Photo Credit: AARP Older New Jersey seniors are not just getting their news from their local newspapers, the nation’s most-read magazine, AARP The Magazine, or from the local evening news, or from cable. Using internet technology, over three months ago, the Washington, D.C.-based AARP made digital audio files, or pod casts, available on the internet for downloading on a computer or mobile device, to provide tips on how seniors can protect themselves against fraud. Using pod cast technology, the nation’s largest aging advocacy group now brings in-depth news interviews on timely topics to computer savvy seniors….
Photo Credit: AARP Your input on guardianship issues can be helpful to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. Every year, the Senate panel, charged with studying issues impacting older Americans, puts a spot light on this a pressing issue to provide best practice recommendations to policy makers in Congress. This year, the Committee seeks comments from older adults, their families and New Jersey long-term care providers, to prepare its upcoming report on guardianship. According to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, guardianship is governed by state law and is a relationship created when a…
Photo Credit: AARP Blog Last month, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law one of the most expansive paid sick leave programs in the nation, fulfilling his commitment to support working families and strengthen New Jersey’s economy. New Jersey now joins a select group of states – nine plus the District of Columbia – that have enacted paid sick leave to provide earned compensation for workers who miss work due to illness or needing to take care of a sick loved one. “There is no reason anyone should have to choose between economic security and…
We’re proud of the fact that the designation of “Advanced Standing” has been approved by the New Jersey Department of Health for Hearthstone Estates Assisted Living Facility because the Lakewood-based facility has successfully complied with ALL state, federal and local regulations that pertain to licensed assisted facilities in New Jersey. Hearthstone Estates Assisted Living has proven its dedication to providing quality programs and services to its residents by participating in the National Center for Assisted Living’s Quality Performance Measures Survey and meets the benchmarks for certain prescribed quality indicators specifically chosen by the Peer Review Panel of the Health Care…
Just days ago, S. 2155, The Senior Safe Act, a bipartisan bill authored by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to help protect older American’s from financial exploitation and fraud, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 258-159 as part of a bipartisan banking reform package after previously passing the Senate in March by a vote of 67-31. Their legislation now heads to the President Donald J. Trump’s desk to be signed into law. S. 2155 will help prevent residents of Hearthstone Estates Assisted Living from becoming victims of fraud. As the Chairman and former Ranking…
With the graying of America, thirty-five percent of young adults age 18 to 39 already have experience providing care to an older person, according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research’s newly released 2018 Long-Term Care Poll findings. The Issue Brief, “Younger Adults’ Experiences and Views on Long-Term Care,” reporting the polls findings also reveals that younger Americans are skeptical that social safety net domestic programs will not be available to them when they need long-term care. Just 1 in 10 young adults are very confident that Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will provide the same level of…
Credit: Medicare.gov Last month, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), begin an initiative to safeguard taxpayer dollars by combating fraud and illegal use of Medicare cards by issuing a new cards that will no longer contain the beneficiary’s Social Security numbers. The new paper card is still red, white and blue, will use a unique, randomly-assigned number called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI), to replace the Social Security-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) currently used on the existing Medicare card. It will also no longer include gender, signature or other information that could compromise…
Photo Caption: Stock Unlimited Exploitation and financial abuse by some guardians and conservators remains a real problem that must be addressed, say U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bob Casey (D-PA), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging at last week’s morning hearing, titled “Abuse of Power: Exploitation of Older Americans by Guardians and Others They Trust,” in the Dirksen Senate Office Building 562. Cases of financial exploitation against older Americans have increased in recent years and have become more complex, and that many of these situations are not identified…
This month, two released reports paint a picture of consumer fraud and its Two reports released this month paint a troubling picture of scammers taking money from their victims. On March 1, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) put consumer fraud on the nation’s radar screen by releasing it’s 2017 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book of complaints received by consumers. FTC’s data book includes complaints from 2.68 million consumers, a decrease from 2016 when 2.98 million consumers submitted reports about fraud, Despite this, consumers reported losing a total of $905 million to fraud in 2017 — $63 million more than…
“Being a Parent to Your Parent” is no longer cliché in 2018. With seniors living longer than ever before, baby boomers and millennials are increasingly faced with the daunting (albeit rewarding) task of caring for an elderly parent or grandparent at home. For some, ‘home’ is the house they grew up in as children, as they coordinate and manage the daily care of their loved ones, thereby allowing them to age in place. For others, ‘home’ means bringing Mom or Dad into their own homes to care for them as one of their immediate family. Regardless, both approaches require huge…