Stem cells is a very controversial topic in the United States today. Madison Wisconsin is the residence of The Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. Researchers in Madison Wisconsin working with cells receive millions of dollars in federal grant money.
Stem cells are considered a master cell to the human body. From a stem cell any tissue on the body can be generated. Health organizations believe stem cell research holds the solution to treatments for spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, and other functional physical deficits.
Stem cells are seperated from a human being in the embryonic stages of development. Separating the stem cells from the human being in the embryonic stages of development results in death. The Dickey- Wicker amendment (a 1996 law) prohibits the use of tax payer dollars in work that destroys a human embryo.
Following the Dickey- Wicker amendment stem cell researchers used private companies (no use of public money) to separate the stem cells from the human being in the embryonic stages of development. From the separated stem cells researchers started growing batches of stem cells in the laboratory.
Researchers were now using stem cells grown in labs. Growing the stem cells in a laboratory allowed the research facility to accept public money (federal grants) to fund the projects. In late August 2010 United States District Judge Royce Lamberth blocked goverment funding of embryonic stem cell research. Judge Royce Lamberth signed the restraining order after ruling that the argument in a pending lawsuit- that the research violates the intent of the 1996 law prohibiting use of tax payer dollars in work that destroys a human embryo- was likely to succeed.
Stem cell research using public money was stopped in health organizations across the United States.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Senior Care Employers Rescue Home Care Path
Throughout south central Wisconsin the business owners have become aware that employees need help coordinating in home care for senior parents and family. Business owners can equate absenteeism, replacement of employees, senior care crises, unpaid leave, work day interruptions, inattentiveness (called deer in headlights look), and staff transitioning from full to part time status, to the adverse effect on the bottom line.
One business owner describes an employee who was frequently having to run down to a parents home. The employee was leaving an average of 4 times per full time shift worked. At work the employee was consistently preoccupied and down right worried most of the time. The employee took unpaid leave for the whole day at least once per week to accompany the parent to a medical appointment, blood lab draw, or podiatrist visit.
The employee often feels alone in their efforts to provide care for a parent or senior family member. Most individuals caring for an older family member report their needs are over whelming. Some adult children recall watching their parents struggle to care for their parents. Working full time with children in the home and parents who need help.
Fortunately Home Care Path www.homecarepath.com a senior care provider for south central Wisconsin has staff trained to help the employer and the employee. Home Care Path comes to the seniors home and helps them with meal preperation, medication reminders, setting up bath, dressing, pet care, oral care, hair care, taking garbage out, accompany to appointments, organizing important papers, companionship, grocery shopping, bringing mail in, and more.
Employees describe the service Home Care Path provides as family friendly. Hours of staffing and in home cares are developed to meet the families unique needs. The service is individualized, and allows for variation of hours from week to week. Families like the choice and flexibility.
Employers like the boost in staff productivity and job satisfaction. Business owners are convinced the service Home Care Path provides is the solution to the senior care giving challenges that make it difficult for employees to keep up with work responsibilities.
One business owner describes an employee who was frequently having to run down to a parents home. The employee was leaving an average of 4 times per full time shift worked. At work the employee was consistently preoccupied and down right worried most of the time. The employee took unpaid leave for the whole day at least once per week to accompany the parent to a medical appointment, blood lab draw, or podiatrist visit.
The employee often feels alone in their efforts to provide care for a parent or senior family member. Most individuals caring for an older family member report their needs are over whelming. Some adult children recall watching their parents struggle to care for their parents. Working full time with children in the home and parents who need help.
Fortunately Home Care Path www.homecarepath.com a senior care provider for south central Wisconsin has staff trained to help the employer and the employee. Home Care Path comes to the seniors home and helps them with meal preperation, medication reminders, setting up bath, dressing, pet care, oral care, hair care, taking garbage out, accompany to appointments, organizing important papers, companionship, grocery shopping, bringing mail in, and more.
Employees describe the service Home Care Path provides as family friendly. Hours of staffing and in home cares are developed to meet the families unique needs. The service is individualized, and allows for variation of hours from week to week. Families like the choice and flexibility.
