Medicare Launches Hospice Compare Website Patients looking for hospice care can now get help from Medicare’s website. The agency’s new Hospice Compare site allows patients to evaluate hospice providers according to several criteria. The site is a good start, but there is room for improvement, experts say. Medicare's comprehensive hospice benefit covers any care that is reasonable and necessary for easing the course of a terminal illness. Medicare launched the hospice compare [...]

Medicare's Part B Premium Will Be Unchanged in 2018, But Many Will Pay More The announcement of the 2018 Medicare premium is good news for some beneficiaries and bad news for many others. The good news is that the standard monthly Part B premium, which about 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries pay, will again be $134 next year, unchanged from 2017. But most Medicare recipients pay a lower premium because they have been protected from any increase in premiums when Social Security benefits [...]

On November 15th Maria Motsavage, our Elder Care Coordinator, was the keynote speaker at the Long Term Care Facilities' Employee Recognition Luncheon!

Social Security Beneficiaries Will Receive a 2 Percent Increase in 2018 In 2018, Social Security recipients will get their largest cost of living increase in benefits since 2012, but the additional income will likely be largely eaten up by higher Medicare Part B premiums. Cost of living increases are tied to the consumer price index, and an upturn in inflation rates and gas prices means recipients get a small boost in 2018, amounting to $27 a month for the typical retiree. The 2 percent [...]

During the American Bar Association National Aging & Law Conference on October 26-27 our Elder Care Coordinator, Maria Motsavage spoke as part of a panel on "Enhancing your Elder Law Practice with an Elder Care Coordinator." She certainly enhances ours!