Senior care news for families, updated daily.
Nursing homesNew
LeadingAge Nebraska's November 5 briefing restates Life Safety Code rules families bump into when bringing wreaths, lights or gifts: live trees are out, flame-retardant labels matter, and corridor clutter is not allowed.
Here’s what changed for families today.
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Every story tells you what happened, what it means for your family, and what to do this week.
Dementia
George Mason University researchers delivered short lessons in Chinese through WeChat to 48 caregivers; positive caregiving scores nearly doubled, but stress and depression scores didn't change much.
Nursing homes
Researchers from the University of Rochester and Harvard compared 495 nursing homes that hired a certified medical director with about 11,800 that didn't and found modest drops in hospital use.
New York
Chautauqua County's aging office says the state's EISEP program can pay for personal care and housekeeping for older adults who don't have Medicaid, with cost sharing based on income.
Caregiving
The estimate counts lost pay, smaller retirement savings and lower Social Security checks, and it climbs to about $446,500 for caregivers who miss more than two and a half years of full-time work.
Medicare
The final rule adds about $415 million for agencies that send nurses and therapists to patients' homes, keeps a 3% temporary cut in place, and does not change what Medicare home health covers for patients.
Home care
About 8.4 million people get Medicaid home and community-based services, and a Home Health Care News report says federal cuts, state budgets and staffing gaps are squeezing the agencies that serve them.
New York
The state Office for the Aging says people 65 and older and many caregivers are exempt from expanded federal SNAP work rules, and New Yorkers who lost food benefits can reapply now.
Medicaid
Medicare and Medicaid chief Mehmet Oz says the agency will fight last week's court decision, which made it easier for seriously ill adults to be excused from new Medicaid work rules starting January 1.
Dementia
A JAMA Network Open study of 1.4 million Medicare patients with dementia found only about 18% of those who moved into long-term care went to a facility with a dementia unit, with gaps by race and distance.
Medicare
A KFF analysis projects the average stand-alone Part D premium will climb from $34 to $51 a month next year, and there will be no $0-premium drug plans, so comparing plans before December 7 matters more.
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