career opportunities they can take up later.) To Judie and me, Betty Friedan spoke for women like our mother, women who suppressed their verve and potential for realizing something larger from their minds and talents, something more contributive to society, something more fulfilling in their lives. Children and family? Of course, our mother was deeply devoted to her four offspring, but for her and others like her, why not something more, why not choice?I decided to go ahead with my plan to bring Friedan my copy of "Fountain of Age," which, despite being badly in need of editing at 660 pages, was a richly insightful book, and to ask her for her autograph. As the hotel ballroom began to fill with conference goers for the plenary session, I made my move. Book in hand, I approached the platform. Friedan was seated at the symposium table leaning down and peering over her notes. Just as she straightened up and seemed to relax for a moment, I lifted the book toward her and asked her to sign. She frowned but muttered, "All right." Then she looked down in my direction and said, "What's your name?" "Ah, Paul . . . Paul Kleyman." At that Friedan arched over the table a bit, squinted down and focused on me. "Oh, Paul! It's you. Of course, I'll be happy to sign."Later, when I related the moment to my friend, who still felt bruised by how Friedan treated her in the press room, we both wondered. Friedan was famously raw in her dealings with many people. Had she simply been too distracted to notice who handed her the book, even though we'd met before. Could it be that her abruptness with many people might have been partly a cover of vision loss, her own touch of age denial? The question is entirely speculative, and those close to her might dispel the notion. What is not a matter of speculation, though, is that the loss of this tough-minded mother of American sisterhood -- this champion of positive elderhood -- is worthy of a nation's grief.When I saw a friend, Victoria, an early-boomer contemporary, on Sunday, I asked if she'd heard the news. Saying she hadn't, she then paused for a moment and added these simple words of tribute, "She was one of the mentors of our generation."
WHEN AGE AND MORTGAGE MATTER (Or, Ba-a-ad Boomer): "I'm 45 years old; I got a mortgage to pay." So stated SUSAN KENNEDY in explaining why she, a former top aide to recalled California governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, is now chief of staff to Republican governor Arnold Schwartzenegger. What Kennedy doesn't succeed in justifying by age or mortgage, is her violation of the state's own ethical guidelines by supplementing her $131,000 taxpaid salary by serving as a campaign consultant to the Grope-enator, as many feminists on the Left Coast still call him. San Francisco Chronicle political correspondent CARLA MARINUCCI ("governor's New Chief of Staff Piles It On/Susan Kennedy Now Also Is Head Campaigner," Feb. 5, 2006), found that Kennedy has already earned at least $25,000 extra for promoting Schwartzenegger's reelection. Although Kennedy insists that "there's absolutely no conflict," Marinucci reports that her situation "directly conflicts with ethics guidelines issued and taught to elected officials and political staffers in Sacramento during the Davis administration--and even this year." Kennedy may have neglected to note that when she's talking to voters and to newspaper editorial boards," and others in her fundraising campaign, she disguises her influential self by wearing a big black fedora.
________________________________________________________________________
The Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA) publishes AGE BEAT ONLINE with the assistance of the American Society on Aging (ASA). JEoA provides information and networking opportunities for journalists covering issues in aging but not those representing services, products or organizational agendas. ASA is a nonpartisan, nonlobbying organization of professionals in aging that is based in San Francisco. Its mandate is to serve as a forum for all points of view. Opinions expressed in ABO do not represent those of ASA. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat. Copyright JEoA 2006.
Newsletter of the Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA)
Feb. 7, 2006 -Volume 6, Number 5
NOTE: Let ABO Editor Paul Kleyman know if you have technical problems receiving issues of ABO or if you'd like to be removed from the list. Phone: (415) 974-9619; e-mail: paul@asaging.org. Thanks for help on this issue go to John Cutter, Marilynn Larkin and Mary Johnson. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat.Send news about substantial articles or series on aging, special sections, your book, awards or other developments to paul@asaging.org. And check out ABO the Blog at http://agebeat.blogspot.com.
IN THIS ISSUE: News budgets cut 8.4%
1. "PART D IS FOR ____________"
2. AGE BOOM SEMINAR DATES ANNOUNCED
3. "LARKIN'S LINKS" on Compelling "Almost Home"
4. "AGE BEATLES NEWS": Romance, Romance, Romance; Thoughts on Betty Freidan; When Age and Mortgage Matter (or Ba-a-ad Boomer)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
1. "PART D IS FOR ____________"
MEDICARE PART D EXPERTS: Former Los Angeles Times Washington correspondent ROBERT A. (BOB) ROSENBLATT sent along a notice that the nonpartisan National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), where he is a Senior Fellow, offers background resources for those interested in learning more Medicare Part D. All these resources can be downloaded from www.nasi.org.At the Academy's 18th annual conference last month, experts examined the progress made in signing up Medicare beneficiaries and paying for their prescriptions. Speakers included KAREN IGNANNI, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP); TRUDY LIEBERMAN, Director of the Consumers Union's Center for Consumer Health Choices; MARILYN MOON, president of NASI and a former public trustee of Medicare; and Bob. The audio webcast of Implementing Medicare Part D: The First 60 Days is available from www.nasi.org One aspect of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 is that it encourages private health plans to expand their participation in Medicare and offer prescription drug coverage. Two Academy publications provide background on the role that private health plans play in Medicare: Payment and Participation: A Renaissance for Medicare's Private Health Plans? and The Role of Private Health Plans in Medicare: Lessons From the Past, Looking to the Future.
Historical note: How smoothly did things go 40 years ago when the government enrolled the first beneficiaries in the original Medicare program? Read Reflections on Implementing Medicare at the NASI site. It includes interviews with the two key officials responsible for implementing Medicare-Robert M. Ball, Commissioner of Social Security, and Arthur E. Hess, Director of the Bureau of Health Insurance at the Social Security Administration. Another article looks at the demands placed on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in implementing Part D and what can be done to help CMS operate more efficiently: Improving Medicare's Governance and Management.
In addition to these reports, the NASI website offers a Medicare Sourcebook, a primer written by Rosenblatt that explains the program's history, benefits, and financing. The Sourcebook includes a list of Medicare experts to contact for more information. Reporters with questions can contact Bob Rosenblatt (703) 698-0239; e-mail: brosenblatt@nasi.org.
IN HER INIMITABLE "TELL IT LIKE IT IS" STYLE, the above-mentioned Trudy Lieberman wrote "Part D From Outer Space," in the Jan. 30 issue of The Nation. The drug program, she writes, "looks like the first step on the way to destroying Medicare as a benefit for all senior Americans." To read on , link to http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060130/lieberman. In the streamed NASI panel referred to by Rosenblatt, expect to hear a different view from Karen Ignanni, whose organization, AHIP, is a leading lobbying power in the health insurance industry.
REPORTERS ATTENDING THE NCOA-ASA JOINT CONFERENCE IN Anaheim in March should get a chance to hear from Marilyn Moon, who directed research on health at the American Institute for Research, Silver Spring, Md. She is one of the most respected and articulate Medicare analysts and critics of the Part D legislation. At this juncture, she is scheduled to be part of a special Press Lunch presentation sponsored by The Commonwealth Fund, on Friday, March 17, at noon. She will discuss research being done to track developments in Medicare Part D in the coming months, what questions policy researchers are asking and when reporters can expect results to start turning up. If you're coming to the Anaheim conference, be sure to send in your press registration: www.agingconference.org/press.
THE MEDICARE RIGHTS CENTER (MRC), based New York City, has launched a national hotline to help professionals-social workers, nurses, care managers, and so on-help their clients and patients get the drugs they need through the new Part D private drug benefit. MRC is analyzing the calls in order to identify new and persisting issues surrounding the new drug benefit. To learn more about what's happening on the ground with the new drug benefit, contact MRC communications director DEANE BEEBE at (212) 204-6219; e-mail: dbeebe@medicarerights.org.
