Hands to Help Seniors

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

Many thought that the flurry of budget cuts we have seen thus far in our government are behind us but unfortunately that's not the case.  Locally, I have a friend at a non-profit who had to redo all of the numbers for a grant application because, once again, state funding has been cut.  On the federal level, it's hard to believe but even the wounded veterans who are returning from war aren't receiving the care that they need.  Some are having treatment delayed because of government furloughs, according to USA Today.  This is just unacceptable that this can happen in America.  A memo uncovered by USA Today from Rear Admiral Alton Stocks, the hospital commander at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, encouraged doctors to discharge patientss as soon as possible due to low staff because of the sequestrations.  It's very sad that wounded war veterans are being treated so poorly.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to

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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

In a terrible example of the lengths our government will go to in cost cutting, the Monterey Herald reported that government officials often discourage the needy from applying for food stamps.  In Texas, for instance, the government requires those asking for food stamps to get fingerprinted, frightening many people away.  But California, unfortunately, has the worst record amongst all states.  Only about half of eligible residents here get food stamps (now known as the CalFresh Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or SNAP.  I am not sure what the motivation is for trying to exclude eligible residents because the Federal government pays most of the costs.  The Herald article said California's poor score was due largely to onerous paperwork requirements and confusing online applications.  In addition, a large number of qualified people are inexplicably declined for the program.  This sounds more like a software problem than anything, which is similar to what the Veteran's Administration is going through.  Let's get this fixed.  This would actually benefit the local economy because the federal government covers most of the costs and it will enable those receiving benefits to buy more food.

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

I am happy to be reading that Representative Sam Farr's so called Medicare payment fix appears to have momentum after failing to pass once before.  The "fix" is designed to stop Medicare from reimbursing physicians at rural rates, much lower than urban rates.  This causes many physicians to refuse to take new Medicare patients.  The Medicare Patient Access and Quality Improvement Act, which he introduced, would change that.  He told the Monterey Herald that leadership in the House of Representatives have indicated that the bill will pass.  It would give local doctors an additional $3.8 mil. per year, but perhaps more importantly, attract more doctors to the area which would help seniors.  They sometimes don't seek medical attention because they can't find a doctor who will take their insurance.  Two of our major sponsors, Alliance Home Health and Family inHome Caregiving, witness this on a daily basis.  Many seniors simply don't go to the doctor because they can't afford the gas, the co-pay or simply have a hard time finding a primary physician.  This often results in a hospital visit, costly to the senior and society at large.

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

I have written a number of times on my blog about the pros and cons of health care reform.  One of the big questions is whether the new Affordable Care Act (health care reform) law will cause people to get better care at a lower cost than they are currently receiving.  Health costs for many government programs have been growing, but growing much more slowly than economists had predicted.  Although some believe this is due to the Affordable Care Act, still others believe that many people, including seniors on a fixed income, just don't go to the doctor as often as they should because they can't afford co-pays, gas and other costs in order to keep them healthy and have the best quality of care.  Both of our Platinum sponsors, Alliance Home Health and Family inHome Caregiving, witness this every day.  There are too many seniors not going to the doctor just because they can't afford the gas and the co-pays.  A new editorial  brought this issue to the forefront.  Published in the New York Times, the article poised the important question, should we just do away with co-pays on important drugs which have proved to be very effective at managing diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and strokes.  I think they should.  The article discusses the fact that doing so could encourage waste.  In other words, why wouldn't everyone sign up to get these drugs for free?  I don't think that they would.  I think that most people are adverse to taking too many drugs, and if you are discouraging  a large portion of the population to take drugs that could result in an expensive hospital visit or something worse, subsidizing $10-$50 per month for their prescription costs would be well worth it over the long run.  The article in the Times was written by an economist from Harvard and he has opened the door to an extremely important debate.  How much free medical assistance should be given to the poor, and is there an easy way to balance the cost-benefit of doing so?

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

There are revolutionary changes in the health care system due to the Affordable Care Act (health care reform).  Some are good and some are bad, but there is no question that government paid health care systems are going to have to completely reinvent their businesses.   Currently, the various states are struggling with complying with new rules which will give the states considerable cash rebates if they change to using Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in California) prescription managed care organizations.  These are pharmacies, mainly mail-order and online, which have already negotiated huge discounts with large pharmaceutical companies.  In addition, the government will be comparing various drug costs across multiple states, and rewarding states that do the best.  In one common drug, for instance, it cost Alabama $10 per prescription, while in many other states the drug cost only $2.  It's great to see that people are paying close attention to these numbers given our deficit.

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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