Elder Law

Medicaid program pays for unapproved drugs

Posted on November 25, 2008
Medicaid paid nearly $198 million from 2004 to 2007 for more than 100 unapproved prescription drugs for beneficiaries, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data...The drugs in question, most of which are used to treat common conditions such...

New book: Theories on Law and Ageing

Posted on November 24, 2008
Springer has just published "Theories on Law and Ageing", edited by Israel Doron (U. Haifa). The book is available in hard copy or as an e-book. Theories on Law and Ageing: The Jurisprudence of Elder Law Publisher Springer Berlin Heidelberg...

Mike Meyers' Elder Law Forum offers wisdom and sometimes chicken soup for the elder's soul

Posted on November 22, 2008
Elder Law Prof and general cool dude Mike Meyers runs a full service elder law shop at the University of South Dakota, with a clinic, hotline, and very cool radio show that is broadcast all over the Upper Midwest. The...

States slash Medicaid --old, disabled, vulnerable, as always, pay the price of market excesses

Posted on November 21, 2008
Faced with widening budget shortfalls, several states are rolling back support services for the elderly and disabled. The move is making it tougher for them to continue living on their own, advocates say. At least 15 states, including Alabama, Virginia...

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Everything you need to know about elder law podcasts....

Posted on November 20, 2008
OK, not everything. But I did a search today to see what's out there, and there is a lot. Here are some examples: Hull & Hull Elder Law Podcasts (Canada), http://estatelaw.hullandhull.com/articles/podcasts-audio/ Prof. Mike Meyers' Elder Law Forum Radio Show, http://www...

Tom Daschle tabbed for HHS Secretary

Posted on November 19, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday named former Sen. Tom Daschle to lead the nation's Department of Health and Human Services. GOP senators say former Sen. Tom Daschle "knows how the Senate works." Daschle, D-S.D., is one of Obama's first Cabinet picks...

One heckuva Social Security scam....

Posted on November 18, 2008
A woman accused of helping her religious leader hide a decaying corpse on her toilet so they could continue collecting her Social Security was convicted of a misdemeanor in a deal for her to testify against the leader, a prosecutor...

40% of all prescription medications go unused

Posted on November 18, 2008
The Community Medical Foundation for Patient Safety is a nonprofit organization and leader in patient safety research and education. In 2004, the Foundation created the National Unused & Expired Medicines Registry and began systematic collection of unused and expired (UEM)...

EPA Aging Initiative announces winners of Rachel Carson Intergenerational essay, photography, and poetry contest

Posted on November 18, 2008
EPA's Aging Initiative, Generations United, and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc. are pleased to announce the winners of this year's Rachel Carson "A Sense of Wonder" Intergenerational Essay, Photography, and Poetry Contest. The contest was designed to increase environmental stewardship...

OECD chief says we must encourage older workers to stay in the job force

Posted on November 18, 2008
"In an era of rapid population aging, we can no longer afford policies, employment practices and attitudes that discourage work at an older age. They not only deny older workers the choice of when and how they should retire, but...

ABA surveys lawyers about the economy and their practices

Posted on November 18, 2008
The ABA Journal is surveying lawyers about the job market and the current state of the economy. Connect to the survey. Answers will be kept confidential and used only in combination with all other responses received.

Not elder law: scientists id path of ancient wooly rhino

Posted on November 17, 2008
The 460,000-year-old skull of a woolly rhino, reconstructed from 53 fragments, is the oldest example of these mighty, ice age beasts ever found in Europe. The extinct mammals reached a length of three-and-a-half metres in adulthood and, unlike their modern...

Economic worries drive Japanese elders to crime

Posted on November 17, 2008
Via Bloomberg (and Neal Axton) More senior citizens are picking pockets and shoplifting in Japan to cope with cuts in government welfare spending and rising health-care costs in a fast-ageing society. Criminal offences by people 65 or older doubled to...

Census updates Older Worker Profile materials

Posted on November 17, 2008
The Census Bureau has recently updated its list of summary profiles of older workers in various states. Profiles are available for twenty states Find them here.

Reminder: Part D Plan Finders may help detangle the enrollment mess

Posted on November 15, 2008
It's Part D enrollment season, and the options available to beneficiaries are, well, myriad. Plan finders purport to assist in finding the best plan for each potential enrollee. Here are a few links to Part D online plan finding-tools. I...

