HALMARK HAS STEPPED UP WITH A GRANT TO SCM FOR TRANSPORTATION TO THEIR
FACILITIES WHEN THEY ARE OVERBOOKED AT THE MALDEN SENOR COMMUNITY
CENTER THIS IS A FIRST STEP FOR MENDICAL APPOINTMENTS
WE SHOULD NEED THE WINCHESTER HOSPITAL AND THE CAMBRIDGE ALLIANCE
GROUP TO STEP UP WITH SENIOR TRANSPORTATION. MSAC SHOULD ADVISE THE
COMMUNITY ABOUT THE RIDE AND THE NON-PROFITS SERVICING THE ELDERLY
SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF WHAT IS AVAILABLE AND STEP INTO THE BREECH FOR
ALL NEEDS FOR TRANSPORTATION OF THE EDERLY AND DISABLED. A LIITLE
PUBLICITY IN THE MALDEN OBSERVER SEEMS TO GET ACTION.
WE AT MSAC ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PROMISISED SHUTTLES TO AND FROM
THE SENIOR CENTER.
Malden seniors unsatisfied with public transportation options
By Rich Tenorio / malden@cnc.com
Thu Mar 05, 2009, 04:57 PM EST
Tools:
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Malden - Transportation issues are at the heart of a Malden senior’s
frustration with the city he calls home.
Howard McGowan, the Metro North membership coordinator for the Mass.
Senior Action Council (MSAC), has protested what he describes as
insufficient access to the new senior center on Washington Street, as
well as a lack of adequate transportation opportunities for seniors to
medical appointments.
“There are two issues,” McGowan said in an interview with the Observer
on Monday. “We want to be able to enjoy the senior center, and to see
that we get transportation to medical facilities.”
Located on 7 Washington St., the center held an opening celebration on
January 24, with MSAC members from the Cambridge, North Shore and
Metro North chapters attending. McGowan, however, said that since
then, seniors who rely on public transportation to get to the center
may find access too difficult.
“If you don’t have transportation, you can’t get there,” said McGowan,
an 84-year-old World War II veteran who now lives on Pleasant Street.
“Once they took the (MBTA) buses off Florence Street and took the bus
stop away from the senior center, you have to walk across a state
highway or across Florence Street, a dangerous section.
“We took somebody from the mayor’s office and showed them how far it
is to walk from the bus stop. There’s a hill, and you have to walk
from the Stop & Shop way down on Route 60. They promised they would
put on a shuttle bus.”
McGowan said that bus routes and stops were changed about a year and a
half ago, “just about the time they were building the senior center,
which is what got us so upset. The bus came right down Main Street and
Pleasant Street.”
However, Debbie Burke, a spokesperson for Mayor Richard Howard, said
that the center is accessible.
“It’s still within walking distance,” she said. “You can take the bus
to the MBTA station. It’s right around the corner. As far as we’re
concerned, it remains accessible by public transportation or car.”
Burke also said that “ridership counts on (bus) routes are really
dwindling,” and that the center has on-street parking as well as lots
on Dartmouth and Florence streets, adding that next year there will be
an additional lot on Pleasant Street.
McGowan has also called for more ways for seniors to get to medical
appointments.
“The Medical Service transportation for Hallmark Medical sites is
handled at the Malden Senior Community Center and is overwhelmed and
overbooked,” he wrote in a mass e-mail on February 14, citing “turn
downs growing (personal experience).”
On Monday, McGowan said, “At the senior center we get transportation
for medical (purposes) backed by Hallmark Health, but they’ll only
take you to Hallmark facilities.”
He added, “It takes an hour, you have to make arrangements, and they
can only do one per hour. It used to be one per half-hour.” And, he
said, “There is no transportation from senior housing for people who
can’t get down. A lot of people can’t go on public transportation.
People who have to go to Winchester Hospital for Blue Cross — there’s
no transportation out there.”
