Hands to Help Seniors

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

It's been nice to see that President Obama has been working hard to make amends this year with Veterans, many of which have been frustrated with a benefits payment system that moves at a snail's pace.  I've dealt with it before at Family inHome Caregiving, while trying to get claims paid, and their system can be very frustrating.  Just last month, President Obama made another morale boosting step, giving 24 retired Veterans who are minorities the Medal of Honor, which was long overdue.  One 72-year old man told a reporter he was commanding a special forces mission in Vietnam and despite receiving enemy fire, he was able to retrieve the body of his fallen comrade and a map with strategic information which would have caused big problems if it fell into enemy hands.  Because he was an African American, he and many others were passed over for honors that President Obama is bestowing on them four decades later.   It's about time.

http://nypost.com/2014/02/22/florida-veteran-shocked-to-hear-of-medal-of-honor-40-years-later/

About Richard Kuehn & Hands to Help Seniors:

After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member, it became clear to me that there are many seniors that can't afford to pay for a private duty caregiver, not to mention medical expenses, food and property taxes on their home.  I decided to form a non-profit to help seniors with any service they might need to get by, should they be unable to afford this themselves.  From putting on a new roof to providing a hot meal, Hands to Help Seniors is there to help.  Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:

http://www.h2hs.org/news-and-media.html

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.

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As part of health care reform, the government is trying to get some sort of consistency over how patients with the same disease are treated, as well as implementing some sort of pricing parity so that you aren't charged 3x the amount at one hospital for the same procedure you would get at another facility.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recently warned that doctors in some hospitals have been prescribing up to three times as many antibiotics as physicians at other hospitals.  This can be extremely dangerous, leading to antibiotic resistant infections, which are also known as superbugs.  A federal study which was released yesterday found that in about one-third of cases, prescriptions to treat urinary tract infections were given either without proper testing or evaluation or prescribed for too long.  The CDC is extremely worried about this situation given that about 23,000 Americans are dying each year from an antibiotic resistant infection.

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View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The percentage of senior citizens living below the poverty line has dropped from 27% in 1969 to 9% in 2012 according to U.S. Census Data.  That's an amazing statistic although it's probably not true in Monterey County, one of the most expensive places in the country to retire.  Experts believe the sharp decline is linked to President Lyndon Johnson's New Deal which he announced 50 years ago.  Since then, people have been putting more into 401 (k) programs and Medicare coverage and pension plans have kept more seniors from slipping into poverty.  In addition, there are more non-labor intensive jobs available than there were 50 years ago, so many seniors are working well past 65 years of age.  The Kaiser foundation disputes the 9% figure, stating that poverty rates are actually 15% for seniors if you use the so-called "supplemental poverty measure" which deducts health expenses from income.  The census defines poverty for those over 65 as $11,173 a year for an individual and $14,095 for a two-person household.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors. 

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The United States Senate yesterday rejected a Veterans Affairs bill that would have expanded benefits for former service members while at the same time repealing a military pension cut.  The bill was sponsored by the Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) couldn't get enough votes to waive a VA spending limit which was established by Congress and approved by the President in December.  It's not surprising the bill failed given it would have cost $21 billion over the next ten years.  Congress is scrambling to cut dollars anywhere they can to save money.

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View From A Nonprofit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

Monterey County is one of the most expensive counties to retire in, but it's certainly not cheap to do so.  The State Franchise Tax Board announced this week that Monterey County residents ranked 34^th in median income out of 58 counties during 2012.  Marin County was the wealthiest county with a median income of $127,471 compared to $57,180 for those in Monterey County.   Santa Cruz County ranked much higher at #13 and a median income of $74,450 in 2012.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.

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