Health
Making ends meet should not mean going without your medications.
If you have limited income and resources, Medicare’s “Extra Help” program sets it up so this year you might pay no more than $2.60 for each generic drug and $6.50 for each brand name drug.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that more than two million people with Medicare may be eligible for the subsidy, but are not currently enrolled to take advantage of these savings.
A recent law changed how your income and assets are counted:
- Life insurance policies do not count as resources.
- Any help you get from relatives, friends and others to pay for household expenses – like food, mortgage, rent, heating fuel or gas, electricity, water, and property taxes – does not count as income.
Many people qualify and don’t know it
The changes that took place in 2010 allowed more people than ever to qualify for “Extra Help.”
Even if you were previously turned down for “Extra Help” due to income or resource levels, you should reapply.
If you qualify, you will get help paying for Medicare prescription drug coverage premiums, copayments, and deductibles.
To qualify, you must make less than $17,235 a year (or $23,265 for married couples).
Even if your annual income is higher, you still may be able to get some extra help. Your resources must also be limited to $13,300 (or $26,580 for married couples). Resources include bank accounts, stocks, and bonds, but not your house or car.
There’s no cost or obligation to apply
It’s easy and free to apply for “Extra Help.” You or a family member, trusted counselor, or caregiver can apply online at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/prescriptionhelp or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY users should call 1-800-325-0778). All the information you give is confidential.
Medicare beneficiaries can also receive assistance in their local communities from their State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA), the Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) and many tribal organizations.
For information about how to contact these organizations go to www.eldercare.gov .
To learn more about Medicare prescription drug coverage, visit www.medicare.gov , or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048.
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- Written by: Editor
NORTH COAST, Calif. – On Oct. 8, a PBS Frontline documentary, “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis investigated the condition now known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which – up until recently – could only be fully diagnosed postmortem.
CTE has been most commonly found in athletes who experience repetitive brain trauma such as a concussion.
Symptoms associated with CTE may be dementia, memory loss, aggressive behavior, confusion and depression. There has been a tragic series of suicides associated with CTE.
Local Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital (HMH) speech language pathologist, Nancy Horowitz Moilanen, M.A.
CCC-SLP has conducted a breakthrough case study that may help treat NFL players in particular and anyone suffering from CTE.
Horowitz Moilanen presented her CTE treatment program on November 14, 2013 to an overflowing room at the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association’s (ASHA) national annual convention in Chicago, Illinois. “Executive Function Treatment: In the Face of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy – Lifesaving.”
“I presented a case study on a former NFL player who has a medical history of serial concussive injuries and whose 2009 MRI showed mild cortical volume loss (cerebral atrophy),” she said. “His neuropsychological testing showed dementia secondary to repetitive concussion from football and organic mood disorder secondary to multiple head trauma. Basically, he was experiencing multiple symptoms that have been associated with CTE.”
According to Horowitz Moilanen, the plan of care and treatment goals for this particular individual were co-developed with the patient.
“Treatment occurred over a 10 month period and was focused on neurological executive function skills; such as, learning problem solving strategies, goal setting, initiating tasks and self-inhibiting behaviors,” she said. “However, the turning factor in his treatment was supporting him in developing an education project about his struggles; one which could act as a 'prevention' program for others. This offered a sense of purpose and, at times a reason to push forward.”
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that there are between 1.7 and 3.8 million traumatic brain injuries in the United States each year. Of those, 17 percent will go on to develop into progressive symptoms such as are found in CTE.
Horowitz Moilanen, also wanted to point out, “this translates into 647,000 new cases a year. We have approximately 135,000 ASHA certified Speech-Language Pathologists. That means at any given time we, Speech-Language Pathologists in the school settings or hospital settings, could have at least 3-5 new cases a year!”
As for the former NFL player presented in Horowitz Moilanen’s case study research, changes in behavior resulted in an overall increased sense of self-esteem and personal empowerment. “The outcome resulted in the patient believing and understanding that he has a positive and effective role in choosing, daily, to cope with his challenges. Five months after therapy, he reported minimal episodes of pain and a distinct decrease in the myriad of symptoms he had been experiencing since 1989,” said Horowitz Moilanen.
Horowitz Moilanen also recently presented her CTE case study at the Intermountain Area Speech and Hearing Association’s 4 state convention in Denver, Colorado.
Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital is offers rehabilitation services including speech-language pathology, which can help treat a variety of medical disorders including, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, swallowing disorders, autism spectrum disorder and other neurological disorders including CTE.
For more information on the services provided by Nancy Horowitz Moilanen, please contact 707-459-3141.
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- Written by: Editor
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