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US Justice Department Elder Fraud Sweep In the largest ever nationwide elder fraud sweep the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has identified more than 260 defendants in fraud accounting for more than 750 million dollars. In each case, the defendants allegedly engaged in financial tactics that eithe...

Memory Care and the Epidemic of Alzheimer's Alzheimer's is a chronic neurodegenerative disease typically with a long pre-clinical phase which gradually worsens. Initial symptoms are often mistaken for normal aging and include problems with language, mood swings, disorientation, loss of motivation...

Simple Tips for Saving Money While Aging Well Your senior years should not be plagued with money woes. The stress that money problems bring not only ruins your aging experience but can also be disastrous to your health. Rising health care costs and your increased need for health care can add up t...

Veterans, Home Health Care and Technology The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has become an unlikely and innovative pioneer in the quest to provide cost-effective, quality in-home care for veterans. Although the agency has long been mired in controversies surrounding its programs, particularl...

How to Avoid Medicare Scams By far the largest types of insurance fraud are scams against government and private health care insurers. Scammers frequently target government insurance like Medicare by stealing newly issued medical ID cards and then stealing identities. The Coalition Against Insura...

Leaving Well: A Step-by-Step Process Contemplating our own death is one of the hardest challenges we will ever have to face. Yet, if we want our dying to be meaningful and merciful, it is imperative that we think about it while we still can. Most of us want to die at home, in a familiar and pe...

Balancing Caregiving and Your Career Providing care for a senior family member, particularly long-term care, can bring about lost wages and missed opportunities for the caregiver. A report by Genworth entitled Beyond Dollars 2018 shows that although statistically having to miss work to provide ca...

Holding a Family Caregiving Meeting A family caregiving meeting is an essential tool when dealing with the care of an aging loved one. These meetings are beneficial for helping to keep all family members abreast of decisions that need to be made, changes in diagnosis or prognosis, and help to ...

The Stress of Caregiving on the Sandwich Generation Dorothy Miller, a social worker, first created the term “sandwich generation” in 1981. A Journalist, Carol Abaya, continued to study and add to what the term means. In 2006, Miriam Webster included the term, sandwich generation, in the dictionar...

The Internet of Medical Things The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are looking to the future of the US health care system, and it is projected to be overloaded with seniors needing medical care. In 2010 the US elderly population accounted for about 13 percent of the US population yet a...

Neuroscientists' Sleep Recommendations for Women Sleeping is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health and well being. The amount of sleep you get is particularly crucial if you are a woman – new studies indicate the traditional recommendation of eight hours is not enoug...

The Surprising Health Risks of Hearing Loss The findings from a 10 year study by the Journal of the American Medical Association have reported a link between hearing loss and health risks. The risks include a 50% greater risk of dementia, a 40% greater risk of developing depression and a nearly 3...

The Senior Safe Act The Senior Safe Act, signed into law by President Trump earlier this year, is designed to protect our elders from financial abuse from either within a family or support system, or by scam artists preying upon them. Tens of billions of dollars each year are illegally taken from...

Safer Shopping for Seniors When we think of shopping, there are certain risks that are always a possibility. Unfortunately, seniors are often more vulnerable to these risks. The holiday season often brings with it criminals who are targeting shoppers, both in stores and online. Below are some tip...

Emotional Support Animals and Seniors Most of us know what a service animal is, but the use of emotional support animals is becoming more and more common. So, what is an emotional support animal? An emotional support animal is a companion animal that provides benefits to a person who has an em...

Solo aging in the baby boomer generation is becoming more prevalent, but many Americans are running out of family caregivers to assist them in their quest for elderly living independence. The ratio of caregivers to care recipients has fallen and is projected to continue to do so for the next fort...

Make Sure Your Estate Plan Reflects Your Wishes Jack and Doris wanted to divide their property equally between their three children. The house should to go to daughter Mary who loved it, and the rest of their estate should be apportioned equally between sons Bob and Francis. Jack and Doris's atto...

3 Reasons Veterans Should Have a Professional Advocate The number of sad stories of veterans' benefits getting tied up in the system is not only sad but startling. A quick internet search can lead to story after story of veterans who have struggled to receive the benefits that are owed to them. R...

Medicare Advantage Plans to Offer Greater Benefits in 2019 On April 2, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded how it defines the “primarily health-related” benefits that insurers are allowed to include in their Medicare Advantage policies. As a result, when these plans roll ...

Senior Living Options When Care is Needed As Americans age, living options can become a concern. Available options are tied to the resources a senior has to cover living costs, and vary widely in cost, assistance, and care provided. In addition to budget considerations, seniors must also realisti...

Vocational Rehabilitation:  A Powerful Tool for Veterans Wanting to Enter the Civilian Job Market Prospects for veterans looking to enter the job market have drastically increased since the Great Recession. In 2016, the unemployment rate for veterans (4.7%) was actually slightly lower than the ra...

3 Tips for Traveling with Disabilities Traveling with disabilities or accessible traveling can seem, for some, like an overwhelming task with so many extra considerations. However, it doesn't have to be if the right research, planning, and preparations are done ahead of time. There are even trave...

The largest coordinated sweep of identity fraud involving US seniors has recently been conducted. The US Department of Justice has reported that more than one million elderly people have collectively lost hundreds of millions of dollars because of this targeted financial abuse. The Department has...

Medicare and Medicaid: Unlocking the Mystery Medicare and Medicaid have long been a mystery to many consumers. In fact, it can baffle and confuse even some of the smartest citizens. Like me, you might have thought, “I don't need to worry about this right now.” However, it is never too early to ga...

Middle and Low Income Seniors Facing Affordable Housing Shortage There is a growing need for affordable senior housing that is only starting to be addressed by businesses that build for this market. If you have a lot of money you typically have a lot of options. At the other end of the spectrum i...