2. AGE BOOM SEMINAR DATES ANNOUNCED
2006 AGE BOOM ACADEMY FOR REPORTERS SET FOR SEPT. 24-29. The International Longevity Center in New York City has announced the dates for the seventh annual Age Boom Academy, an almost week-long seminar on issues in aging for a selection of 10-15 reporters each year. It is sponsored by the New York Times Company Foundation. The invitation-only program covers transportation and accommodations for participating journalists. Breakfast and lunches are also provided. To apply, send a letter of interest, a resume and work samples, which should include stories on issues in aging. Send the information to: Age Boom Academy Selection Committee, International Longevity Center - USA , 60 East 86th St. , New York, NY 10028; fax: 212-288-3132; e-mail: meganm@ilcusa.org. A list here of age-boom alumni is posted at Age Boom Alumni 2000-2005.
3. "LARKIN'S LINKS"
"ALMOST HOME" PULLS NO PUNCHES
By MARILYNN LARKIN
In the opening moments of the documentary "Almost Home: Changing Aging in America," I thought, "Oh, no, is this going to be a puff piece about the wonders of the relatively new 'person first' nursing home culture?" I had little to fear. The film, by BRAD LICHTENSTEIN and LISA GILDEHAUS, is painfully, wrenchingly real--difficult to watch, impossible to stop watching once you start. Anyone who works with elders, or who has aging parents, or relatives or spouses with dementia or other chronic illnesses, is likely to identify with the individuals and families depicted in the film.
"Almost Home" is scheduled to be broadcast on the PBS program "Independent Lens," Feb. 21, 10 p.m. Eastern. Providing context for the documentary is an information-packed website (www.almosthomedoc.com) where you can check local listings for the broadcast and also find that background on aging and long-term care, as well as interviews, photos, outreach tools, discussion guides and video clips aimed at prompting dialogues in communities and centers that provide services to elders. The DVD includes the full-length feature plus related short clips on such topics as helping certified nursing assistants achieve economic security and ways of initiating a culture change process. Review copies for the media are available by contacting MARY LUGO at lugo@negia.net; (770) 623-8190.
"Almost Home" is a coproduction of 371 Productions and Wisconsin Public Television, produced in association with ITVS, with funding provided by some foundations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and support from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts.Marilynn Larkin regularly contributes "Larkin's Links" to Age Beat Online. Readers can reach her at MLAgebeat@aol.com
3. "AGE BEATLES NEWS"
"AND NOW, A WORD FOR OUR DEMOGRAPHIC," is the headline over last week's (Jan. 29) refreshingly pungent New York Times op-ed by TED KOPPEL about the sorry state of television news today. Koppel, who left ABC News last year after 42 years with the network, skewers news executives for the accelerating slide into banality in the intensified quest for viewers age 18-34. Even network newscasts that mainly attract huge older audiences, "are struggling to find a new format that will somehow appeal to younger viewers," says Koppel. This trend accounts for the decline of international news or Washington coverage, for example. He contends that while news should not become "intellectual broccoli to be jammed down our viewers' unwilling throats," neither should news be pureed into palatability. "There are too many important things happening in the world today to allow the diet to be determined to such a degree by the popular tastes of a relatively narrow and apparently uninterested demographic,"Koppel says he finds it confusing that the major network broadcasters have fallen into competition with cable for the youth market. Cable has always had to narrowcast, that is, target niche audiences in order to stake a claim with viable but underserved advertising markets. "By focusing only on key demographics, by choosing to ignore their total viewership, [networks] have surrendered their greatest advantage," he writes, referring to their command of mass audiences. The remedy for television's woes, surmises Koppel: "The tens of millions of baby boomers in their 40s and 50s and entering their 60s, who have far more spending power than their 18-to-34-year-old counterparts. Television news may be debasing itself before the wrong demographic." ABO will only add that the same case of tunnel vision on the young-adult market is being suffered in newspaper executive suits around the United States. ROMANCE, ROMANCE, ROMANCE, ROMANCE: ABO's items in the past two weeks noting a spate of recent books on love in midlife and beyond deserve an encore. In her New York times "Vows" column, Sunday (Feb. 5), LOIS BRADY SMITH featured a bride-and-bride marriage in Montreal between New Yorkers BETH GREENBERG and BETH SIMON. But that's not the item. Greenberg, an MD, is 52, and Simon, a VP of financial services for Standard & Poor's, is 55. As for the chronological factor, well, Greenberg admitted going into the age closet on her first e-mail encounter with Simon, who had indicated in her 2004 computer-dating profile that she was only interested in responses from those age 49 or younger. "So Dr. Greenberg fibbed," wrote Smith. "She said she was 41, instead of 51." The pair soon discovered by e-mail that they had so much in common, ah, well, age would not be a barrier. (Sheesh!) Not only did they live on the same street in Manhattan, four blocks apart, but "both love sheep dogs, blue jeans, the Beatles . . . and both are close to their octogenarian mothers." For some time the Times has been including same-gender unions, and reporters or columnists working up pieces for Valentine's Day next week might want to perk up stories with this dimension. Where marriage isn't easily accessible, reporters might find older boomer couples who have had commitment ceremonies.
IT'S BEEN A TOUGH WEEK FOR THE '60s. The death of CORETTA SCOTT KING was followed by news over the weekend that BETTY FRIEDAN had died at age 85 in Washington, D.C. A photo of Friedan sits atop this editor's cluttered file cabinet from 1995, when her book "The Fountain of Age," had recently been released in paperback. The black-and-while picture always makes me chuckle. In it Friedan is almost literally head to head with ROBERT BUTLER, the great geriatrician she credited as her "mentor" on the topic of aging. They were seated high on the dais with other panelists for the opening general session of the American Society on Aging Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Photographer BILL CRANFORD caught the pair in a pre-session tete-a-tete, as Butler leaned in close from the right, intently listening, Friedan earnestly extended her unusually long forefinger as if to spindle her point on it like one of those pink message slips people used to spike for immediate attention before the advent of e-mail. During the session that followed, she stated, "When I embarked upon the 10-year ordeal of writing 'The Fountain of Age,' I found an age mystique even more pervasive, pernicious, perverted and obsolete than the feminine mystique. It defined age as programmed deterioration from youth to terminal senility--only as a problem for society . . . . If we make this paradigm shift away from age as decline, we will be thinking in terms of a productive human life at 75 or 80 years or more" (Aging Today, May-June 1995).Friedan was notoriously abrasive. Earlier that day at the 1995 conference she bounded into the press room demanding immediate access to a telephone, barked orders into the receiver at an aide one could only image to be cowering at the other end, and blustered out the door with hardly a nod, much less a thank-you, to the disappointed journalist who had volunteered to help out and hoped she'd get to meet the author of "Feminine Mystique." Another reporter later confided to us, "Friedan's blind as a bat, you know." I was doubtful about the veracity of this intelligence but tried to take to heart the lesson that maturity isn't always graceful.Meeting Friedan, if briefly, carried a personal dimension for me. My sister, Judie, had once written a moving poem titled "Feminine Mystique" about the life of disappointment led by our mother. In the poem, Judie wondered whether our sweet-natured, anxious and intellectually curious mom might have met the world more happily and enjoyed a longer life had she been born only one generation later, in time to find liberation in Freidan's words -- and the pill. The culture of our parents' youth to middle-years, the 1930s to 1960s, was the last era when American women still commonly listed their occupation as "housewife," a designation that suited some better than others. (Even now, when a growing number of young women are taking time off to be stay-at-home moms, they tend to have more education than Greatest-Generation women, and career opportunities they can take up later.) To Judie and me, Betty Friedan spoke for women like our mother, women who suppressed their verve and potential for realizing something larger from their minds and talents, something more contributive to society, something more fulfilling in their lives. Children and family? Of course, our mother was deeply devoted to her four offspring, but for her and others like her, why not something more, why not choice?I decided to go ahead with my plan to bring Friedan my copy of "Fountain of Age," which, despite being badly in need of editing at 660 pages, was a richly insightful book, and to ask her for her autograph. As the hotel ballroom began to fill with conference goers for the plenary session, I made my move. Book in hand, I approached the platform. Friedan was seated at the symposium table leaning down and peering over her notes. Just as she straightened up and seemed to relax for a moment, I lifted the book toward her and asked her to sign. She frowned but muttered, "All right." Then she looked down in my direction and said, "What's your name?" "Ah, Paul . . . Paul Kleyman." At that Friedan arched over the table a bit, squinted down and focused on me. "Oh, Paul! It's you. Of course, I'll be happy to sign."Later, when I related the moment to my friend, who still felt bruised by how Friedan treated her in the press room, we both wondered. Friedan was famously raw in her dealings with many people. Had she simply been too distracted to notice who handed her the book, even though we'd met before. Could it be that her abruptness with many people might have been partly a cover of vision loss, her own touch of age denial? The question is entirely speculative, and those close to her might dispel the notion. What is not a matter of speculation, though, is that the loss of this tough-minded mother of American sisterhood -- this champion of positive elderhood -- is worthy of a nation's grief.When I saw a friend, Victoria, an early-boomer contemporary, on Sunday, I asked if she'd heard the news. Saying she hadn't, she then paused for a moment and added these simple words of tribute, "She was one of the mentors of our generation."