Employers like the boost in staff productivity and job satisfaction. Business owners are convinced the service Home Care Path provides is the solution to the senior care giving challenges that make it difficult for employees to keep up with work responsibilities.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Roth IRA Show Me The Money Home Care Path
The most important thing to ask an advisor when contributing to a Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account) is when can I get my money. How can I get my money from a Roth IRA if I would need it. You want to understand the defined avenues for withdrawing money while avoiding excessive penalties and taxes.
Individual's who have made direct contributions (not a conversion from a traditonal IRA) can take money out tax free and penalty free if the money has been in the account for at least five years and you are fifty nine and a half years of age.
You can withdraw direct contributions at any time for any reason without taxes or penalties. If you contributed three thousand dollars to your Roth IRA over the years, you can withdraw three thousand dollars without taxes or consequesnces. So you can access your initial contribution. Taxes or penalties would apply only to the withdrawal of earnings beyond the three thousand dollars contributed.
The five year holding period for direct contributions actually starts the first day of the tax year for which you made your first deposit to the Roth IRA account. So if you made your first Roth IRA contribution on April 15, 2006 for the 2005 year, the five years would be January 2010. The money has not actually been in the account for five years and you have met the five year holding rule.
The Internal Revenue Service distributes (available online) IRS Publication 590 which explains the Roth IRA rules in detail. When you give someone your money, understand how you will get it back.
Individual's who have made direct contributions (not a conversion from a traditonal IRA) can take money out tax free and penalty free if the money has been in the account for at least five years and you are fifty nine and a half years of age.
You can withdraw direct contributions at any time for any reason without taxes or penalties. If you contributed three thousand dollars to your Roth IRA over the years, you can withdraw three thousand dollars without taxes or consequesnces. So you can access your initial contribution. Taxes or penalties would apply only to the withdrawal of earnings beyond the three thousand dollars contributed.
The five year holding period for direct contributions actually starts the first day of the tax year for which you made your first deposit to the Roth IRA account. So if you made your first Roth IRA contribution on April 15, 2006 for the 2005 year, the five years would be January 2010. The money has not actually been in the account for five years and you have met the five year holding rule.
The Internal Revenue Service distributes (available online) IRS Publication 590 which explains the Roth IRA rules in detail. When you give someone your money, understand how you will get it back.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Medicare and Smoking
Years ago smoking cigarettes was an accepted past time in the United States. Smoking cigarettes was portrayed as a pleasurable experience. Money spent on tobacco products by consumers helped fuel the economy. Medical providers and the Centers for Disease Control began to collect documented reports of the disease producing effects of smoking cigarettes. Today health organizations in the United States define the smoking of cigarettes as a serious health hazard. Cigarettes have adverse health effects on the smoker and those near by due to second hand smoke being inhaled.
Medicare has expanded the federal role in reducing smokers of cigarettes in the United States. Medicare already covers drugs used to help smokers quit, and counseling for those who have a documented illness related to smoking cigarettes. Starting immediately Medicare has authorized coverage for up to eight counseling sessions per year for persons who simply have the desire to quit smoking cigarettes.
Collected data demonstrates seniors can respond to smoking cessation counseling even if they have been smoking for more than 40 years. The message clearly is it is never to late to quit smoking cigarettes and reduce your risk to complications from smoke related illness.
Medicare's medical officers see this as a cost saving strategy. Investing money in counseling to reduce the number of individuals lighting up cigarettes, will certainly help offset the billions the Medicare program spends on treating smoke related illnesses. The Medicare dollars collected by participating providers can be spent in local communities fueling the economy.
Medicare has expanded the federal role in reducing smokers of cigarettes in the United States. Medicare already covers drugs used to help smokers quit, and counseling for those who have a documented illness related to smoking cigarettes. Starting immediately Medicare has authorized coverage for up to eight counseling sessions per year for persons who simply have the desire to quit smoking cigarettes.
Collected data demonstrates seniors can respond to smoking cessation counseling even if they have been smoking for more than 40 years. The message clearly is it is never to late to quit smoking cigarettes and reduce your risk to complications from smoke related illness.
