Author: Jack M. Rosenkranz
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Left Handed Health Risks!
On Dec 6 2011, Shirley S. Wang writes that there is some evidence that lefties “are better at divergent thinking or starting from existing knowledge to develop new concepts, which is considered an element of creativity.” In the next paragraph, however, she raises the point of a higher risk for schizophrenia.
Left handed people are only 10% of the population. Research has been done linking handedness and the development of the brain. The research is not conclusive at this time, however one pathway of prenatal stress is cortisol. Several studies show that pre natal issues of stress of life events of the mother result in cortisol being released into placenta barrier to influence the baby.
So is it possible that a left handed child is born with increased divergent thinking as a biological defense against a hostile world perceived by the mother?
For a video on how left handed and right handed people differ: Click here
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Senior-housing market is booming
November 27, 2011|By Harold Brubaker, Inquirer Staff Writer
“Though the overall housing market has not escaped the doldrums, the senior housing sector, driven by investment companies, has gone gangbusters since 2010.In the third quarter of 2011 alone, 39 senior housing deals worth $5.5 billion were completed, primarily by real estate investment trusts that specialize in housing for the elderly. That figure includes independent-living and assisted-living communities, but not nursing homes.
The total value of senior housing deals in the quarter ended Sept. 30 was greater than the combined total in the previous two full years, according to the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry in Annapolis, Md.”
http://articles.philly.com/2011-11-27/business/30447138_1_nursing-homes-seniors-housing-seniorcare-investor
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Medicaid Rerform
April 28, 2011
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Basic health security for seniors, the poor and people with disabilities would be privatized under a Republican plan pending in the Florida Legislature.
Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Community Health Action Information Network, takes issue with the plan, outlined in Senate Bill 1972.
“The main goal is to move all Floridians that are on Medicaid into privatized care, into privatized plan networks.
Goodhue underscores Florida’s dependence on Medicaid and says a pilot program to move people into a private health maintenance organization has not received rave reviews.
“Our organization has looked at various aspects of the pilot, and our conclusion is it hasn’t worked and people have really suffered.”
Republican lawmakers say the measure is needed to keep the state from sinking even further into debt.”
Florida state records show almost 3 million Floridians rely on Medicaid. Goodhue believes Medicaid privatization backed by Gov. Rick Scott is a bad idea, and the federal General Accounting Office says the efforts by Florida lawmakers to shut down expansion of Medicaid set for 2014 would deny coverage to millions of needy Floridians.
Les Coleman, Public News Service – FL
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60 days for Transition Program
The medicaid transition program is one of Florida responses to the US Supreme Court case named Olmstead. The Olmstead case brought ADA rights to those in nursing homes paid for by Medicaid. I find it important to recall the Haddad case from the Jacksonville US District Court. In the Haddad case an adult who was disabled living at home, refused to wait 60 days of residing in a nursing home. She argued that she would lose her supportive care network that had been established for years if she relocated. The federal court found her pleas had merit and ordered the state to provide the transition program. Currently Florida Citizens are forced to wait for care in the community. The Rosenrkanz law firm seeks to be creative during the 60 day wait for Transiton.
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Florida will cut Medicaid for Hospitals
Florida among states cutting costs by limiting Medicaid hospital coverage
By Ashley Lopez | 10.24.11 | 1:58 pm
The Florida IndependantKaiser Health News and USA Today report that Florida is among a slew of states that have been cutting costs by limiting hospital coverage in their Medicaid plans. Last week, an official for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration suggested that the state further cut coverage to a maximum of 12 emergency room visits a year for each Medicaid beneficiary.
Arizona and Hawaii are currently waiting for federal approval of their plans to cut hospital coverage in their plans, much like Florida already has.
“Advocates for the poor and hospital executives say the moves will restrict patients’ access to care, force hospitals to absorb more costs and lead to higher charges for privately insured patients,” Kaiser/USA Today reports. “States defend the actions as a way to balance budgets hammered by the economic downturn and the end of billions of dollars in federal stimulus funding this summer – funds that had helped prop up Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor.”
Florida is already among the list of states that have limited hospital coverage for Medicaid recipients in an effort to cut costs. The state’s Mediciad program currently only covers 45 days in a hospital for its beneficiaries.
Last week, acting Medicaid director Justin Senior told a Florida House health care committee that the state “could reduce home health visits for Medicaid beneficiaries and slash the amount of inpatient hospital care the program covers,” The News Service of Florida reported.
Senior said the state could limit emergency room visits to a maximum of 12 a year for each Medicaid recipient, which he said could save the state $12.2 million.
State Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, raised concerns for terminally ill patients who typically need more hospital visits. However, other members of the panel were “receptive” to the idea, the News Service reported:
Chairman Matt Hudson, R-Naples, said such a move could drive people to get treatment from primary-care doctors instead of emergency rooms, which could improve their health care.
Rep. John Wood, R-Winter Haven, appeared miffed that some Medicaid beneficiaries might go to the emergency room more than once a month, calling it “unacceptable.”
“If we’re allowing that type of behavior, shame on us,” Wood said.
Health advocates for low-income people are among those opposed to plans by states to limit hospital coverage for Medicaid patients.
Kaiser and USA Today report:
In Alabama, which has had a 16-day limit for more than decade, hospitals have billed patients for days not covered by Medicaid, said Larry Gardella, director of advocacy at Legal Services Alabama. Because poor patients often are unable to pay, the hospitals typically must pick up the cost, he said.
Another problem: Patients may also delay seeking elective services if they’ve already reached the coverage limit, Gardella said.
The state Legislature made significant cuts to the Florida program in the past year. Hospital coverage has been just one of the services that has been limited for Medicaid beneficiaries as the state aims to cut costs.
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Medicaid Impact on Florida
From an extensive report by Families USA:
“Medicaid makes it possible for Floridians to get the care they need. People with Medicaid have better access to health care than do the uninsured. A recent study that used a randomized, controlled design—the gold standard in medical research—found that, compared to the uninsured, people with Medicaid had better access to outpatient and hospital care and prescription drugs. They were also more likely to have a regular source of care. For people with serious health care needs, having access to care and having a regular source of care can improve health and lower rates of costly, and sometimes deadly, complications, or it can keep a disease from progressing.”
For the full report.
http://familiesusa2.org/assets/pdfs/medicaids-impact/Florida.pdf -
DAVID CAROLYN 5 Capacity
Ruskin, FL 33573 Adult Family Care Home
HillsboroughDAVID CAROLYN (813) 988-8408
4416 PORPOISE DRIVE
TAMPA, FL 33617Admin/CEO: CAROLYN DAVID
Owner: CAROLYN DAVID
This information is provided as a courtesy of The Rosenkranz Law Firm and The Informed Elder Institute, Inc. The Rosenkranz Law Firm and The Informed Elder Institute, Inc. does not recommend elder care providers. The names of elder care providers listed should be considered for information purposes only, not recommendations The Rosenkranz Law Firm and The Informed Elder Institute does not warrant accuracy of provider information, nor can we assure the quality of any elder care provider referred in this process. It is your right and responsibility to seek as much information as you can in order to choose elder care provider that meets your family’s needs.
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Cost to Working Daughter Caregivers in Lost Wealth
The MetLife Mature Market Institute has published a study, show the economic impact of caregiving. The study reports that it is much larger than most people think. Almost 10 million children over the age of 50 are caring for their parents. Hear are the key findings from the report.
Key Findings
• The percentage of adult children providing personal care and/or financial assistance to a parent has more than tripled over the past 15 years. Currently, a quarter of adult children, mainly Baby Boomers, provide these types of care to a parent.• The total estimated aggregate lost wages, pension, and Social Security benefits of these caregivers of parents is nearly $3 trillion.
• For women, the total individual amount of lost wages due to leaving the labor force early because of caregiving responsibilities equals $142,693. The estimated impact of caregiving on lost Social Security benefits is $131,351. A very conservative estimated impact on pensions is approximately $50,000. Thus, in total, the cost impact of caregiving on the individual female caregiver in terms of lost wages and Social Security benefits equals $324,044.
• For men, the total individual amount of lost wages due to leaving the labor force early because of caregiving responsibilities equals $89,107. The estimated impact of caregiving on lost Social Security benefits is $144,609. Adding in a conservative estimate of the impact on pensions at $50,000, the total impact equals $283,716 for men, or $303,880 for the average male or female caregiver 50+ who cares for a parent.
• Working and non-working adult children are almost equally as likely to provide care to parents in need.
• Overall, caregiving sons and daughters provide comparable care in many respects, but daughters are more likely to provide basic care and sons are more likely to provide financial assistance.
• Adult children 50+ who work and provide care to a parent are more likely to have fair or poor health than those who do not provide care to their parents.
Assessing the long-term financial impact of caregiving for aging parents on care- givers themselves, especially those who must curtail their working careers to do so, is especially important, since it can jeopardize their future financial security. There is also evidence that caregivers experience considerable health issues as a result of their focus on caring for others. The need for flexibility in the work- place and in policies that would benefit working caregivers are likely to increase in importance as more working caregivers approach their own retirement while still caring for an aging parent.