Sorted by date Results 851 - 875 of 891
Registered voters in many communities across Alaska will vote on October 1 to elect municipal candidates. Local clerks are responsible for these elections. REAA School Board elections will also be held on October 1, but those elections are administered by the Alaska Division of Elections. A typical city or borough ballot might include a mayoral race; assembly or city council members; school board members; spaces for write-in candidates; and a local bond issue. It is important to note that a voter must be registered at least 30 days before the e...
Alaska’s senior population is growing fast, and the number of complaints to the state agency tasked with protecting vulnerable adult Alaskans of all ages is growing too. Adult Protective Services is holding two free resource fairs to share information with vulnerable adults, families, caregivers and service providers in Fairbanks and Anchorage this month. Both events run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on a Friday. Anchorage Resource Fair The Anchorage fair will be Sept. 20 in the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, 1300 E. 19th Ave. There will be a...
Deborah Blake had a dream to take care of herself and her husband by gaining good solid paying employment. And now that hope has become reality for her and more. She and her husband came to Alaska in 2006 to spend more time with the grandchildren. Dennis, her husband, had always provided for the family, but now he had a debilitating disease and could not do the work he was accustomed to. Deborah knew in her heart it was her turn to provide for the family. Unfortunately, Deborah hadn’t worked i...
September is National Preparedness Month. It is a time to prepare yourself and those in your care for emergencies and disasters. This September, please prepare and plan in the event you must go for three days without electricity, water service, access to a supermarket, or local services for several days. Just follow these four steps: • Be Informed • Make a Plan • Build a Kit • Get Involved While each person’s abilities and needs are unique, every individual can take steps to prepare for all kinds of emergencies. By evaluating your own perso...
Confusion is common when laws change. And that may be even more true with health care reform, since nobody – including those in Congress who created the law – seems to understand it. One thing is certain, scam artists are out there taking advantage of the lack of knowledge to steal from trusting victims across the country. “There’s been a rapid increase in scams exploiting the confusion over health care reform,” confirmed Jim Quiggle, the spokesman for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. “People are uncertain what it means to them and sw...
Seniors who list various deductions on their income tax returns are getting a little-known break. It deals with health costs. For 2013 taxes, the claim for health related costs was jacked up from 7.5 percent to 10 percent of Adjusted Gross Income — except for taxpayers or their spouses who are 65 or older. For us seniors the deduction remains at 7.5 percent from 2013 to 2017. If your health-care expenses this year are anywhere near those of the typical senior, they would be about $10,600 each for you and your spouse. In 2010, health expenses a...
Who knew there is so much going on around us – in the air, under foot, even under the ground or under the sea? OLÉ! seeks to explore, to help adult learners keep on discovering and learning about all that is going on around them. OLÉ! stands for “Opportunities for Lifelong Education.” Providing those opportunities is an expansive, wide-ranging goal, but I’ve found that OLE! does a super job of providing adventures for grabbing on to new knowledge. Take for example the weekend of July 19 - 21....
Ever forget to take your pills or simply fail to measure your blood sugar or some other routine health care daily chores? Would it help you remember if you knew that a nurse was coming by regularly to check in and make sure you were doing what you were supposed to do? Simple things sometimes can be revolutionary. A Medicare experimental program, being tested in Doylestown, Pa., that brings a nurse to regularly visit you for continued care – even when you aren’t seriously ill – has been given an 18 month reprieve from being shut down. If it is...
Imagine checking your bank balance and discovering your Social Security payment is 20 percent less than it should be. You contact the Social Security Administration only to be told that the Trust Fund is “insolvent,” and by law, benefits automatically adjust to the level of payroll taxes coming in. There’s only enough money to pay you 80 percent of your scheduled benefits. Think that Congress will never let that happen? I wouldn’t bet my benefits on it. This is, after all, the Congress that will be most remembered for letting $1.2 trillio...
On July 9, 2013, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Alaska Department of Law announced the filing of criminal charges against 29 Anchorage based personal care attendants (PCA) and Medicaid recipients as part of an ongoing state and federal investigation into medical assistance fraud by employees of Good Faith Services, LLC (Good Faith), PCAs and Medicaid recipients receiving services from Good Faith. The following state and federal agencies collaborated on the investigation: the Anchorage Police Department; investigators with the...
While the Obama administration battles with the Republican House of Representatives this summer in the public relations fight over getting people to sign up for the new health care insurance coverage, key decisions affecting millions of poor folks are being made at the state level with major consequences. Supporters and opponents are squaring off in efforts to sell or roll back the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare.” Both sides want to get the tactical advantage in advance of when people start to sign up for health...
In May, approximately 85 elders and seniors, providers and community members came together at the Millennium Alaskan Hotel to discuss the theme of the Second Annual Anchorage Elders Summit, “Connecting Elders, Strengthening the Community.” The format of the summit as envisioned by the sponsors, Alaska Rural Behavioral Health Training Academy (ARBHTA), and the Trust Training Cooperative, in partnership with the Anchorage Senior Citizens Advisory Commission, is to provide a place for our eld...
