CAREGIVERS USA NEWS

Vol. I, No. 27
May 12, 2003

MEDICARE AN "ANTIQUATED SYTEM" -- FRIST
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) says that Medicare is an "antiquated system" that cannot sustain itself in the current health care market, especially with the number of baby boomers about to enter the system. His foes took immediate umbrage. "(Our) fear is that Sen. Frist's idea of 'reforming' Medicare is to turn the program over to health care providers who will be motivated by profit not concern for patients," said George J. Kourpias, President of the Alliance for Retired Americans.

Meanwhile, Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has reached a compromise with fellow Senate Republicans on a 10-year, $435 billion tax cut bill that would provide $20 billion in funds for states, in large part for their Medicaid programs.

"HEARTLESS HOSPITAL" WILL STOP FORECLOSURES
Yale-New Haven Hospital, which has $37 million in a "free bed fund," says it will stop foreclosing on the homes of patients unable to pay their bills and will wipe out $84,000 owed by 170 patients whose bills are more than five years old. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal recently sued the hospital claiming it is not using the free bed fund for the purpose its donors intended.

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HOW SHALL OUR LIVES BE MEASURED?
Caregiving is essentially spiritual. It is ministering to the spirits of our brothers and sisters in their time of great need. Every religion places supreme importance on this holy mission, yet in the daily rush of trying to do more with less, our spiritual fires can sometimes flicker. Reignite your inner flame with the latest title in the & Thou Shalt Honor video library -- Spiritual Caregiving, just released in VHS. See a preview and order your copy now.
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TOWN HALL MEETINGS & ATSH II
Twelve "Caregiving Town Hall" sessions are in various stages of funding and preparation, Dale Bell reports in the latest Town Hall News. The first firm date is Oct. 27 in Denver. Equally exciting is that NAHU, the National Association of Healthcare Underwriters, has made a commitment of $20,000 towards the development of ATSH II, the sequel to And Thou Shalt Honor. We are working with them to find an underwriter(s) who will fully fund the follow-up program of two hours for national PBS broadcast in 2005.

HEY BIG SPENDER
A study finds that although the United States spends more on health care than any other country, Americans are not necessarily receiving more care. The reason? Higher prices. "As a country, we need to ask whether increased spending means more resources for patients, or simply higher incomes for health care providers," says lead study author Gerard Anderson, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

LONGER HOSPICE STAYS FOR HMO PATIENTS
Medicare beneficiaries with cancer who are enrolled in managed care plans are more likely to enter hospice care earlier and stay longer than those in traditional, fee-for-service Medicare, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The high costs of end-of-life care give Medicare HMOs a financial incentive to transfer dying patients to hospice care, but researchers found no evidence that patients were inappropriately placed in hospice care.

PUBLIC TRAGEDIES ... PRIVATE MOURNING
Public tragedies affect us all and the need to help individuals cope with public tragedies is increaasing, said Sarah Zimmerman of the East End Hospice in East Hampton, N.Y. She moderated the Hospice Foundation of America's recent teleconference on the issue. One issue that arose in the aftermath of 9/11 was helping those who had lost loved ones who weren’t victims of the terrorist acts.

"CIRCLE OF LIGHTS" IN KANSAS CITY
With the approach of Memorial Day, Kansas City Hospice offers the Circle of Lights ceremony, a special way to remember family, friends and co-workers who have died. Each year, several hundred area residents gather at two public fountains to light candles in luminary bags bearing the name of a person being honored. The luminaries are placed around the fountains, creating a circle of lights.

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WE COUNT EVERY LEAF
The Caregivers-USA.org "Family Tree of Elder Caregiving" is our attempt to elevate awareness about caregiving and caregiving service providers. We have expanded the database and opened up new categories that make it easier for caregivers to find you! Advertised on our affiliated sites and through the Google AdWords program, more than 150,000 hits per day lead to Caregivers-USA.org.
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FEDS WARN OF BOGUS SARS REMEDIES
The Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are warning Web site operators, manufacturers and distributors who suggest that their products will protect against, treat, or even cure Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), that they are aware of no scientific proof for such claims and that the Web site operators must remove any misleading or deceptive claims from the Internet.

CONSUMER ALERTS
Elderly and disabled persons often fall victim to scam artists and those selling questionable products or services. Here are some recent consumer alerts from our affiliated site, ConsumerAffairs.Com ...

NOT ALL THAT ALERT
Life Alert is a call-for-help service that consumers pay for each month, hoping it's there when they need it. No doubt it has helped some people but quite a few others have found it unreliable. Surprisingly, the system apparently does not test itself on a regular basis so there's no way to know if it will work when it's needed.

CELL PHONE "PROTECTORS" SNUFFED
Long before anthrax, terrorism and SARS, there were cell phones. Many consumers feared that holding the phones to their ears might cause brain cancer and other catastrophes. Rather than curtailing their conversations, many turned to unproven (though probably harmless) devices they thought would shield their cranial contents from the radio-frequency energy emitted by their phones. The feds last week reached a settlement agreement with one such promoter, who agreed to temper his enthusiasm for his products.

SCAM ARTISTS CIRCLE F-T-C
Like car thieves around the police garage, scam artists are circling the Federal Trade Commission's do-not-call list, which hasn't even been launched yet. The FTC was apoplectic upon learning that a California-based Web site was offering a "pre-registration" service for the list, which is supposed to launch in June. The agency is seeking a restraining order against the site, which will undoubtedly be the first of many schemes, some more ingenious than others, seeking to capitalize on the government's attempt to shield us from telemarketers.