McGowan and Burke both mentioned other transportation opportunities
for seniors. One is the MBTA Ride program, which requires registration
on an individual basis and which takes seniors to medical
appointments. Another is SCM (Somerville-Cambridge-Medford), an
organization that provides shopping trips for eligible seniors as well
as some medical trips. Burke also said that through the efforts of
human services director Chris DiPietro, there is a van that makes some
shopping trips for seniors.
In the end, whether it’s getting to the Senior Center or getting to a
medical appointment, the main point seems the same.
“It makes it hard for people if they can’t get transportation,” McGowan said.
. Comment refer to web page
http://maldentax.blogspot.com/2009/03/here-we-go-again.html
MTFA
CMurphy1 month ago
Report AbuseWho is this Debbie Burke person, and how old is she? And
does she actually ride public transit? I would really like to know. I
am not a senior myself, but I can see the difficulty in her suggestion
that seniors take the bus to the Malden Center T stop, and go *just
around the corner* to the senior center.
The problem with this is that they would have to cross
Florence/Commercial Street to get there. Anyone remember the old
*Frogger* video game? Well, crossing that street on foot is like being
the *frog* in a game of human Frogger. It's hard enough for an
able-bodied person who can move quickly, but if you're an older person
who can't move so fast, you may well become road pizza. There are a
lot of crazies on the roads.
Heck, often I have to stop at the crosswalk in front of 630 Salem
Street to let some elderly person get across, and some jerk behind me
is blowing their horn to try to get me to move. I may care about our
seniors, but most younger people here do not.
As for Ms. Burke's comments about parking...can I drum it into her
head once again...MANY SENIORS HERE DO NOT HAVE CARS. So what the heck
is the use of parking lots, when the people that this place is
supposed to serve do not drive?
Don't even get me started about the transportation to medical
appointments thing. Even if these people CAN get a bus to their
appointments, good luck in getting on the bus, or, if they do get on,
getting a seat. When I used to ride the bus, I had the misfortune of
having to ride when the teen thugs from the high school were on.
They'd crowd the bus, refuse to move to the rear, and if the driver
thought the bus was too crowded, they'd just refuse to stop for
people.
There used to be this elderly man who'd get on the bus at the stop in
front of Vinnie's Pizza on Salem Street, he had medical appointments
to get to. He must have been 90 if he was a day, walked with a cane,
and when he'd get on the bus full of teen thugs, NOT ONE OF THEM would
give him a seat. I didn't have a seat to give him myself. We adults
would try to shame the brats into giving the man a seat, but they just
laughed and spewed obscenities at us. The bus driver did nothing.
I also think Hallmark Health is lousy, we've had nothing but bad
experiences with them, their doctors, and hospitals, and seniors need
to have a choice. Just because people can't drive doesn't mean they
deserve substandard treatment, health care, etc.
My husband and I would rather die young than have to retire in Malden,
if this is what they think of senior citizens.. We can't afford to
move now, but we are working on being able to do so long before we get
to that age. Mayor Howard may think he's all that for opening the new
senior center, but I think he's just a rich jerk who is out of touch
with the working class and senior people here.
Don't get me started about the garbage tax...but that's O/T, so I'll stop now.
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Howard McGowan
MaldenSenior
Monday, October 12, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE
Long-term care insurance, something that wasn’t so common back when my
dad could have bought it, seems like one solution. These policies are
offered as a way to pay for a nursing home, assisted living, home
health care and other costs associated with growing older. But where
to begin? The policies are expensive, complicated and have a severely
flawed history. And let’s face it, it’s hard to shop for something I
hope I won’t need for another 30 or 40 years.
So I turned to experts, to answer some of the most pressing long-term
care insurance questions.
Q. Why should I buy this insurance? Don’t Medicare and Medicaid cover
long-term care?
A. That’s what many people think, said Russell Fox, a certified
financial planner and managing director of Apex Wealth Management, a
financial planning firm in Oxnard, Calif. But the reality is, Medicare
pays for only short-term medical care at home or for a limited stay in
a nursing home after a hospitalization.