WHEN AGE AND MORTGAGE MATTER (Or, Ba-a-ad Boomer): "I'm 45 years old; I got a mortgage to pay." So stated SUSAN KENNEDY in explaining why she, a former top aide to recalled California governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, is now chief of staff to Republican governor Arnold Schwartzenegger. What Kennedy doesn't succeed in justifying by age or mortgage, is her violation of the state's own ethical guidelines by supplementing her $131,000 taxpaid salary by serving as a campaign consultant to the Grope-enator, as many feminists on the Left Coast still call him. San Francisco Chronicle political correspondent CARLA MARINUCCI ("governor's New Chief of Staff Piles It On/Susan Kennedy Now Also Is Head Campaigner," Feb. 5, 2006), found that Kennedy has already earned at least $25,000 extra for promoting Schwartzenegger's reelection. Although Kennedy insists that "there's absolutely no conflict," Marinucci reports that her situation "directly conflicts with ethics guidelines issued and taught to elected officials and political staffers in Sacramento during the Davis administration--and even this year." Kennedy may have neglected to note that when she's talking to voters and to newspaper editorial boards," and others in her fundraising campaign, she disguises her influential self by wearing a big black fedora.
________________________________________________________________________
The Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA) publishes AGE BEAT ONLINE with the assistance of the American Society on Aging (ASA). JEoA provides information and networking opportunities for journalists covering issues in aging but not those representing services, products or organizational agendas. ASA is a nonpartisan, nonlobbying organization of professionals in aging that is based in San Francisco. Its mandate is to serve as a forum for all points of view. Opinions expressed in ABO do not represent those of ASA. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat. Copyright JEoA 2006.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Age Beat Online for Jan. 31
AGE BEAT ONLINE
Newsletter of the Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA)
Jan. 31, 2006 -Volume 6, Number 4
NOTE: Let ABO Editor Paul Kleyman know if you have technical problems receiving issues of ABO or if you'd like to be removed from the list. Phone: (415) 974-9619; e-mail: paul@asaging.org. Thanks for help on this issue go to John Cutter, Marilynn Larkin and Mary Johnson. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat.
Send news about substantial articles or series on aging, special sections, your book, awards or other developments to paul@asaging.org. And check out ABO the Blog at http://agebeat.blogspot.com.
IN THIS ISSUE: Reporter-driven healthcare. (Vroom, chug, chug).
1. "AGE BEATLES NEWS": "Ethnic Pulitzers"; "Elder Rage" Author Jacqueline Marcell on Today Show Feb. 1; and more
2. SOURCES: Medicare on NPR's "Fresh Air"; Cornell Wisdom Launch National Project
3. MONTANA EXPOSURE: Hi-De-Ho from KXLO and KLCM Radio
4. "LARKIN'S LINKS" on Film Depicting Drug Company Practices
Friday, January 27, 2006
Good Medicare Q/A on NPR
NPR posted a Q/A on Medicare, its initial problems, recent signs of improvements, and advice on where to turn for help. You can find it at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5174771
Study on drugs and dual eligibles
Not sure if this is new from today, but it is from this month:
Medicare and Medicaid--Drug Formularies
Source: Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Dual Eligibles' Transition: Part D Formularies' Inclusion of Commonly Used Drugs (PDF; 1.14 MB)
"This study determined the extent to which Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP) formularies include the drugs that the dual eligible population (i.e., beneficiaries of both Medicare and Medicaid) commonly used under Medicaid. On January 1, 2006, outpatient prescription drug coverage for dual eligibles was transferred from Medicaid to Medicare. Differences in coverage of commonly used drugs may present challenges during this transition. We identified 200 drugs highly utilized by the dual eligible population in 2005. Of these, 178 drugs are eligible for Part D coverage, and 22 fall into categories that are statutorily excluded from Part D, but which States may opt to cover through their Medicaid programs."
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Firms cutting off some drugs
In tomorrow's (Friday's) Washington Post: "Several of the nation's largest drug manufacturers say they will no longer provide free or discounted medications to low-income elderly and disabled patients because they should be covered by the new Medicare drug benefit."
Study on drugs and dual eligibles
Not sure if this is new from today, but it is from this month:
Medicare and Medicaid--Drug Formularies
Source: Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Dual Eligibles' Transition: Part D Formularies' Inclusion of Commonly Used Drugs (PDF; 1.14 MB)
"This study determined the extent to which Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP) formularies include the drugs that the dual eligible population (i.e., beneficiaries of both Medicare and Medicaid) commonly used under Medicaid. On January 1, 2006, outpatient prescription drug coverage for dual eligibles was transferred from Medicaid to Medicare. Differences in coverage of commonly used drugs may present challenges during this transition. We identified 200 drugs highly utilized by the dual eligible population in 2005. Of these, 178 drugs are eligible for Part D coverage, and 22 fall into categories that are statutorily excluded from Part D, but which States may opt to cover through their Medicaid programs."
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The Aging Consumer
Another tip from ResourceShelf Docuticker
Older Consumers
Source: Deloitte Development LLC
Getting Ready for the Aging Consumer: What You Need to Know
"In 2008, the dominant customers in the U.S. and the world will be consumers age 50 and older. Regardless of your industry or sector, you could prosper by focusing on these aging consumers and understanding their evolving needs. New research, a podcast and articles from Deloitte & Touche USA LLP can help you understand these older consumers-what they want, how their needs will change over the years and how your business can serve them best."
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Baby Boomers, Media
Age Beat Online for Jan. 24
AGE BEAT ONLINE: Newsletter of the Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA)
Jan. 24, 2006 -Volume 6, Number 3
NOTE: Let ABO Editor Paul Kleyman know if you have technical problems receiving issues of ABO or if you'd like to be removed from the list. Phone: (415) 974-9619; e-mail: paul@asaging.org. Thanks for help on this issue go to John Cutter, Marilynn Larkin, Nancy Aldrich and Mary Johnson. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat.
