Kaiser Foundation Study Says Satisfaction High With Medicare Part D

sssssMore than eight in 10 seniors who are enrolled in a Medicare drug plan are satisfied with their plan, although almost two in 10 say they encountered a major problem in using it, according to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking survey of seniors’ experiences under the new Medicare drug benefit.

The survey of 1,585 seniors, including 623 who are enrolled in a new Medicare Part D drug plan, reveals that, for most seniors, initial experiences under the drug benefit have been positive. About three in four seniors who are enrolled in a drug plan would choose the same plan again.

The survey also finds that about a third (34%) of seniors who have used their plan had experiences that they perceived as a problem -- with 18% describing it as a "major problem" and 16% describing it as a "minor problem." The experiences cited as problems include having to pay unexpected costs, leaving the pharmacy without being able to fill a prescription, not receiving their enrollment card and having to switch drugs because one wasn’t covered. Some seniors also cited having to switch from a brand-name to a generic drug as a problem, though others who reported such an experience did not consider it to be a problem.

Nearly all (90%) of those reporting minor problems say that the problem was resolved to their satisfaction. Slightly more than half (55%) of those reporting a major problem say that it had been resolved, with the rest (44%) saying it was unresolved.

The complete press release is available.

Silver Haired Legislature Plans 2007 Legislative Agenda

(Columbia) -- Members of the South Carolina Silver Haired Legislature (SHL) began working on their 2007 legislative agenda Thursday (July 27). More than 80 seniors from across the state met to discuss ideas for improving the health and welfare of the state’s fast-growing senior population.

Positive steps taken by state lawmakers on behalf of South Carolina seniors during the past legislative session were outlined by Nela Gibbons, Director of the Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging. She thanked SHL Speaker Tom Lloyd of West Columbia and the other assembled SHL members for their efforts to help prepare South Carolina for the near future when the number of citizens 65 and older is projected to double to 1.3 million. “Thanks to your leadership, we have made some tremendous gains in the areas of senior health,” said Gibbons.

Download the complete press release for this event (PDF format) .

Study Says Medication Errors Cause 1.5 Million Injuries Annually

According to a new study released Thursday (July 20) by the the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM), an estimated 800,000 preventable injuries attributible to medication errors occur in long-term care settings each year in the United States, and an additional 530,000 occur among Medicare recipients in outpatient clinics.

Medication errors encompass all mistakes involving prescription drugs, over-the-counter products, vitamins, minerals, or herbal supplements.  Errors are common at every stage, from prescription and administration of a drug to monitoring of the patient's response, the committee found.  It estimated that on average, there is at least one medication error per hospital patient per day, although error rates vary widely across facilities.  Not all errors lead to injury or death, but the number of preventable injuries that do occur -- the committee estimated at least 1.5 million each year -- is sobering, the report says.

Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public.

A press release with additional information about the study is available online.

The study itself, Preventing Medication Errors: Quality Chasm Series, can be purchased or read for free on the IOM website.

Grant Funding for Medication Management Awareness Projects Available in Five Rural South Carolina Counties

The Lt. Governor's Office on Aging has grant funding available for community organizations interested in helping raise awareness of medication management issues in five rural South Carolina counties.

Application packets are available now for grant funding of programs designed to increase awareness of medication management issues among seniors in Chesterfield, Clarendon, Lee Orangeburg and Williamsburg counties. Program activities that can be funded under the grant include providing programs that educate seniors on medication management issues and distribute “vials of life” to seniors who live in rural areas. The Vials of Life project is an attempt to save lives by providing crucial medical information quickly during a medical emergency. The program provides individuals with an apparatus to record and store accurate information about one’s medical condition, including medications and allergies. This information is kept in the freezer section of the refrigerator and/or the glove compartment of one’s automobile. The location is known by Emergency Management Services personnel, policeman and firemen.

Organizations interested in applying should contact Project Coordinator Pamela Blake Grant in the Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging prior to July 30 at the following telephone numbers or e-mail address:

1-800-868-9095, or 803-734-9000,
or e-mail at grantp@aging.sc.gov.

Grant application packages are also available for download from the "Forms and Applications" section of the Lt. Governor's Office on Aging web site.