Medicaid pays for long-term care — but not until people have already
spent the majority of their financial assets.
“You can have a situation where a married couple spends down all their
assets for the husband, which leaves the wife in a vulnerable
financial situation should she outlive her spouse,” Mr. Fox explained.
A good long-term care insurance can help protect assets, as well as
pay for expenses.
Q. I’m only in my 50s. I don’t need to worry about this insurance yet, right?
A. Actually that is a good age to start thinking about a policy,
advises Marilee Kern Driscoll, author of a newsletter on long-term
care insurance. LTC123.com If you wait until you are in your 60s and
health problems have set in, you may not qualify for any policy. And
premiums are slightly lower when you buy younger.
Typically people in their early 50s will pay $2,000 a year, depending
on the length and type of coverage, compared with an average of $2,250
a year for someone age 60 to 64. True, you’ll be making those payments
for a longer number of years. And premiums may go up as much as 10
percent a decade over the life of the policy, Ms. Driscoll notes.
Q. What should I look for in a policy?
A. Under almost all policies, coverage will kick in if you can’t
perform certain activities of daily living — like walking, eating or
bathing — because of a physical or cognitive impairment.
Verify that the coverage will start if you can’t perform any one of
the above activities — not necessarily all three. For example, someone
may well be able to eat after they are too frail to walk or bath
unassisted.
Once a policyholder meets the definition of a triggering event, the
kind of care that is covered varies widely. Make sure yours provides
for the following:
¶All types of care. That includes nursing homes, assisted living
centers and home health care attendants. Most policies do provide for
all three types of care. But it’s important to make sure your policy
does.
Claims have also been denied because insurers say a particular nursing
home or other long-term care facility doesn’t qualify for coverage,
leaving policyholders responsible for huge bills after they’ve already
become a resident. Be sure to check that the policy you are
considering doesn’t include overly narrow restrictions.
¶All types of caretakers. Some policies cover only “skilled” home
health care workers, like registered nurses. But you want to be able
to pay for home health care attendants and the person who comes in to
make meals and do light cleaning, too. Look for a policy that pays for
“skilled, intermediate and custodial care,” said Mr. Fox.
¶A wide range of illnesses and injuries. Not too long ago, policies
routinely excluded coverage for Alzheimer’s and dementia, two of what
are now the most common reasons for seeking long-term care. In
addition, several insurers came under fire a couple of years ago for
denying claims for care that were clearly covered in their policies.
Increasing state regulation and rising demand from boomers has forced
the $8 billion industry to clean up some since then, “but there are
still some policies out there that exclude far more than they cover,”
Mr. Fox said. Your best defense is this: Read your policy carefully
for any health-related exclusions or other reasons to deny coverage.
¶Inflation protection. You want coverage, at the very least, that will
increase the daily benefit amount enough to keep pace with inflation.
Without this protection, 20 years out your benefits may not cover your
expenses, and you’ll have to make up the difference.
Q. This insurance is expensive. What can I do to get more for my money?
A. Unfortunately, long-term care insurance is more costly than ever.
That’s because insurers in past years did a poor job of anticipating
how much they would be paying in nursing home and other long-term care
costs. They also overestimated the number of people who would let
their insurance lapse.
Now, the insurers are scrambling to make up for these actuarial
shortcomings by charging higher rates for new policyholders. And as it
turns out, insurers can raise rates on existing policyholders as long
as state regulators approve the increase. (The states have often done
this in the past, although some are now showing signs of resistance.)
To lessen the sting, try the following:
¶Avoid lifetime benefits. Opt instead for a policy that covers a set
amount of time, like four or five years, suggests Ms. Driscoll. The
average nursing home stay is two to three years, she points out, and
only 12 percent of patients live longer than five years once they
enter.