Send news about substantial articles or series on aging, special sections, your book, awards or other developments to paul@asaging.org. And check out ABO the Blog at http://agebeat.blogspot.com.
IN THIS ISSUE: 0g transfat.
1. RESOURCES: CDC Knight Boot Camp; Commonwealth Fund E-News for Journalists
2. "AGE BEATLES NEWS": New Public TV Series on Boomers; WSJ Crosses "Color Lines" for Retired African American Cops; Blast From the Past--George McGovern on Tour for New Book Defending Social Security
3. "THE OOPS! FILES" (How We Erred)
4. "LARKIN'S LINKS": Books for Boomers--Those Sexy Thangs
5. SPECIAL PRIMER: What's the Older Americans Act and Why Should We Care Whether Congress Reauthorizes It?
6. WHY AGE DOESN'T DICTATE WISDOM: Parade's Ugliest Top 10
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1. RESOURCES
CDC KNIGHT BOOT CAMP: Journalists interested in public health can get an immersion experience in the subject by attending the six-day CDC Knight Public Health Journalism Boot Camp at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, June 25 - June 30. The annual program, sponsored by the Knight Journalism Foundation, offers a crash course in the basics of public health science and biostatistics. This year's boot camp promises to educate reporters about the potential for epidemics after a natural catastrophe, such as the recent hurricanes, or the rise of a deadly new virus such as avian influenza. The Knight CDC release says that participants will learn how to read clinical studies and ask the right probing questions of scientists and public-health policy makers. The program is open to journalists in all media, from print to online. For information, visit the website: http://www.cdcfoundation.org/pages.html?page=297.
"HEALTH COVERAGE FOR AGING BABY BOOMERS: Findings from The Commonwealth Fund Survey of Older Adults" is a new study released last Friday (January 20) at the National Academy of Social Insurance's 18th annual conference in Washington. According to the report's online abstract, "The combination of rising out-of-pocket healthcare costs and sluggish wage growth threatens workers' ability to save for retirement." The study's authors found that at a time when employers are responding to rising health insurance premiums by shifting more of their costs to employees, "older adults have high rates of chronic health conditions; many have unstable insurance coverage; those who have low income, individual coverage, or no insurance spend a substantial share of their income on coverage and healthcare and have reduced access to care." The report is available in the New York-based organization's monthly tip sheet for journalists. To read the tip sheet or subscribe, visit the website: www.cmwf.org. For more information on these reports, areas the fund is working on, or to speak with one of their experts or grantees, contact Mary Mahon at (212) 606-3853 or mm@cmwf.org.
The Commonwealth Fund has also signed on as a sponsor of this year's Journalists on Aging Reception and Dinner to be held March 17 (some green for St. Patrick's Day) during the Joint Conference of the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) and American Society on Aging at the Anaheim Hilton near Disneyland. Earlier that day, grantees of the Commonwealth Fund will present findings and new information at a special press luncheon. Other sponsors of this year's dinner and press operation include AARP, NCOA, the Merck Publishing Group (nonprofit publishers of the Merck Manuals) and BOB BLANCATO, president of Matz, Blancato and Associates in Washington, D.C., chair of the Elder Justice Coalition, and all-around mensch. Thanks to all of them for their support.
2. "AGE BEATLES NEWS"
"BOOMERS! REDEFINING LIFE AFTER 50" is a new 13-part video magazine beginning to air on public television stations around the United States. Hosted and produced by boomer couple MARK MILLS and NANCY FERNANDEZ MILLS, the series covers topics like finance, wellness, spirituality, family roles, friendships, housing, travel and careers. Nancy is a former NBC correspondent and winner of a national Emmy, to name one. Mark, who has added a DuPont-Columbia journalism award among others to the clutter on the family mantle, was executive producer of "Chronicle," the nightly news magazine on Boston's WCVB-TV for many years. He is also a certified financial planner. (The series is underwritten by Fidelity Investments and Del Webb Corporation.)Like many independent producers, the Bean Town pair are distributing their series through American Public Television. That means that age beat writers should watch their websites to find out where and when the programs will ride the airwaves in local markets. The press kit for the series is online:
http://www.boomerstv.com/about_news_sample.php?nid=25. The home page is www.boomerstv.com. It contains a link so that folks can find out when the shows will air in their area. Nancy can be reached at Boomer Media Properties, (617) 902-5050; e-mail: nfernandezmills@yahoo.com.
COLOR LINES IN ATLANTA is the subject of the story that Wall Street Journal age-beat reporter KELLY GREENE calls "my favorite thing I've ever written." The piece, "Retired Black Cops Pressure Georgia For Pension Equity," ran on the birthday of MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (Jan. 16). It tells the story of African American members of the Atlanta police force, who are fighting for pension equity. In the 1950s and '60s they were barred from signing up for a pension program. Although they were allowed start contributing to the plan in the 1970s, the lost years severely cut into the pension they could receive. The plan, which is supplemented by contributions from parking tickets and fines -- many resulting from the patrol work of the African American officers -- did allow them to make lump-sum payments into the plan to catch up, but many could not afford to dip into family savings to do that. Today, some retired black officers are trying to get by on $700 a month less than they would be receiving if they could have signed up for the pension program in the early days, according to Greene. Access to archived WSJ stories by nonsubscribers is restricted, but journalists receiving ABO can request it by e-mailing kelly.greene@wsj.com.
"SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE GOLDEN AGE: An Essay on the New American Demographic" is the new book from former Senator GEORGE McGOVERN, age 83. The South Dakotan's anti-Viet Nam War candidacy for president in 1972 scared Richard Nixon into authorizing his plumbers to raid the Democratic National Committee's files at the Watergate office complex, and the rest, as McGovern, who holds a Ph.D. in the subject, might authoritatively say, is history. A release from the publisher, Fulcrum, based in Golden, Colo., says that McGovern's new book "challenges the conventional wisdom that Social Security is facing a funding crisis, and allays fears that boomers will bankrupt the system." McGovern also offers steps for maintaining the system. Today (Jan. 24), McGovern is speaking at Coliseum Books in New York City, 6:30 p.m. On Feb. 6, he'll appear with former senator and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Then McGovern's book tour heads west to the San Francisco area, Tempe, Ariz., Denver and possibly other locations. ABO readers interested in connecting with McGovern or obtaining a review copy of the book can contact Jessica Dyer, Fulcrum Publishing, (800) 992-2908 ext. 235; jessica@fulcrum-books.com. Also, Dole will be speaking at the 2006 ASA-NCOA Joint Conference in Anaheim, on March 16.
3. THE OOPS! FILES
ARRGH! ABO ERRED in our January 9, item on TRUDY LIEBERMAN's article, "Mismanaged Care," in "The Nation" (Dec. 12, 2005). Our report, unlike Lieberman's article, misidentified Tennessee governor PHIL BREDESEN as a Republican. Actually, he's a Democrat. The piece remains well worth reading by any journalist concerned with state curtailments of Medicaid: Download it at www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20051212&s=lieberman.) Thanks to LESTER GINGOLD, editor of "The Best Times" in Memphis, Tenn., for keeping us accurate.
ALSO, MEMORY AND FACT-CHECKING FAILED this editor in reporting on GENE D. COHEN's essay "The Myth of the Midlife Crisis" in the Jan. 16 issue of Newsweek (: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10753221/site/newsweek/). The article is an excerpt from his new book, "The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain" (New York City: Basic Books, 2006). Cohen was not, as stated in our January 16 issue, acting director of the National Institutes of Health for four years; he was Acting Director of the National Institute on Aging for 3 years-1991 to 1993.
