By | Published: January 27, 2011
Medicare fraud has finally been grabbing some attention now that tax revenue has decreased and the federal and state governments are in need of more money to pay their bills. Medicare has paid out fraudulent claims that amount to $6 billion. Medicare , the health insurance for American seniors, pays for medical doctor visits, hospital stays, some medical treatment programs, some prescription drugs, nursing home care for up to 100 days and skilled home health care visits. Some of the common systems that a private company would create to control abuses were not in place for many Medicare programs. In addition, the good ol’ lobbyists are in full force for all of the companies profiting from Medicare and Medicaid to make sure donations are made to the right politicians and letters are written to keep the laws regulating Medicare and Medicaid services and their payment systems flowing. They oddly, aren’t raising the flag for more accountability as any CEO of a private company would be doing as a normal part of operations if they saw a flaw in their systems. Technology can monitor every move we make and there are many effective ways to set up systems so that all Medicare services and payments are efficiently monitored and accounted for with digital tracking and accountability programs. Private pay home care companies effectively provide services in the home that are monitored with telephone and computer technology programs. These computer programs enable the caregiver to be paid for the exact amount of hours worked and for the senior to be billed for the exact amount of hours worked. The caregiver just calls in from a telephone and the info goes into a live web based software tracking program – cell phone tracking is also available.
Posted in Caregiving | Tagged a-credit-card, a-normal-part, a-telephone-and, caregiving issues, companies, credit-card, exact, health, information, payment, senior, street, time
By melissa | Published: January 21, 2011
Famous people sometimes take advantage of their status to do good and Sargent Shriver, who married into the Kennedy clan, did just this, along with his daughter, Maria Shriver. After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2003, Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps, shared his story and allowed his family to also talk about their experience. He died on Tuesday at the age of 95. Maria has produced a series of documentaries on Alzheimer’s Disease, which aired on HBO. She has also launched “The Shriver Report “, a study on Alzheimer’s with the Alzheimer’s Association to help educate seniors and their families. Caregivers for seniors with memory loss can find resources and essays and understanding from others who are also impacted by this difficult disease
Posted in Caregiving | Tagged a-has-produced, aired-on-hbo, being-diagnosed, caregiver jobs, caregiving issues, died-on-tuesday, experience, families, find-resources, peace, peace-corps, shriver-report, take-advantage
By melissa | Published: January 21, 2011
Writing a resume as a senior caregiver presents unique challenges. In addition to sharing your caregiving skills, you want to also allow your caring personality to come through in a resume format.
Posted in Caregiving | Tagged a-and-attach, and-full-time, being-hired-, caregiver jobs, caregiving, chances, come-through, custom-resume, live-in-shifts, presents-unique, resume-format-, time-as-well, your-chances
By melissa | Published: January 20, 2011
Finding the costs of senior care can lead to a confusing, twisted road. However, the basic fact to know is that seniors in the U.S.A. must privately pay for long-term senior care. Medicare will pay for up to 100 days in a nursing home, with the approval of a medical doctor and this usually qualifies after a hospital stay.
By melissa | Published: January 19, 2011
Medicare does not pay for long-term nursing home care and also does not pay for caregiving services in the home. However, Medicare does pay for skilled care visits in the home which are usually a temporary service to assist a senior in recovering from a stroke, hip replacement surgery or another medical condition which can improve with visits from a R.N., Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist and sometimes a Certified Nursing Aide (C.N.A. visits contribute to only about 5% of Medicare skilled care visits – this is because seniors must privately pay for caregiving services). A Congressional commission has suggested a new co-pay for Medicare home care visits, mostly as a way to combat abuses that have been taking place in the system. What better way to keep home health agencies accountable than to ask seniors to chip in for the cost of the service, right?
By | Published: January 3, 2011
Caring for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease presents many challenges but interestingly, research results are showing that caregivers can make the biggest impact in keeping these seniors calm and satisfied with their daily routine. The New York Times reports that one nursing home has found that giving chocolate and considering other preferences, such as time for eating, to these seniors, along with their favorite things, has resulted in successful therapy. People’s interactions are having more impact than any medication.
By melissa | Published: December 29, 2010
Professional senior caregivers know that many times senior’s with memory loss often have few if any other health concerns. They are physically active and fit. As memory loss progresses, especially Alzheimer’s Disease, additional physical problems will develop as the body “forgets” to do the things it should to maintain health. At the same time, a senior with memory loss, even if they are healthy physically, will require care services, many times for years before they pass away. Former President Ronald Reagan is an excellent example of how caregiving can take a toll on a spouse and require around-the-clock care services as the disease progresses. Last week, the U.S
By melissa | Published: December 21, 2010
Family caregivers usually consist of spouses and siblings. As the saying go, when there is more than one person involved in anything, there will always be some disagreement. The Washington Post reports on how mediators are increasingly used by families to solve conflicts over aging parents. Learn about caregiving job descriptions to understand the tasks required and how to find caregiver training.
Posted in Caregiving | Tagged caregiver jobs, caregiving, caregiving issues, family-caregivers, find-caregiver, how-mediators, learn, over-aging, solve-conflicts, spouses-and, the-saying, understand-the-tasks
By | Published: December 13, 2010
Background checks are required for senior caregivers, as a way to confirm the caregiver has entered the field because of their desire to assist seniors. Certain industries, such as senior care, attracts some people who think that there will be an easy opportunity to steal. And, because some seniors live isolated lives and are lonely, they will quickly become friendly with someone new and develop a trusting relationship. Entire networks have been created by those with criminal intent towards seniors, teaching their team members how to go in, build a friendship and then have access to a senior’s finances and over charge for caregiving. This is another advantage of hiring a senior home care agency. Senior home care agencies are professional companies who understand how to hire, how to conduct quality background checks and how to effectively manage employees with quality training and accountability metrics. The “bad eggs” will stay away from professional agencies ad they know they will be easily discovered.
Posted in Caregiving | Tagged a-senior-home, advantage, caregiving issues, chicago, conduct-quality, employee, for-caregiving-, insurance, senior care, such-as-senior, the-caregiver, towards-seniors
By melissa | Published: December 2, 2010
Senior caregivers are needed for a wide variety of companies: nursing homes, assisted living communities, continuing care retirement communities, hospices and senior home care agencies.
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