Housing Development for Deaf and Blind Seniors Breaks Ground in Spartanburg

The online version of the Spartanburg Herald Journal, GoUpstate.com, reports that ground was broken Thursday (July 20) on a 48-bed apartment complex that will serve primarily elderly deaf and blind residents.

According to the article by Herald Journal Staff writer Alexander Morrison, the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind, located across the road from the project, plans to take an active role in the lives of the project's future residents, perhaps having them serve as mentors for the schools students. The project is scheduled to be complete in August of 2007.

The complete article is available online.

Guidebooks and Fact Sheets on Extreme
Heat Events Available from EPA & CDC

Note: This ANS article was originally posted on June 26. With temperatures near the triple digits expected for much of South Carolina over the next few days, the referenced fact sheets and guidebook from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control can provide helpful information for the public, and for agencies dealing with vulnerable populations.

With the official start of summer comes temperatures soaring into the 90's or even triple digits. With that in mind, federal health and environmental agencies have collaborated on a new publication aimed at preparing local government agencies and emergency responders for extreme heat.

Medicare Part B Premiums Set to Increase next Year

The July 12 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation's on line Daily Health Policy Report includes an article on the expected increase in Medicare Part B insurance premiums next year.

The news about increased expenses in the the Part B program and the subsequent expected increase in premiums for next year was included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mid-year report for Fiscal Year 2006. The report also noted that expenses for the new Part D prescription drug benefit are somewhat lower than expected.

The current issue of the Daily Health Policy report from kaisernetworg.org is available.

A fact sheet on the Medicare spending projections is available from the CMS Office of Media Affairs.

New Study Finds Family Caregivers of Stroke Patients Poorly Prepared for Ending of Agency Home Care Services

A study undertaken by the United Hospital Fund (UHF) and the University of Pittsburgh that followed the family caregivers of stroke and brain injury patients makes the case for more emphasis on education, support and services for family caregivers BEFORE formal home care services for these individuals are ended.

According to a UHF press release:

“This study demonstrates the gap between the needs of caregivers of patients with chronic conditions and the services that are provided under a system based on short-term, acute care rehabilitation,” says Carol Levine, lead researcher of the study and director of the Fund's Families and Health Care Project. “The home care agencies are doing their job; they are providing the services policymakers have decided to pay for. But, as we move toward even shorter lengths of hospital stay and toward home- and-community-based services, policymakers and practitioners should view our findings with concern. Without adequate support for family caregivers, no system of chronic care in the community can function.”

Published in June in The Milbank Quarterly, the study, titled “‘This Case Is Closed': Family Caregivers and the Termination of Home Health Care Services for Stroke Patients,” enrolled and periodically interviewed a sample of 99 New York City family caregivers taking care of stroke or brain injury patients following their discharge from a hospital or short-term nursing home stay. Caregivers were recruited through three collaborating Certified Home Health Agencies and represented a geographically and ethnically diverse sample.

The complete study can be downloaded in the PDF format.

In South Carolina, the Family Caregiver Support Program coordinated by the Lt. Governor's Office on Aging puts a Family Caregiver Advocate in each of 10 Regional Area Agencies on Aging who can provide:

• Information about local caregiver resources
• Respite Care
• Caregiver Training
• Counseling
• Support Groups
• Chore Services
• Medical supplies such as disposable undergarments or nutritional supplements

For more information, contact the Family Caregiver in the Area Agency on Aging that serves your county.

Older Workers Increasingly Common

The Boston Globe newspaper reports today on the growing trend of people continuing work well past traditional retirement age. The article, Pushing the limit; Workers 90 and over are redefining what it means to grow old, by Globe staff writer Douglas Belkin, cites national statistics that indicate that people 100 years and older are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. Acccording to Belkin:

About 27,000 Americans 90 and older are still in the workforce, according to a rough estimate taken from the current population survey conducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Centenarians, those who have lived to be 100 or older, are the fastest-growing segment of the US population. By 2050, their number is projected to increase ten fold. Some experts estimate that as many as one in 10 baby boomers now alive will live into their 100th year.

The complete article is available.