4. "LARKIN'S LINKS"
BOOKS FOR BOOMERS--THOSE SEXY THANGS
By MARILYNN LARKIN
For something completely different, JOAN PRICE wrote to tell us about her new book, "Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk about Sex after Sixty" (Emeryville, Calif.: Seal Press, 2006). In an excerpt from this upbeat and informative tome, Joan declares, "We're offended by outdated stereotypes of asexual older women, and we're not going to hide behind them at this time of our lives. Specifically, we're not going to roll over and play dead when our private parts are concerned" (www.joanprice.com/betterexcerpt.htm). Learn more about Price, who lives in Sebastopol, Calif., north of San Francisco, at www.joanprice.com.
Price's book is one of several we've seen in recent months on this subject. The others are: "Seniors in Love: A Second Chance for Single, Divorced and Widowed Seniors," by ROBERT WOLLEY, published with large type (Greentop, Mo.: Hatala Geroproducts, 2005); "One Last Dance: It's Never Too Late to Fall in Love," a novel by MARDO WILLIAMS (New York City: Calliope Press, 2005), contact EILEEN WYMAN, information@caliopepress.com for a review copy; "Better Than Ever: Love and Sex at Midlife," by BERNIE ZILBERGELD, PhD, with GEORGE ZILBERGELD, PhD., (Norwalk, Conn.: Crown House Publishing, 2004), contact NANCY SAYLES, nsayles@socal.rr.com; "Sex and Love for Grownups: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Life of Passion," by Sally Foley (New York City: Sterling Publishing/AARP, 2005), contact Jared Wadley, University of Michigan media office, jwadley@umich.edu. The original title on this subject, Love and Sex After 60," was first published in 1976 by Robert N. Butler and his future wife, Myrna I. Lewis. In 2002, Lewis, who died recently, and Butler issued the fourth revised edition, "The New Love and Sex After 60" (New York City: Ballentine Books).
5. "AN OLDER AMERICANS ACT PRIMER: WHAT IS IT AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?"
[Editor's note: The following short tutorial on the Older Americans Act is contributed by Nancy Aldrich, former editor and current contributor to Older Americans Report. She is a freelancer writer and editor of Aging Opportunities News Online. Everybody has heard of senior centers and meals on wheels, but too few reporters and members of the public know that they constitute our tax dollars at work. Nancy knows more about the ins and outs of the OAA than just about any other journalist in Washington, so we were delighted when she offered to work up this short overview for ABO. Following, with our thanks to Nancy, is her piece, Web links and all.]
By NANCY ALDRICH
Age-beat journalists should keep an eye on the Older Americans Act (OAA) reauthorization this year. Although most people, including many age-beat writers, know little about the federal statute, it is something many older adults are aware of, especially if they frequent senior centers, congregate meal programs or any of a number of programs stemming from the act. First passed in 1965, the same years Medicare and Medicaid were enacted, OAA funds the U.S. Administration on Aging (within the Department of Health and Human Service) and its programs. The law also funds training and job placement for older Americans through the Department of Labor. The recent White House Conference on Aging recommendations gave impetus to reauthorizing the act--voting it the number-1 resolution adopted by conference delegates!
Reauthorization is a common legislative practice compelling Congress to revisit important programs every few years. Unless legislation like OAA is renewed--often with changes in funding or structure--the programs within it would disappear. (Sometimes Congress has postponed action on multi-year reauthorization because of a pending debate. In those cases it can pass a continuing resolution to keep the programs for one year.) OAA has been reauthorized14 times since 1965. The current reauthorization expired in 2005, but the programs always seem to keep on ticking. This is the law that set in place the "aging network" of state and local area agencies on aging, and senior centers. It authorizes a grants program to states, which funnel the money on to local area agencies on aging (AAAs), not to be confused with the automobile association, to be used for community planning and services. These services include congregate and home-delivered meals (better known as meals on wheels), transportation services, in-home services, legal assistance, home repair and many others.
OAA also has provisions for training and placing low-income older adults in community service and private-sector employment. There is a special section for assuring services to American Indian tribal organizations and Native Alaskans and Hawaiians, and one on elder rights, which covers long-term care ombudsman, elder abuse prevention, etc. A relatively new addition to the act offers support services for family caregivers.
With an annual budget of just over $1 billion--less than the cost of a single B-2 bomber--and only modest or no funding increases for many years, OAA services are targeted to those in the greatest economic and social need, primarily low-income and ethnic/racial minority elders age 60 or older. The act has been a low visibility, scandal-free, great bang-for-the-buck program, as the aging network leverages dollars through many coalitions with state and local governments, institutions, and private-sector partnerships.
With the first boomers just turning 60, this year's reauthorization is expected to focus on creating coalitions so that local entities can better work together to prepare for the age boom. There will be a move to amend the National Family Caregiver Support Program to make the Alzheimer's disease demonstration projects permanent and tie them to caregiver support. Also, there may be changes to older-worker provisions. The legislation will go through the Senate HELP Committee and the House Education Committee. For a quick summary of the act's sections, go to: http://www.seniorserviceamerica.org/events/40thanniversary.html
A good highlight of the OAA's reauthorization history can be found at: http://www.n4a.org/pdf/OAA_Toolkit_Key_Mile_Markers.pdf#search='THE%20OLDER%20AMERICANS%20ACT%20FROM%201965%20TO%20THE%20PRESENT'
AoA links on the OAA: http://www.aoa.gov/about/legbudg/oaa/legbudg_oaa.asp
OAA regulations: http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title42/chapter35_.html
ABO readers wishing to keep track of what is going on with OAA programs should talk to local aging network folks, as well as the National Association of State Units on Aging, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging and National Council on the Aging. Lots of information is on their websites.
In addition, I'll also be posting stories on my website, http://www.agingopportunities.com/breakingnews.html.
6. WHY AGE DOESN'T DICTATE WISDOM: Parade Magazine, the Sunday supplement run in many newspapers, ran its annual review of the world's most destructive leaders on Sunday (Jan. 21). "Who Is the World's Worst Dictator?" by DAVID WALLECHINSKY lists this year's Top 10, based on reports from Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and other groups. Number 1, again this year: Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, age 62. The oldest: King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia, 82. Average age of the Top 10: 68.4 years. Details about these plus 10 additional members of Parade's procession of moral pariahs, visit www.parade.com. _______________________________________________________________
The Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA) publishes AGE BEAT ONLINE with the assistance of the American Society on Aging (ASA). JEoA provides information and networking opportunities for journalists covering issues in aging but not those representing services, products or organizational agendas. ASA is a nonpartisan, nonlobbying organization of professionals in aging that is based in San Francisco. Its mandate is to serve as a forum for all points of view. Opinions expressed in ABO do not represent those of ASA. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat.
Technorati Tags: Agebeat, Aging, Media, Social Security
Report on trends in family caregiving
The Urban Institute's Health Policy Center sent this out today: "Brenda Spillman and Kirsten Black, in a report for the AARP Policy Institute, review and update trends in family caregiving to disabled elders. Unpaid, informal caregivers provide most long-term care in the United States, and family caregivers-specifically spouses and children-most commonly provide it. The report finds that the number of family caregivers remained stable between 1994 and 1999, a period when formal, paid care fell, in part owing to reductions in Medicare home health care following the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. As a result of the decline in formal care, elders receiving disability help in 1999 were more likely to be relying solely on informal care. Declines in formal care were larger for persons who had only a spouse available to provide care and for persons at higher levels of disability. The implications of these shifts in caregiving patterns are unclear as of this writing, but clearly important to carefully monitor.
Medicare compromise saves billions for biz
Article on front of today's Washington Post and many other places discusses Senate and House meetings last month that ended up removing a provision of the budget bill that saved health care companies $22 billion. It's a CBO report.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Improper payments in Medicare transport program
Just came upon this tonight on ResourceShelf Docuticker. You can find a PDF link there.