Medicare's medical officers see this as a cost saving strategy. Investing money in counseling to reduce the number of individuals lighting up cigarettes, will certainly help offset the billions the Medicare program spends on treating smoke related illnesses. The Medicare dollars collected by participating providers can be spent in local communities fueling the economy.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Preventing Fraud Home Care Path
Home Care Path www.homecarepath.com staff are consistently monitoring avenues of fraud to help prevent an occurence in the seniors home. Some common avenues of fraud include:
- door to door home improvement sales visitors most often seen following a storm
- phone calls where the caller knows the seniors name, but the senior is unaware of who is calling examples include marketing, or donation requests
- mailings identifying the senior as a winner or promising a gift
- door to door magazine sales, young children passing through town
- visitors claiming to be disabled asking for cash, example visitor is claiming to be deaf and asking for money for college
- any phone calls requesting bank account numbers or social security number
- internet emails requesting personal information to correct a problem for the senior
- person attempting to sell a vehicle to a senior who has no valid drivers license
- visitor selling gap health insurance policy to a senior who is dual eligible, having both Medicare and Medicaid which would pay for needs beyond the Medicare benefit limit
- emails that offer to save money by buying in bulk
- visitors asking for advance payment for next seasons snow removal
- emails offering inexpensive cruise ship trips for payment today
- mailings for auto club member ships for seniors with no valid drivers license
Home Care Path staff encourage the entire community to keep a watchful eye out for scammers working near by. Communication is the key to fraud prevention.
- door to door home improvement sales visitors most often seen following a storm
- phone calls where the caller knows the seniors name, but the senior is unaware of who is calling examples include marketing, or donation requests
- mailings identifying the senior as a winner or promising a gift
- door to door magazine sales, young children passing through town
- visitors claiming to be disabled asking for cash, example visitor is claiming to be deaf and asking for money for college
- any phone calls requesting bank account numbers or social security number
- internet emails requesting personal information to correct a problem for the senior
- person attempting to sell a vehicle to a senior who has no valid drivers license
- visitor selling gap health insurance policy to a senior who is dual eligible, having both Medicare and Medicaid which would pay for needs beyond the Medicare benefit limit
- emails that offer to save money by buying in bulk
- visitors asking for advance payment for next seasons snow removal
- emails offering inexpensive cruise ship trips for payment today
- mailings for auto club member ships for seniors with no valid drivers license
Home Care Path staff encourage the entire community to keep a watchful eye out for scammers working near by. Communication is the key to fraud prevention.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Medicare Intermediaries Home Care Path
An Intermediary is an organization that has entered into an agreement with HCFA the Health Care Finance Administration to process Medicare claims. The money flows from the U.S. Government (Health Care Finance Administration) to the intermediary, down to the provider when a claim is submitted. The intermediary contracts with Medicare certified providers to process the claims under the authority granted by the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA).
Intermediaries make payments to the Medicare certified providers they have contracted with. Providers can include hospitals, nursing homes (SNF skilled nursing facilities), home health agencies (HHA), and end stage renal disease facilities (ESRD). The amount of payment to any provider is restricted to a resonable cost of the covered services and items.
Intermediaries are mandated to assist in the application of safeguards against unnecessary use of covered services. Covered services and equipment must be deemed medically necessary. Intermediaries must assist the Medicare certified provider to establish and maintain the required fiscal data. Intermediaries serve as a center for communicating with Medicare certified providers. Intermediaries conduct systematic audits of provider records. Intermediaries over see the beneficiary appeal process. Intermediaries can assist providers in the process for becoming Medicare certified.
Certified Medicare providers have agreed in the contract with the intermediary not to charge the patient for items covered by the health insurance program other than allowable charges, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts. Home Care Path www.homecarepath.com staff assist seniors with organizing important papers. If Medicare is the pay source the provider cannot then charge the patient to collect more money than the Medicare intermediary has agreed to pay. This protects the patient from excessive charges.
Intermediaries make payments to the Medicare certified providers they have contracted with. Providers can include hospitals, nursing homes (SNF skilled nursing facilities), home health agencies (HHA), and end stage renal disease facilities (ESRD). The amount of payment to any provider is restricted to a resonable cost of the covered services and items.