Heart failure accounts for 37% of Medicare expenditures

Posted on November 15, 2008
Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure have many more doctor visits and take more medications than those without heart failure, researchers are reporting. They based their conclusion on an analysis of data on 173,000 Medicare beneficiaries. The overall average age of...

Canadian Conference on Elder Law/financial elder abuse issues in the news

Posted on November 15, 2008
Financial abuse of seniors quickly emerged as a hot topic Thursday as health-care experts, lawyers, academics and policy makers gathered in Vancouver for the fourth annual Canadian Elder Care conference. But it was who was missing from the debate that...

Hospice/palliative care visionary dies at age 91

Posted on November 15, 2008
Florence S. Wald, whose vision of bringing the terminally ill peace of mind and, to whatever extent possible, freedom from pain led to the opening of the first palliative care hospice in the United States, died on Saturday at her...

New pension rule may affect payouts for some retirees

Posted on November 15, 2008
A growing number of defined-benefit pension plans, especially small- to-mid-sized plans, could be in trouble this year because of the struggling stock market combined with a little-known provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Under PPA, firms with defined-benefit...

CRS report discussing proposed Section 8 housing issues for seniors and persons with disabilities

Posted on November 07, 2008
RL34728 Section 811 and Other HUD Housing Programs for Persons with Disabilities November 03, 2008 Download Locations: Open CRS (User submitted) Summary: The ability of persons with disabilities to live independently in affordable, accessible housing became a prominent issue starting...

Washington State passes Death with Dignity measure

Posted on November 05, 2008
Washington will become the second state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication for terminally ill patients seeking to hasten their deaths. Initiative 1000 was leading in most counties across the state Tuesday. "I'm elated," said former Washington...

Prof. Israel Doron (Univ. of Haifa) named to ABA Commission on Law and Aging

Posted on November 03, 2008
Israel Doron is a professor of law and a senior lecturer in the Department of Gerontology at Haifa University, Israel, and the founder of the Law in the Service of the Elderly Association, also in Israel. He is a Distinguished...

ABA's Bifocal Calls for creative contributions

Posted on November 03, 2008
Making the Stories of Our Clients and Our Lives Accessible Through Poetry and Prose Lawyers are more than the sum of their academic degrees and professional experiences. Between a demanding work load and a plurality of professional obligations, many lawyers...

Opportunities and Challenges for Dispute Resolution Processes in Elder Care: Panel discussion coming up

Posted on November 03, 2008
ACR Chicago Chapter and the Center for Conflict Resolution Present: Opportunities and Challenges for Dispute Resolution Processes in Elder Care Please join us to explore the role of conflict resolution in the elder care field today. A panel of distinguished...

GAO report addresses CMS financial audits (or lack thereof) of Part D contracts

Posted on October 31, 2008
Summary: The Medicare Part D benefit was first available in January 2006, and that year it provided federally subsidized prescription drug coverage for nearly 28 million beneficiaries at a cost of $47.4 billion?almost 12 percent of total Medicare spending...

ABA Senior Lawyers' Div. Oct. eNews now available

Posted on October 31, 2008
Oct issue available here: http://www.abanet.org/srlawyers/publications/enewsletter/home.shtml Upcoming conference, Senior Lawyers' Division: Providing Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly with Equal Access to Justice Sponsor: ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section Co-sponsor: ABA Senior Lawyers Division December 5, 2008 Stetson University...

News from NHeLP

Posted on October 31, 2008
NHeLP has issued a new fact sheet that answers the most commonly asked questions about Medicaid?s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program. EPSDT provides early health screenings, preventive care, comprehensive treatment, and health education to children and...

Advocacy for limited-English-proficient seniors

Posted on October 29, 2008
The Shriver National Center on Poverty Law has just published "What You Need to Know About Advocacy for Limited-English-Proficient Elders" Growing numbers of limited-English-proficient senior citizens frequently encounter language barriers when attempting to access government services and programs...

WEBCAST OCT. 30 on the Economic Crisis -- what we can do about it

Posted on October 28, 2008
The Economic Crisis Webcast Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM EDT / 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM PDT Click here to register now How we got into this mess. What we as a nation and as...

Assisted Living Consumers Alliance host free Web seminar on assisted living advocacy

Posted on October 28, 2008
Register here! https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/254313901%3E Are the following statements true or false? "Assisted living is a social model of care, so health care standards don't belong." "Nursing homes don't work well because they've been overregulated -- we don't want to make those...

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