Medicare--Ambulance Payments
Source: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General
Medicare Payments for Ambulance Transports (PDF; 836 KB)
"Twenty-five percent of ambulance transports did not meet Medicare’s program requirements, resulting in an estimated $402 million of improper payments."
Medicare--Ambulance Payments
Source: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General
Medicare Payments for Ambulance Transports (PDF; 836 KB)
"Twenty-five percent of ambulance transports did not meet Medicare’s program requirements, resulting in an estimated $402 million of improper payments."
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Bush officials fighting back on Medicare
In tomorrow's (Wednesday's) Washington Post, an article says federal health officials will be heading out across the country to tout the successes of Medicare Part D, which they say includes enrolling millions more for drug coverage now than in the past. It's an offensive meant to challenge reports of discontent across the nation.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Schorr: A nightmare for seniors
NPR analyst Daniel Schorr tonight on All Things Considered said Medicare is a nightmare for seniors. You can listen to his commentary here.
"Blogging is just writing"
This is on Romenesko today, for those wondering about blogs:
Dumenco realizes there's really no such thing as blogging from AdAge.com
"Blogging is just writing -- writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology," writes Simon Dumenco. "Even though I tend to first use Microsoft Word on the way to being published, I am not, say, a Worder or Wordder. Its just software, people! The underlying creative/media function remains exactly the same. ...In the very near future, there are only going to be two types of media people: those who can reliably work and publish (or broadcast) incredibly fast, and those ... who can't."
Dumenco realizes there's really no such thing as blogging from AdAge.com
"Blogging is just writing -- writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology," writes Simon Dumenco. "Even though I tend to first use Microsoft Word on the way to being published, I am not, say, a Worder or Wordder. Its just software, people! The underlying creative/media function remains exactly the same. ...In the very near future, there are only going to be two types of media people: those who can reliably work and publish (or broadcast) incredibly fast, and those ... who can't."
What's on blogs about Medicare Part D
If you are wondering what people are saying on blogs about Medicare Part D, here is a search on Technorati. You also will see a chart that shows a steady increase in posts in recent weeks that peaked around Jan. 1, but remains higher than last month. Some of these posts are from groups and others who use blogs to get their message across, but some are from regular folks. It's one snapshot of the situation. (By the way, there are other places to search blogs. I like Technorati because you can create a Watchlist of a search and keep it open as a mini-window on your computer. It's a good way to keep track of chatter about breaking news.)
Bush orders Medicare changes
I'm guessing everyone saw this NY Times article today, about President Bush ordering insurors to keep up a supply of drugs for 30 days, if people were getting it. It's apparently in response to recent state actions we've mentioned in other posts.
Friday, January 13, 2006
14 states now intervening in Medicare
According to a New York Times article this morning, 14 states are now involved in trying to help people who are being caught short in the transition to Medicare Part D. Penn., Calif. and Illinois signed up yesterday. Meanwhile, if you want to read the full text, and see all the organizations, that sent a letter yesterday to the feds asking them to delay the plan because of the dual eligible issue, You can read it hear on the National Senior Citizen Law Center's site.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Calif. joins states helping on Medicare
Just posted on LA Times web site:
"SACRAMENTO -- California officials ordered emergency action today to cover drug costs for hundreds of thousands of elderly Californians who have been caught in a maddening cycle of bureaucratic glitches in the new federal prescription drug program.
"The action by California capped a day in which the new Medicare prescription drug program -- one of President Bush's signature domestic policy initiatives -- came under withering criticism across the country from governors and members of Congress of both political parties. Critics said the program, which Bush had touted as the most significant advance in Medicare in 40 years, was fast becoming a public health emergency."
As I mentioned in a post this morning, this is obviously coming to dominate Medicare news in many places. Anyone predict a repeat of the catastrophic health care repeal from 1980s? Older people chasing congressmen down the street?
"SACRAMENTO -- California officials ordered emergency action today to cover drug costs for hundreds of thousands of elderly Californians who have been caught in a maddening cycle of bureaucratic glitches in the new federal prescription drug program.
"The action by California capped a day in which the new Medicare prescription drug program -- one of President Bush's signature domestic policy initiatives -- came under withering criticism across the country from governors and members of Congress of both political parties. Critics said the program, which Bush had touted as the most significant advance in Medicare in 40 years, was fast becoming a public health emergency."
As I mentioned in a post this morning, this is obviously coming to dominate Medicare news in many places. Anyone predict a repeat of the catastrophic health care repeal from 1980s? Older people chasing congressmen down the street?
Sex, NY Times, and woman over 50
Ah, should have guessed: The NYTimes article tomorrow about sex and the older woman is prompted, in part, by Gail Sheehy upcoming book. The article is online tonight. Here's one excerpt from the article:
"But attitudes have been shifting. The generation of women liberated by feminism and the Pill in the 1960's aren't slipping quietly into postmenopausal celibacy; and books and movies are reflecting the change.
"There is a raft of new books with the message that women over 50 can be sexually attractive and can have great sex, including Gail Sheehy's "Sex and the Seasoned Woman," an anecdote-filled compendium of women living what Ms. Sheehy calls "fully and passionately," coming out this month from Random House."
Interesting angle, mentioned in the article, is how adult children react to their parents sexuality.
"But attitudes have been shifting. The generation of women liberated by feminism and the Pill in the 1960's aren't slipping quietly into postmenopausal celibacy; and books and movies are reflecting the change.
"There is a raft of new books with the message that women over 50 can be sexually attractive and can have great sex, including Gail Sheehy's "Sex and the Seasoned Woman," an anecdote-filled compendium of women living what Ms. Sheehy calls "fully and passionately," coming out this month from Random House."
Interesting angle, mentioned in the article, is how adult children react to their parents sexuality.
Sex and the "how old is she?" woman
I am enjoying the luxury of a day off, which means I can read ALL of the New York Times, even those promotional ads for what we will see in tomorrow's paper. The NYT says Friday we can expect an article on "sex and the older woman" about "a flurry of new films and books" that "may be signalling a big shift in attitudes toward older woman's sexuality." I will be interested to see how the article defines "old" -- are we talking more parts for 40-somethings or 60-somethings? Sometimes the Times posts lifestyle/entertainment articles late in day before publication. If I see it, I'll post link.
Roundup of state action on Medicare
Kaisernetwork.org has an excellent roundup of various state actions recently on Medicare -- mostly to help the dual eligibles. You can find it under its health policy report. (You can receive Kaisernetwork's reports by email, which is handy.) Meanwhile, judging from the headlines and stories on my GoogleNews Medicare section, the theme for Medicare continues to be about glitches, problems, and confusion.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
IRE has resource list on cold, flu
IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.) has good page of resources for the cold and flu season in its Janaury/February issue of The IRE Journal. You need to be a member (or know one) to see it, but I recommend tracking it down because it is a comprehensive, helpful resource.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
GAO has new report on VA long-term care
GAO has new report on VA long-term care trends and challenges. You can read the summary here, which has a link to the full report.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Latest Age Beat Online
The latest e-mail edition of Age Beat Online is now available. You can read the whole thing here. The topics this week are:
IN THIS ISSUE: Coming out of our medically induced coma (2005).
1. REGISTERING FOR THE 2006 NCOA-ASA JOINT CONFERENCE IN ANAHEIM, MARCH 16-19.
2. ASA ANNOUNCES 2006 MEDIA AWARD WINNERS
3. “AGE BEATLES NEWS”: “The Number” author Lee Eisenberg on CBS This Week; Wall Street Journal Team gets Book Deal; Trudy Lieberman on Medicaid “Mismanaged Care” in The Nation; “Make Room for Boomers” Series on Community Involvement via Nonprofits
4. “PART D REPORT”: Low-Income Seniors Denied Prescriptions
5. “LARKIN’S LINKS” on a Fitness Kit and Surgery Options
6. “ON THE ABO BLOG”: What an RSS Feed Is; Pew Survey on End of Life; The Pioneer Movement and Nursing Homes in Illinois.
