Frankly Speaking Blog - North Carolina's First Elder Law Firm

Has Medicare Failed You?

By A. Frank Johns, JD, LLM, CELA

In a recent New York Times article, former Times reporter Jane Gross disclosed the “dirty little secret of health care in America,” (“How Medicare Fails the Elderly”). She contends that what Medicare paid for beginning back in 1965 is not “what recipients need or want today,” (“How Medicare Fails the Elderly”). She suggests that America’s health care vision did not take into account the stunning medical advances that keep people alive into advanced old age. Neither did it anticipate the “dangers”, not to mention the “pointlessness and expense of much of the care Medicare is providing.”

Gross details several specific bullet points to make her argument – feeding tubes, abdominal and gall bladder surgery, and tight glycemic control for Type 2 diabetes. For all of theses things covered by Medicare, Gross notes that Medicare rarely pays for long term care in supervised, safe places for frail or demented old people.

Gross goes on to explain the financial burden for home health aides, and the private cost ($14,000 per month for her mother). Gross also mentions a recent state-by-state study of long-term care which found that “essential long-term care costs from 166% to 393% of the average annual income of America’s elderly,” (“How Medicare Fails the Elderly”).

There are ways to access those services which are provided by Medicare, while at the same time gaining eligibility or other means tested governmental services to which elders have rights. Find out more by visiting our website at www.nc-law.com and if needed, make an appointment for an elder law consultation.

 

Can Dying Be Postponed?

By A. Frank Johns, JD, LLM, CELA

National Public Radio recently featured a story by gerontologist, Mark Lachs, who supports the claim that the older you get, the older you’re likely to keep getting! First you might ask, what is a gerontologist? Gerontology is the study of aging from a biological perspective which includes everything from laboratory studies and statistical analysis to face-to-face work with individuals in nursing homes and hospitals. Now on to his seemingly outrageous claim: “At the extremes of age… the death rate drops,” (“In Old Age, Illness And Dying Can Be Postponed”).

According to Dr. Lachs, this “postponement theory” was originally penned by James Vaupel, the founder of the Institute for Demographic Research at the Max Planck Institute, after studying the lives of yeast, fruit flies, worms and humans. David Stipp’s article in Fortune magazine explains that initially, researchers in the field of gerontology assumed “death rates rise exponentially with age in adult animals, including humans – the older you are, the theory goes, the more likely you are to die,” (“Hell No, We Won’t Go! Surprising Demographic Trends Raise a Tough Question”). But Vaupel’s strange band of subjects seemed to point to the exact opposite – once a certain age was reached, death and illness became less likely. Dr. Lachs calls this “escape velocity,” a kind of biological parallel to the old physics law that says bodies in motion tend to stay in motion.

What’s more, Vaupel found that this pattern was not restricted to living things. He finished his study by looking at the death rates for cars of all things! Vaupel considered the “death” of a car to be when it’s owner stopped registering it, presumably because it no longer exists. Vaupel found that after a decade of use the cars he studied were less likely to “die” than their younger counter parts. “Dr. Lachs says his older patients are like reliable cars. After a certain age, they are less likely to break down, and just keep rolling right along,” (“In Old Age, Illness And Dying Can Be Postponed”).

What does all of this seemingly contradictory data mean? As an engineer says, “Our grandmother always said, ‘People don’t wear out, they rust out,” (Don Feigenbaum, qtd. in “How You Can Live Well and Long”). Let us help you prepare for whatever the future holds at Booth Harrington & Johns of NC, PLLC. We specialize in the area of elder law to help you protect yourself, your assets and your loved ones. Call us toll-free at (877) 503-5337 and explore our website at www.nc-law.com. We look forward to helping you plan for the future.