Care Staff Helps “Follow Doctor’s Orders”

"Following the doctor's orders" -- can greatly reduce total healthcare use and costs. But I know my parents are not good about this. When in consultation with their primary care physician, they acknowledge understanding the conversation. They...

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Nursing Home Care Cited as Deficient

In today's news, I came across an article discussing a recent study of the nation's nursing homes. This was a state-by-state study. Although we must allow for differences in survey protocol and data collection, there were some...

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Hospitals – Generalist or Specialist?

Should a functioning hospital provide a "continuum of care", in which they are attempting to care for patients as they recover, age, and deteriorate? Or is it best to bring a certain medical expertise to patients, who then...

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Feeling Sleepy? Try Exercising

For the many people who don’t feel refreshed after sleeping, exercise could be the solution. A recent study by the National Sleep Foundation found that exercisers report better sleep than non-exercisers even though they say they sleep the same...

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Disability Benefits Through Social Security

I have a friend who suffered a fall two years ago. While the cause is still somewhat inconclusive, his subsequent rehab and overall health has put him on the sidelines from work. No income, divorced, with two...

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Veteran Benefits — An Explanation of Disability Compensation

Navigating and understanding the range and breadth of benefits and benefit programs available through the Veterans Administration can be extremely difficult, if not mind-numbing. Over the next several weeks, I will attempt to provide an overview and definition...

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Restrictions on Veterans’ “Independence Plus” Benefit

Veterans Directed Home and Community Based Services, referred to as "Independence Plus" can cover a wide range of goods and services, but there are limitations. For example, the following are not covered through "Independence Plus"... -- Any service duplication....

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Veteran “Independence Plus” Benefit Amounts

The Veterans Administration offers a broad range of benefits to its veteran constituents, such as the Veterans Directed Home and Community Based Services ("Independence Plus") program -- which is a unique benefit designed to allow veterans who are potential...

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Veteran’s “Independence Plus” Eligibility

The Veterans Directed Home and Community Based Services program is designed to allow veterans who are potential candidates for nursing home placement to receive a comparable level of care in their own homes. This program ("Independence Plus") enables veterans...

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Social Security Serves Veterans

I came across this article last week. Given the awareness of this week's Veterans Day, I thought it appropriate to essentially republish this information... On November 11, we honor our Nation’s veterans for their service to America. What better...

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