IN THIS ISSUE: Coming out of our medically induced coma (2005).
1. REGISTERING FOR THE 2006 NCOA-ASA JOINT CONFERENCE IN ANAHEIM, MARCH 16-19.
2. ASA ANNOUNCES 2006 MEDIA AWARD WINNERS
3. “AGE BEATLES NEWS”: “The Number” author Lee Eisenberg on CBS This Week; Wall Street Journal Team gets Book Deal; Trudy Lieberman on Medicaid “Mismanaged Care” in The Nation; “Make Room for Boomers” Series on Community Involvement via Nonprofits
4. “PART D REPORT”: Low-Income Seniors Denied Prescriptions
5. “LARKIN’S LINKS” on a Fitness Kit and Surgery Options
6. “ON THE ABO BLOG”: What an RSS Feed Is; Pew Survey on End of Life; The Pioneer Movement and Nursing Homes in Illinois.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Millions left behind, Families USA says
From Families USA today:
Find the news release here.
The new Medicare prescription drug program, which began on January 1 of this year, is leaving at least 4.7 million low-income seniors without the benefits they are entitled to. According to the Social Security Administration, only 1 million low-income seniors out of a pool of 5.7 to 6.6 million have been approved to receive low-income drug subsidies.
Find the news release here.
Pew report on Medicaid
Now out from another arm of the folks at Pew, this time the Pew Center on the States: A report on Medicaid called "Bridging the Gap Between Cost and Care." Link here for the news release and link here for the report page.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
I resolve to ... tell you about this column
Please have a look at this Poynter column by Thomas Huang of Dallas Morning News, about one editor's resolutions for the New Year. Even if it didn't mention the baby boom, the sandwich generation, and his grandmother, I'd recommend it to any age beater.
Pew finds strong support for right to die
New from Pew Research Center today:
An overwhelming majority of the public supports laws that give patients the right to decide whether they want to be kept alive through medical treatment. And fully 70% say there are circumstances when patients should be allowed to die, while just 22% believe that doctors and nurses should always do everything possible to save a patient.
Public attitudes on these and many other end-of-life issues are unchanged from 1990, despite advances in lifesaving technology, the aging of the population, and the controversy associated with the Terri Schiavo case. Most Americans believe it should be up to individuals not the government or medical professionals to ultimately determine their end-of-life medical decisions.
The "big lump" generation turning 60
Found this editorial on an English-language news site in Japan:
The rest goes on to talk, in terms familiar to any age beater in America, about the impact of this "big lumpers," even mentioning a new magazine for them, named, sadly, after a flightless bird (not the dodo).
When these people were born, some rubble from the devastating wartime air raids still remained. Japan's people were hungry, but peace was returning to the land. Then, in the three years from 1947-49, some 8 million babies were born in this war-ravaged country, creating Japan's first and biggest postwar baby boom.
This generation later came to be known as the dankai no sedai ("big lump" generation). Starting in 2007, these baby boomers will start entering retirement in huge numbers.
The dankai generation has brought many drastic changes and frictions to society as they have progressed through each stage of life.
The rest goes on to talk, in terms familiar to any age beater in America, about the impact of this "big lumpers," even mentioning a new magazine for them, named, sadly, after a flightless bird (not the dodo).
Monday, January 02, 2006
Oh, and the boomers turned 60....
If you are interested in seeing the numerous ways the media are covering the boomers turning 60 story, you can click on this link to see a Google News search.
Watch those e-mail interviews
Something for every journalist to read: Article in today's NY Times about how individuals, organizations and businesses are fighting back with blogs and web sites, sometimes posting e-mail exchanges with reporters. Find it here.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Happy New Year! now go to bed!
Not sure it was a sign of the passing of an era, but I found myself watching Carson Daly ring in the New Year on NBC because it was too sad and painful to hear the post-stroke Dick Clark, no longer America's Eternal Teenager. And then, after feeling a little old with the passing of another year, especially since I knew NONE of the musical acts, on comes an ad -- at 12:06 -- noting that the baby boomers are turning 60! There is a man -- if he was someone famous, it was lost on me -- playing guitar, rocking out. The implication -- hey, this is what 60 looks like! The advertiser -- a financial services firm. If there ever was a death knell for the 60s, it was there -- they play John Lennon's Imagine on the run up to midnight, then Carson Daly counts it down for the MTV generation, then they try to sell us boomers on financial planning with some aging rock star persona. Remember -- 2006 is only 5 years from the year the first boomer turns 65!
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Health care in central Illinois: Pioneer Movement in Illinois
Dean Olsen of the State Journal-Register in Illinois passes along this story for age-beaters, "Putting the home in nursing home/'Pioneer Movement' stress building relationships with caregivers" ... It's on his blog at Health care in central Illinois: Pioneer Movement in Illinois
Friday, December 30, 2005
A day in the life
Please take a look at this story from Tom French in today's St. Petersburg Times. Tom is known for his long-form narratives, including one that got him a Pulitzer, but this is a shorter piece that looks at the life of one older couple on one typical day. It begins:
Sometimes, you can live an entire lifetime in a single morning. Just take a walk with Bill Futch.Well done piece.
How many boomers are there?
So, the Census Bureau today reported that there will be 298 million people in America come New Year's Day. But how many will be boomers, who start turning 60 on Jan. 1. I've seen all sorts of figures, from 76 million to, today in USA Today, 79 million. The bureau says there are 78.2 million boomers, as of July 1, 2005.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Mass. passes Part D help
Massachusetts lawmakers passed a bill today that will help seniors and the disabled if their drugs are not covered under a new Medicare Part D plan. The bill, which now goes to the governor, offers a one-time, 30-day supply, which is meant as a safety net in case a drug is not on the plan or costs more. Not sure I've heard of a similar plan in any other state. Read the AP story here.
Census report on health, social revenue
Census Bureau today updated its "2004 Service Annual Survey: Health Care and Social Assistance (NAICS 62)." It provides data on "revenues by ambulatory health-care services, hospitals, physicians’ offices, nursing and residential care facilities and social assistance firms." It a good resource to check when you are wondering how much revenue various providers bring in, plus there is good historical data to compare.
Medicare articles in today's NEJM
Four Perspective piece in today's New England Journal of Medicine take a look at various issues related to Medicare Part D. The full text of each is available online.
Take my RSS feed, please
This blog is a work in progress, and since it started in October, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of people checking it out. Most days lately, it averages about 50 viewers. Small, but so were the first electronic versions of Age Beat Online, which soon grew so big I had to divide the e-mail list in two because my Internet Service Provider thought I was a spammer.
One way to save time is to subscribe to the blog as an RSS feed. If you don’t know what those are, you probably have seen the letters in small boxes on more and more web sites. Essentially, it is a way for you to get notice whenever a web page is updated. You need an RSS reader – most are free; I use Bloglines, since it is Internet based and I can use it anyway.
If all of this is confusing, check out this column from Jonathan Dube of Cyberjournalist.net. It’s a great primer on RSS feeds. (I get feeds from news sites, Romenesko, Medicare, the Census and more.) Once you read this, you can find this blog’s RSS feeds by clicking either the link that says "My Atom Feed" or the box that says Feedburner on the right side of the page. (I’d suggest Feedburner, because it will link to a page where you can pick the right feed for whatever RSS reader you use.)
Questions? Please ask me.