¶Look for a policy that pays a monthly sum. Most policies specify a
daily benefit — anywhere from $50 to $500. Recently insurers have
begun using a monthly amount so you have the flexibility to receive
more care on some days, when no family member is available, for
example, and less care on others.
¶Consider a front-loaded policy. With these, you pay the entire cost
of the premiums before you retire. You’ll pay more upfront, but
payments will end just as your income decreases.
¶Look into cash benefit policies. Once benefit payments kick in, these
policies will send you a regular cash payment, say $200 a week.
Instead of filing claims for specific care (with specific requirements
to qualify for coverage) you are free to use the payout however you
see fit.
You may still pay the nursing home or home health care attendant with
the money when the need arises. But you can also use the cash to pay a
family member for care, pay travel expenses for a visiting relative
and take care of other expenses that would not be reimbursed under a
traditional policy. You’ll pay more for these policies, but some
families find the extra flexibility is worth it.
¶Find a good agent. You’ll need someone who is experienced in
long-term care, Ms. Driscoll says. This might be the same insurance
agent who sold you your life and auto policy, or you may need to find
a specialist. Either way, make sure the person fully understands your
needs and is active enough to be selling at least a dozen policies a
year.
--
Howard McGowan
dad could have bought it, seems like one solution. These policies are
offered as a way to pay for a nursing home, assisted living, home
health care and other costs associated with growing older. But where
to begin? The policies are expensive, complicated and have a severely
flawed history. And let’s face it, it’s hard to shop for something I
hope I won’t need for another 30 or 40 years.
So I turned to experts, to answer some of the most pressing long-term
care insurance questions.
Q. Why should I buy this insurance? Don’t Medicare and Medicaid cover
long-term care?
A. That’s what many people think, said Russell Fox, a certified
financial planner and managing director of Apex Wealth Management, a
financial planning firm in Oxnard, Calif. But the reality is, Medicare
pays for only short-term medical care at home or for a limited stay in
a nursing home after a hospitalization.
Medicaid pays for long-term care — but not until people have already
spent the majority of their financial assets.
“You can have a situation where a married couple spends down all their
assets for the husband, which leaves the wife in a vulnerable
financial situation should she outlive her spouse,” Mr. Fox explained.
A good long-term care insurance can help protect assets, as well as
pay for expenses.
Q. I’m only in my 50s. I don’t need to worry about this insurance yet, right?
A. Actually that is a good age to start thinking about a policy,
advises Marilee Kern Driscoll, author of a newsletter on long-term
care insurance. LTC123.com If you wait until you are in your 60s and
health problems have set in, you may not qualify for any policy. And
premiums are slightly lower when you buy younger.
Typically people in their early 50s will pay $2,000 a year, depending
on the length and type of coverage, compared with an average of $2,250
a year for someone age 60 to 64. True, you’ll be making those payments
for a longer number of years. And premiums may go up as much as 10
percent a decade over the life of the policy, Ms. Driscoll notes.
Q. What should I look for in a policy?
A. Under almost all policies, coverage will kick in if you can’t
perform certain activities of daily living — like walking, eating or
bathing — because of a physical or cognitive impairment.
Verify that the coverage will start if you can’t perform any one of
the above activities — not necessarily all three. For example, someone
may well be able to eat after they are too frail to walk or bath
unassisted.
Once a policyholder meets the definition of a triggering event, the
kind of care that is covered varies widely. Make sure yours provides
for the following:
¶All types of care. That includes nursing homes, assisted living
centers and home health care attendants. Most policies do provide for
all three types of care. But it’s important to make sure your policy
does.
Claims have also been denied because insurers say a particular nursing
home or other long-term care facility doesn’t qualify for coverage,
leaving policyholders responsible for huge bills after they’ve already
become a resident. Be sure to check that the policy you are
considering doesn’t include overly narrow restrictions.
¶All types of caretakers. Some policies cover only “skilled” home
health care workers, like registered nurses. But you want to be able
to pay for home health care attendants and the person who comes in to
make meals and do light cleaning, too. Look for a policy that pays for
“skilled, intermediate and custodial care,” said Mr. Fox.
