The following is a guest blog from Anthony Cirillo:  I returned from the National Council on Aging conference somewhat dismayed. While the conference is not necessarily about long-term care, you would have thought that it did not exist at all when listening to the speakers. Most of the topics were about aging in place and care options in the ...

Gay elders face more problems than their straight peers, including stigma, isolation and unequal treatment, according to a report presented Wednesday at the annual conference of the National Council on Aging and the American Society on Aging in Chicago, and later reported on the CNN Web site. A 2001 study by the U.S. ...

I recently read an article about the Senior Medicare Patrol, an organization of 4,700 senior-citizen volunteers who help the government spot Medicare fraud. This program, which has helped taxpayers save more than $100 million since 1997, now has at least one branch in every state and can be found online at http://www.smpresource.org/. SMP ...

The trumpets have already sounded, and the fight is on over health care. The warriors are riding toward the battlefield in DC, and they are armed with their powerpoint slides, their position papers, and of course, their checkbooks.    On the one side we have the insurance companies who are not eager to compete for health care customers, ...

AAHSA is hosting a Congressional Call-In Day on May 13, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in an effort to get more senators on board with including long-term services in any upcoming health care reform measures. They are encouraging all providers to call your senators and representatives. More information, including a phone script, can be found at ...

It is often said, erroneously, that ignorance of the law is no excuse. The fact is, ignorance is frequently an excuse, and juries determine if it's a good one. Societies regulate conduct by passing laws. Sometimes the law is a little slow in catching up with technology. So when computers became tools for hackers and criminals, ...

There is a fabulous folktale about the gossip who, seeking atonement, goes to the village religious leader and begs to be forgiven for spreading gossip. The religious leader tells him to go home, open a pillow, and scatter the feathers to the wind, and return the next day. The gossip does so, and returns seeking forgiveness. The ...

It is said that “assume” is the only word that makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me.” In a slightly more earthy comment, a drill sergeant of mine suggested that the word was the mother of all mistakes.  Regardless of which way you remember it, remember that assume is not one of those things you want to do as a ...

A week ago, the Bush administration published the names of 131 nursing homes with poor inspection records and said some were already showing signs of improvement, according to the Associated Press. The list, released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, represents troubled facilities cited as a ''special focus facility,'' a term ...

The Associated Press reported this morning that a Senate panel is looking to collect unpaid taxes from more than 30,000 Medicaid providers who receive federal payments for their services despite owing at least $1 billion in back taxes. AP specifically mentioned a nursing home provider in the report: ''The GAO highlighted several egregious ...