One way to save time is to subscribe to the blog as an RSS feed. If you don’t know what those are, you probably have seen the letters in small boxes on more and more web sites. Essentially, it is a way for you to get notice whenever a web page is updated. You need an RSS reader – most are free; I use Bloglines, since it is Internet based and I can use it anyway.
If all of this is confusing, check out this column from Jonathan Dube of Cyberjournalist.net. It’s a great primer on RSS feeds. (I get feeds from news sites, Romenesko, Medicare, the Census and more.) Once you read this, you can find this blog’s RSS feeds by clicking either the link that says "My Atom Feed" or the box that says Feedburner on the right side of the page. (I’d suggest Feedburner, because it will link to a page where you can pick the right feed for whatever RSS reader you use.)
Questions? Please ask me.
Privatization? What's that?
It might be true, as several age beaters suggested at the White House Conference on Aging, that the Social Security issue has fallen off the radar, but please check out the commentary from Greg Anrig Jr. on The Century Foundation web site. Called "The Best and Worst in Social Security, 2005," it's especially worth reading for the exchange about the media's use of the word "privatization" by pollster Frank Luntz. Anrig says it's the worst moment in 2005 for Social Security.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Just in time for the New Year...
...a "Welcome Back to Fitness" web site, from the International Council on Active Aging. It targets boomers who are new, or in my case (hoping to) return to exercise. Sounds like good topic. (And by the way...did anyone mention the first of the boomers turns 60 on Jan. 1. Still time to write that story.)
Age Beat Online for Dec. 28
The latest Age Beat Online, the newsletter of the Journalists Exchange on Aging, is now available. Click here for full copy. In this issue: Father Time wins; it’s touch and go for Mother Nature.
1. “AGE BEATLES NEWS”: Respect Your Elders (in Tsunamis and Hurricanes); Willow Carey of WHYY’s “Wider Horizons” Wins Award
2. “LARKIN’S LINKS”: Alzheimer’s Imaging Study
3. “ON THE ABO BLOG”: Personal Misery on the Rise
4. ON THE CALENDAR: Health Care Journalists Awards Deadline
5. MINUTES OF THE JEoA MEETING AT THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE
1. “AGE BEATLES NEWS”: Respect Your Elders (in Tsunamis and Hurricanes); Willow Carey of WHYY’s “Wider Horizons” Wins Award
2. “LARKIN’S LINKS”: Alzheimer’s Imaging Study
3. “ON THE ABO BLOG”: Personal Misery on the Rise
4. ON THE CALENDAR: Health Care Journalists Awards Deadline
5. MINUTES OF THE JEoA MEETING AT THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE
"Personal misery" up since early 1990s
Just released this week, in time for the New Year ... "Troubles in America: A Study of Negative Life Events Across Times and Sub-groups," from the respected folks at the U. of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. According to a news release, "the number of people reporting at least one significant negative life event increased to 92 percent from 88 percent in 1991, the last time the survey was done." Tops on the list for many? Health care. There is a wealth of data by age and other status, including "retiree," but be warned, some of the charts use precise statistical terms, which can be daunting to some of us.
Tip sheet on Medicare, poisonings
Al Tompkins excellent morning tip sheet from Poynter Institute includes some links on Medicare drug plan, but it is the first item accidential acetaminophen poisoning that caught my eye. Wonder about ages of the victims -- up to 56,000 a year who end up in ER's.
Monday, December 26, 2005
New material on ABO newsletter
A late holiday present for all of you: a revised Age Beat Online newsletter for Dec. 20, with some addition material from White House Conference on Aging.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Happy Christmas to all....
...and to all (as to us) a Good Night.
The blog (and the blogger) will be taking a break until after Christmas. Happy Holidays to all.
John
Thursday, December 22, 2005
1 million Part D enrollees so far
This from the Chicago Tribune this afternoon: "More than one million people voluntarily signed up for the new Medicare drug benefit in the first four weeks of a six-month enrollment period, according to Bush Administration estimates released today. The administration says the number will bring a total of 21 million or more elderly and disabled Americans drug coverage come Jan. 1. The number includes retirees that have already had drug coverage through employers or unions, people enrolled in managed-care plans and other arrangements that will be getting enhanced Medicare subsidiies." (Registration required to this or another Tribune paper)
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
End-of-life essays from Hasting Center
The Hasting Center, a bioethics research institute, has published a new report on end-of-life issues, called "Improving End-Of-Life Care: Why Has It Been So Difficult?" The report includes essays from leading experts like Dr. Joanne Lynn, who is my favorite interview on this subject. (Note: Free Registration reguired to get this.)
Competing views on new drug plans
Families USA reported today that the new Medicare prescription drug plans "offer meager savings" and are, for example, substantially higher than VA plans. The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association quickly responded by challenging Families USA.
Study on detecting Alzheimer's biomarker
Part of news released this afternoon by National Institute on Aging: "The search for new measures, or "biomarkers," to detect Alzheimer's disease (AD) before signs of memory loss appear has advanced an important step in a study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and the University of Pittsburgh. The researchers combined high-tech brain imaging with measurement of beta-amyloid protein fragments in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). They found that greater amounts of beta-amyloid containing plaques in the brain were associated with lower levels of a specific protein fragment, amyloid-beta 1-42, in CSF. Prior research indicates that amyloid-beta 1-42 is central to AD development. The fragment is a major component of amyloid plaques in the brain, which are believed to influence cell-to-cell communication and are considered a hallmark of the Alzheimer's brain. The study, published online December 21, 2005, by the "Annals of Neurology", is the first to examine the relationship between levels of amyloid plaque deposits in the brain and different forms of beta-amyloid in CSF in living humans." (Contact : Susan Farrer or Vicky Cahan, 301-496-1752 at NIA for more details.)
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Latest Age Beat Online is now available
Age Beat Online editor Paul Kleyman has published his latest edition. The intro is below; click here if you want to read the whole thing.
1. WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON AGING: Presidential "Cowering"
2. "AGE BEATLES NEWS": Seasoned Woman's Network by Gail Sheehy, now with Jane Glenn Haas; Diane Weddington in Remission
3. "LARKIN'S LINKS": Research on Aging
1. WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON AGING: Presidential "Cowering"
2. "AGE BEATLES NEWS": Seasoned Woman's Network by Gail Sheehy, now with Jane Glenn Haas; Diane Weddington in Remission
3. "LARKIN'S LINKS": Research on Aging
Monday, December 19, 2005
"Twins comparison suggests genetic risk for dementia"
Just e-mailed from National Institute on Aging: (Susan Farrer or Vicky Cahan, 301-496-1752) -- "On average, twins of people who have been diagnosed with dementia score lower on cognitive tests than do the twins of people without dementia, new research has found. The study, which included more than 100 Swedish twins age 65 and older, also found that, on average, identical twins of people with dementia have poorer cognitive skills than do fraternal non-identical) twins of people with dementia."
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Intergeneration day care growing
I remember a couple of my first stories on aging were in the late 1980s at an intergenerational day care center in Palm Harbor, north of Clearwater, Fl. The LA Times says such day cares are growing. Good to hear.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Going dark for a few days
Hi all. I am starting another blog for my paper, so need to back off this for few days. I'll be back before the White House Conference on Aging starts next week.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
What is I want to buy my drugs in Canada...
...what will that mean under Medicare Part D? Good question on one answered in this Scripps column.
CMS announces dual-eligible safeguards
According to an AP report, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have a plan to assure it doesn't miss dual eligible who are being moved into the new presciption drug plan. The Medicare Rights Center, which sued over this issue, says it isn't dropping the suit just yet.
Now here's some good news for the morning
A new study finds an apparent link between drinking coffeee and better memory. YEAH! Read it here.
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