By Kay Kaylor
Special to The PREVIEW
At San Juan Basin Area Agency on Aging (SJBAAA), I am not only a part-time long-term care ombudsman, which is an advocate for residents at Pine Ridge, a 24-hour extended care home, and BeeHive, an assisted living residence. I also am a trained Senior Medicare Patrol and State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor and aging and disability specialist. Elder issues that I daily learn about will be included here.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed changes to the 2016 federal revised nursing home regulations in July. Phase 3 of the new laws are taking effect Nov. 28 with some changes. The stated purpose of these changes is to reduce the burden on providers. Advocacy groups, such as National Consumer Voice, urge the public to comment on them by the due date of Sept. 16.
CMS also issued a final rule on pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements, which no longer bans them from long-term care admission packets but specifies the restrictions. See theconsumervoice.org for comparison charts and sample letters on both these issues.
Medicare beneficiaries may have seen the warnings about genetic testing scams, and the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies notes that the companies offering them are backing away more. The “free” cheek swabs to obtain DNA, offered at health fairs, door-to-door and in telemarketing calls, generally are not covered by Medicare. Instead these companies are targeting elders to obtain their Medicare information and then illegally bill Medicare or use the data for other fraud schemes.
To be covered, a DNA test must be approved by a physician you know and trust, not one the company offers.
SJBAAA offers resources for people age 60 and older or on Medicare. For further information, please call me at 264-0501, ext. 1 or send an email to adrc@sjbaaa.org.