¶A wide range of illnesses and injuries. Not too long ago, policies
routinely excluded coverage for Alzheimer’s and dementia, two of what
are now the most common reasons for seeking long-term care. In
addition, several insurers came under fire a couple of years ago for
denying claims for care that were clearly covered in their policies.
Increasing state regulation and rising demand from boomers has forced
the $8 billion industry to clean up some since then, “but there are
still some policies out there that exclude far more than they cover,”
Mr. Fox said. Your best defense is this: Read your policy carefully
for any health-related exclusions or other reasons to deny coverage.
¶Inflation protection. You want coverage, at the very least, that will
increase the daily benefit amount enough to keep pace with inflation.
Without this protection, 20 years out your benefits may not cover your
expenses, and you’ll have to make up the difference.
Q. This insurance is expensive. What can I do to get more for my money?
A. Unfortunately, long-term care insurance is more costly than ever.
That’s because insurers in past years did a poor job of anticipating
how much they would be paying in nursing home and other long-term care
costs. They also overestimated the number of people who would let
their insurance lapse.
Now, the insurers are scrambling to make up for these actuarial
shortcomings by charging higher rates for new policyholders. And as it
turns out, insurers can raise rates on existing policyholders as long
as state regulators approve the increase. (The states have often done
this in the past, although some are now showing signs of resistance.)
To lessen the sting, try the following:
¶Avoid lifetime benefits. Opt instead for a policy that covers a set
amount of time, like four or five years, suggests Ms. Driscoll. The
average nursing home stay is two to three years, she points out, and
only 12 percent of patients live longer than five years once they
enter.
¶Look for a policy that pays a monthly sum. Most policies specify a
daily benefit — anywhere from $50 to $500. Recently insurers have
begun using a monthly amount so you have the flexibility to receive
more care on some days, when no family member is available, for
example, and less care on others.
¶Consider a front-loaded policy. With these, you pay the entire cost
of the premiums before you retire. You’ll pay more upfront, but
payments will end just as your income decreases.
¶Look into cash benefit policies. Once benefit payments kick in, these
policies will send you a regular cash payment, say $200 a week.
Instead of filing claims for specific care (with specific requirements
to qualify for coverage) you are free to use the payout however you
see fit.
You may still pay the nursing home or home health care attendant with
the money when the need arises. But you can also use the cash to pay a
family member for care, pay travel expenses for a visiting relative
and take care of other expenses that would not be reimbursed under a
traditional policy. You’ll pay more for these policies, but some
families find the extra flexibility is worth it.
¶Find a good agent. You’ll need someone who is experienced in
long-term care, Ms. Driscoll says. This might be the same insurance
agent who sold you your life and auto policy, or you may need to find
a specialist. Either way, make sure the person fully understands your
needs and is active enough to be selling at least a dozen policies a
year.
--
Howard McGowan
AGING IN PLACE MALDEN mA
I read your article in Malden Observer
As an active member of Mass Senior Action Council in Malden I have been getting interest in an "aging in place"
program for Seniors and their families in Malden.
I have been in contact with the Mayor, City Councillors and Chamber of Commerce along with our non-profits
charged with Senior service and have had some interest in proceeding.
The program envisioned is modeled after the Beacon Hill Villi age concept and you can get info at their Web Site if you have any
interest
Your input would be appreciated.
--
Howard McGowan
MaldenSenior
As an active member of Mass Senior Action Council in Malden I have been getting interest in an "aging in place"
program for Seniors and their families in Malden.
I have been in contact with the Mayor, City Councillors and Chamber of Commerce along with our non-profits
charged with Senior service and have had some interest in proceeding.
The program envisioned is modeled after the Beacon Hill Villi age concept and you can get info at their Web Site if you have any
interest
Your input would be appreciated.
--
Howard McGowan
MaldenSenior
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