Editor’s note: This press statement was received on June 12, 2013. Senator Lisa Murkowski advocated today on behalf of the 6,900 living Hmong-American veterans who served in Vietnam under covert operations, testifying before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in support of her legislation that would allow these veterans to be paid a final honor they earned: being laid to rest beside their brothers-in-arms in our national cemeteries. “Members of our Hmong community that fought under the CIA during Vietnam currently enjoy no rights as vet...
Direct-care health aide — helping the elderly bathe, dress and eat — is the fastest growing occupation in the U.S. But the labor shortage is dire. As the baby boomers age, this sector of health care faces a dangerous shortage because the work is surely not “easy street” and the pay is crummy. Aides are often bitten, kicked or cursed at by patients with dementia. Nursing homes and in-home health care agencies are struggling to find help, and about 20 percent of the workers in this field of care are more than 55 years of age and eager to retire....
Since Medicare Part D went into effect in 2006, prescription drugs have been an integral part of the Medicare benefit package. So, the question of how seniors can save additional money on medications often comes up, but so does the question of how the entire Medicare Part D program can be more cost-effective and save taxpayers money without jeopardizing enrollee benefits. Q: Will closing the Part D “doughnut hole” really save beneficiaries money? A: Many seniors may not be aware that the infamous “doughnut hole,” or gap in coverage, is closing...
If a person has had their diabetic testing supplies delivered by a local home medical supplier in the past, they need to know the rules are changing around purchasing and paying for diabetic testing supplies. As of July 1, 2013, if diabetic supplies are delivered to the beneficiary’s home by any method they would not be included as part of the covered benefit under the Medicare program, unless they are being delivered by one of the National Mail Order Program Contract Suppliers. So beneficiaries have two options: They can either have their t...
A free seminar, “Medicare and the Affordable Care Act,” will be offered Aug. 13 at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center from 1 to 3 p.m. Space is limited so RSVP by calling 770-2028....
If you are 65 or older, 70 percent physically disabled or blind, you are eligible for a fishing proxy. This means you may have someone else fish for you for most fish and shellfish, though proxy fishing for halibut is not allowed. For more information or to pick up a form, visit your local senior center or Dept. of Fish and Game office. Or visit the website www.adfg.alaska.gov. The Proxy Fishing Information Form can be downloaded, printed, then filled out, but it has to be brought in, faxed, or scanned in then e-mailed to an Alaska Fish and...
Now turning 67 years old, the first set of Baby Boomers, those born in 1946, continue to be myth-busters, according to a new study, “Healthy, Retiring Rapidly and Collecting Social Security: The MetLife Report on the Oldest Boomers.” The data, from the company’s MetLife Mature Market Institute, says the earliest Boomers aren’t necessarily “working ’til they drop,” as was predicted. More than half (52 percent) of the 1946 Boomers are now fully retired. Of those, 38 percent say, “I’m ready,” while 17 percent cite health reasons and 10 perc...
After five days in the hospital with a fractured spine, Jean Arnau was discharged and needed to transfer to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation. Only then did her family find out that she had never been formally admitted as an inpatient to the hospital. While the care the 84-year-old Rhode Island woman got was exactly the same, she had been classified as an outpatient under “observation” – a status that cost her thousands of dollars more than she would have paid if she had been admitted as an inpatient. The same thing happened to Lo...
ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP all did very well this legislative session. The rest of us? Not so great. We lost $4.5 billion to three of the richest corporations in the world, money that could have been used to educate our children, provide public safety, and support vital programs such as the Senior Benefits Program and Alaska’s Pioneer Homes. I don’t believe in sacrificing essential services for Alaskans in order to increase oil industry profits. SB 21, the Governor’s oil wealth giveaway, will cause the state to choose between runni...
Editor’s note: This Dept. of Health and Human Services press statement was received on May 9. On May 9, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced new funds to help more uninsured Americans enroll in affordable health insurance coverage made available by the Affordable Care Act. In Alaska an estimated $1.78 million is available to support 25 health centers’ enrollment efforts. Nationwide, funding of approximately $150 million will expand the efforts at community health centers to provide in-person assistance to help enr...
Alaska Community Services, Inc. disclosed that it discontinued its Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent programs as of April 30, 2013. According to Executive Director Brenda Bogowith, the agency voluntarily relinquished their federal grants to operate the programs prior to their end date due to a monitoring site visit conducted in February 2012. The findings of that site visit resulted in programmatic and compliance issues which are currently under discussion with federal funding agency officials at the Corporation for National and...
The 28th Alaska State Legislative session wrapped up on April 15 with many bills passing on to Governor Sean Parnell for signature and others that were stuck in the various committees or did not get a hearing. During the final Alaska Commission on Aging legislative teleconference, guest Speaker Rep. Cathy Munoz, R-Juneau, expressed to the group how grueling the session was. “It was physically taxing on the members,” she said. She explained that HB 4, an act relating to the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation to continue progressing tow...
Kitty the dog is a bonafide home-meal delivery alarm. The 4-year-old black furball starts wriggling before the Palmer Senior Center van loaded with lunches even rumbles down the road. “Kitty knows when he turns that corner out there,” Susie Kammermeyer said, standing in the doorway with husband Leo as their little Shih-poo munched on a treat. “She gets excited.” The couple gets meals from the Palmer senior center’s food-delivery program that serves Mat-Su Valley residents from Sutton to Meadow...
