A Medicare No-Man’s Land is Upon Us

By Fred Goldenberg, Local Columnist / Traverse City Record-Eagle

You’re a Medicare beneficiary and you go into the emergency room. Hospital staff get all your insurance information, put a bracelet on your wrist and after a while a doctor checks you out. Several hours later you’re told you’re being moved to a room upstairs. They take you up the elevator, get you to a room, tuck you into bed, and for all intents and purposes you’ve been admitted to the hospital. Or so you thought.

When is the word “observation” scary for Medicare beneficiaries? It’s when they think they’ve been admitted to the hospital only to find out days or weeks later they were placed on observation to determine if they should be admitted. What’s the big deal, you ask?....

Healthy Meal Service Options for Seniors Who Don’t Cook

By Jim Miller

Dear Savvy Senior,
I would like to find some easy and healthy meal service options for my elderly parents who have a hard time getting around. My mom just had her hip replaced which is keeping her from cooking, and dad is a disaster in the kitchen. What can you tell us?
Hungry and Helpless

Dear Hungry,
Depending on where your parents live, there are various meal service options for homebound seniors who can’t, or don’t, cook anymore. Here are several to check into:

Community Meal Programs A good starting point is to find out if there’s a home delivery meal program in your parent’s area. Meals on Wheels is the largest program that most people are familiar with, but many communities offer senior meal delivery programs sponsored by other organizations that go by different names. Be sure you check into all possibilities....

Tis the Season for Financial Crimes Against Seniors

Courtesy of the Better Business Bureau

According to the National Crime Prevention Council, seniors fall prey to fraud for a variety of reasons. They are generally more accessible by telephone and mail; are trusting and willing to listen; have limited experience with investments; and are deeply concerned with maintaining finances to last them throughout their lives. Furthermore, many older people are complacent or forgetful of details and may be embarrassed to admit they’ve been “had” by a scam artist...