Semi-Retired Boomers Seeking More Flexible Employment

An article in the July 12 edition of the Miami Herald suggests that semi-retired baby boomers are driving a trend towards more flexible workplaces. The article makes the point that employers will see an increasing need over the next two decades to accomodate an older American workforce in order to remain productive:

This trend shows boomers expect to rely more on their own ability to support their retirement. The question now is, will employers accommodate them?

So far, only 30 percent of employers offer older workers opportunities to work fewer hours, a new survey by the international bank HSBC shows. Many still push older worker out the door, saying they cost more than younger workers.

But experts say that will change as businesses suffer from labor shortages and need workers with experience.

The complete article is available.

CMS Reports Decrease in Projected Medicare Part D Spending

According to a just-released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mid-year review for Fiscal Year 2006, Medicare Part D expenditures are now projected to be approximately $34 billion lower over 5 years (2006-2010) than in the President’s Budget, and $110 billion lower than in the Mid-Session Review one year ago.  The average Part D premium is almost 40 percent lower than had been projected a year ago as a result of strong competition, and 90 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are receiving prescription drug coverage.

The report projects an increase in the rate of spending for Medicare Parts A and B.

A fact sheet on the Medicare spending projections is available from the CMS Office of Media Affairs.

HHS Announces $15 Million Collaboration on Prevention for Older Americans

The federal Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Administration on Aging have annnounced a partnership project with the non-profit organization Atlantic philanthropies designed to address chronic disease and accident prevention.

HHS Secretary praised the projects potential in a July 5 HHS press release.

“This collaboration, led by the Administration on Aging (AoA) and involving several HHS agencies, states, and various public and private organizations at the community level, will empower older people to take more control of their own health through life style and behavioral changes that have proven effective in reducing the risk of disease and disability among the elderly,” Secretary Leavitt said. “Simply put, this collaboration will put the results of our research investments into the hands of older people so they can use it to improve the quality of their lives.”

For more information and a program announcement about the Empowering Older People to Take More Control of their Health through Evidence-Based Prevention Programs: A Public/Private Collaborative, please visit or call 202-357-0136.

The complete text of the press release is available on the press page of the HHS web site at the following URL:

To learn more about the Atlantic Philanthropies organizatin visit www.atlanticphilanthropies.org.

NCOA Launches New "Senior Focus" Electronic Newsletter

As a complement to it's widely-distributed weekly electronic update, NCOA Week, the National Council on Aging has launched a new, bi-monthly electrnic publication intended to provide "news and tips" that its members or other organizations involved in Aging issues can use in their own publications.

The June/July issue of Senior Focus contains the following articles:

1. Get Help Paying for Prescription Drugs
2. Just in Case: Be Prepared for Emergencies
3. Stay Cool this Summer
4. Memory Loss: What You Should Know
5. Get Tips in Spanish for Talking to Your Doctor
6. New Shot Could Prevent Shingles
7. Make a Difference Using Your Technology Skills
8. The Reading Corner: Exercise Therapy and the Cancer Patient

The text of these articles can be found online on the NCOA web site. NCOA members can get Senior Focus, NCOA Week and other NCOA publications delivered to them directly via e-mail. Visit www.NCOA.org for more information.

CMS Says Improvements Being Made in Part D Customer Service and Complaint Resolution

According to a June 29 press release from CMS’ Office of Media Affairs, Medicare has taken more than 1,000 compliance actions to improve prescription drug plan service to beneficiaries since January 1. CMS reports that in most cases, these actions have resulted in timely responses by the drug plans. Cases when plans did not resolve issues promptly have resulted in further enforcement actions to achieve compliance, such as restricting plans’ ability to enroll beneficiaries. One plan with recurrent service problems has been placed on a track that may result in termination. The complete press release is available.

Meanwhile, the Washington-based newsmagazine Congressional Quarterly reports that CMS in mid-July will begin to make public the types of complaints that Medicare beneficiaries have about their prescription drug plans, The latest issue of CQ HealthBeat (subscription required) reports that, according to CMS spokesperson Peter Ashkenaz, the agency will report complaints on a percentage basis relative to the total enrollment of Medicare prescription drug plans. In the past month, CMS has received about 2.2 complaints per 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in prescription drug plans, with most of the complaints related to enrollment or dis-enrollment in plans, problems with access to medications and the cost of treatments or copayments (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 6/29).