Individuals receiving federal benefits must transition to electronic federal benefit payments by March 1, 2013. The one-year countdown began in March and is two-thirds completed. About 90 percent of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments are already being made electronically leaving approximately 6 million paper checks still being sent. The switch to electronic payments…
The Social Security Administration told employees this month that it will cut hours of operation at its field offices for the second time in two years. Additional cuts may be on the horizon when Congress returns to Washington after the Nov. 6 election to deal with the nation’s fiscal crisis. Nearly 180,000 people visit one…
A recent decision of the Kentucky Court of Appeals finds that for PoA to be valid, it must be given by principal. In GGNSC Stanford, LLC v Rowe, the court found that the parents of a disabled adult child could not appoint an Attorney-in-fact for the Adult Child. The parents of a woman born with…
Social Security recipients will see a 1.7 percent increase in their monthly benefits next year according to an Associated Press article by Stephen Ohlemacher. The increase will amount to an average increase of $21 a month or about $252 a year for the 56 million Americans who receive benefits. Those on Supplemental Security Income will…
An estimated 22 percent of American households are impacted by caregiving responsibilities according to the National Alliance for Caregiving and of those approximately 59 percent either work full or part-time while providing care. The impact on the ability of these caregivers to work is significant. From needing flexible hours to allowing caregivers to go to…
A Reuters article by Mark Miller expects insignificant increases in next year’s Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) and most of that will be eaten up by higher Medicare Part B premiums. The report which anticipates the Bureau of Labor and Statistics release on Oct. 16 predicts that the Part B premium will rise…
There’s good news and bad news in the world of prescription drugs according to the FDA. The good news is that seniors, a group that used to be a prime target for online pharmacy scams have been displaced thanks in part to the fact that the Medicare drug program has made them less attractive. The…
“Home Alone,” a report by the AARP Public Poly Institute and the United Hospital Fund found that the role of family caregivers has dramatically expanded to include roles previously only provided in hospitals. The estimated economic value of these caregivers was approximately $450 million in 2009. While caregivers still perform fundamental caregiving tasks such as…
Both the New York Times and the Houston Chronicle reported this week that the latest figures by the Census Bureau show Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 visited doctors less frequently than they did in the previous 10 years. The Census Bureau reported declines for insured and uninsured, in excellent health and poor…
Forty-seven percent of older Americans still haven’t joined the digital age and of all the people most likely to benefit from the technological age it’s seniors. From a health perspective, digital access can help make seniors an integral part of their own health care, from being able to access medical records and physicians, becoming actively…
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