Intermediaries are mandated to assist in the application of safeguards against unnecessary use of covered services. Covered services and equipment must be deemed medically necessary. Intermediaries must assist the Medicare certified provider to establish and maintain the required fiscal data. Intermediaries serve as a center for communicating with Medicare certified providers. Intermediaries conduct systematic audits of provider records. Intermediaries over see the beneficiary appeal process. Intermediaries can assist providers in the process for becoming Medicare certified.
Certified Medicare providers have agreed in the contract with the intermediary not to charge the patient for items covered by the health insurance program other than allowable charges, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts. Home Care Path www.homecarepath.com staff assist seniors with organizing important papers. If Medicare is the pay source the provider cannot then charge the patient to collect more money than the Medicare intermediary has agreed to pay. This protects the patient from excessive charges.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Feil Method Home Care Path
The Feil Method is a validating technique used to improve communication with individuals diagnosed with dementia. The Feil method is now used in parts of Europe. Health Care Facilities (hospitals, nursing homes) in the U.S. are beginning to adapt The Feil Method as a model of practice used to communicate with seniors diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Federal data indicates approximately 5 million persons in the United States are living with Alzheimer's disease and dementia like symptoms. Individual's living with Alzheimer's disease and memory loss communicate and behave in different ways. Staff in large health care facilities have been taught to immediately correct the patient, and to treat all persons the same. Administrator's have been taught to direct staff of hospital and nursing homes to serve the consumers in a cohesive, consistent manner. The Quality Improvement Department applauds adherence to a process regardless of the staff person serving the senior.
The Feil Method provides a technique that could be used consistently with all seniors with a memory loss diagnosis. The Feil Method teaches staff to become more verbally and socially engaged with the senior having memory loss. Hospital and nursing home medical staff have shown concern with the extra staff time needed for serving consumers with memory difficulty. Properly serving seniors with memory loss takes extra direct patient care staff and more of the staffs time.
The Feil Method is designed to help direct patient care staff better understand where the person with memory loss is coming from in all aspects of their health- physically, emotionally, and socially. Staff would reduce the frequency of treating behaviors with medication only. With The Feil Method direct patient care staff do not try to fix or correct a confused person. The behavior is seen as an attempt to communicate a need. Staff are challenged to engage the confused person in non-confrontational questions to determine the emotion or need being expressed. Find out what the confused person actually means to communicate to the people around them.
Attempts at greater communication by staff can improve the bond of trust. This improves the quality of care. Everyone wants to be cared for by someone they trust. The senior with memory loss may use less medication. The direct patient care staff will invest more time per confused patient. Staff tend to feel better when they can sense some progress helping improve the seniors quality of life. This can enhance staff morale.
Federal data indicates approximately 5 million persons in the United States are living with Alzheimer's disease and dementia like symptoms. Individual's living with Alzheimer's disease and memory loss communicate and behave in different ways. Staff in large health care facilities have been taught to immediately correct the patient, and to treat all persons the same. Administrator's have been taught to direct staff of hospital and nursing homes to serve the consumers in a cohesive, consistent manner. The Quality Improvement Department applauds adherence to a process regardless of the staff person serving the senior.
The Feil Method provides a technique that could be used consistently with all seniors with a memory loss diagnosis. The Feil Method teaches staff to become more verbally and socially engaged with the senior having memory loss. Hospital and nursing home medical staff have shown concern with the extra staff time needed for serving consumers with memory difficulty. Properly serving seniors with memory loss takes extra direct patient care staff and more of the staffs time.
The Feil Method is designed to help direct patient care staff better understand where the person with memory loss is coming from in all aspects of their health- physically, emotionally, and socially. Staff would reduce the frequency of treating behaviors with medication only. With The Feil Method direct patient care staff do not try to fix or correct a confused person. The behavior is seen as an attempt to communicate a need. Staff are challenged to engage the confused person in non-confrontational questions to determine the emotion or need being expressed. Find out what the confused person actually means to communicate to the people around them.
Attempts at greater communication by staff can improve the bond of trust. This improves the quality of care. Everyone wants to be cared for by someone they trust. The senior with memory loss may use less medication. The direct patient care staff will invest more time per confused patient. Staff tend to feel better when they can sense some progress helping improve the seniors quality of life. This can enhance staff morale.
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