Why Use a Referral Agency for Your Clients? Using CayCare for Medicaid Support and Contacting Your State Representative

Referral Agency, Use of Support of Medicaid Clients and Most Importantly, Changing the Coverage Through Your Own Voice

We will discuss CayCare's process, then how we work with you and Medicaid Client and finally encouraging YOU to contact your STATE representative.

Every client that comes through your building and needs placement has many decisions to make. What would help that client make the very best decisions as much as possible the first time? Medicare really started asking that question several years ago when they discussed pay for performance, later the Affordable Care Act. 

Many care transition programs within the Aging Network are able to ... implement evidence-based care transition strategies and provide increased access to critical long-term services and supports post-discharge. -NAPGCM

Referral Agencies can really contribute to the cause of post discharge support. It may seem easy to just contact our agency but here is what those busy worker bees are doing. Come inside and take a look....

1. First, a referral comes in to our office or the family contacts us to start the process of receiving assistance.
2. Our Intake staff really perform a thorough intake using the basics required by the referral agency law with the addition of our clinical components to help identify any unforeseen concerns.
3. The intake staff triage which part of the CayCare team will work with the client. We have specialists who assure the client's experience is the very best. (A client will virtually meet their Placement Navigator when the appointment is set via pictures.)
4. An appointment to meet is set whenever possible. (The exception is with Emergency Placement and at times Medicaid Clients)
5. The client is assisgned a Placement Navigator to meet and tour with them. Our Navigators are assigned geographical specialty areas to respond quickly and effectively. These navigators can fold in the personality and quality of life of the client along with the clinical needs making the results overall more effective. (A free service)
6. The client is assigned an Elder Care Advisor when home care is the preference. The Elder Care Advisor will include a Family Care Plan This plan includes simple education towards caring for someone at home. (A free service)
7. Once a facility or agency is chosen CayCare doesn't stop supporting the client. We provide Care Coordination including a Tool to the client, the facility/agency and to you. 
8. Follow up has been developed to get results. We follow up when the clients most typically need the additional support. 
9. Additionally, a survey to hear about the facility/agency and how they did as well as our own QA follow up allows the client to support the next client's results. We have feedback from 1000's of clients. You will see that our infrastructure has been developed from that targeted approach. 

Have a Medicaid client? We aren't just pulling a name out of a hat to give you something. We have a facility reporting system in place for openings. The facility has to be willing and able to take a client. This is why we ask for the details so we are matching reported openings to your needs. Since these clients are not often as easily placed we use strategies to support your needs without over burdening our own small department's.

Our team does research and reviews options for hundreds of clients. We provide a summary to our contacts to help them find the right place.

Make your voice is heard and tell your state representative what problems you are facing. The most difficult piece about Medicaid right now is that the facilities are filling up and there are still so many in need. We are working with other referral agencies to track the clients we are serving to hopefully make a difference in the rates facilities are compensated. This single act we hope will help the future clients we serve. We need to make your voice count as well. Please let your state representative know of the struggles you face with placement at your own job.

House Amends Budget to Address Safety Net Assessment

I wanted to take a quick moment to thank you for extraordinary work over the past two days. You generated over 1,000 email messages and countless phone calls to your legislators – and that impact paid off. The House budget proposal for FY14 was amended this afternoon in the Appropriations Committee to include safety net assessment dollars. The House plan mirrors the Senate proposal by driving dollars to direct care and the low wage earner add-on. We congratulate the Senate and the House on maximizing on existing resources to protect quality of care and access to services for the seniors we serve in skilled nursing facilities.

I wish we could say the same about assisted living Medicaid funding. Our frustration over the failure of the legislature to provide rates relief for our assisted living providers cannot dissuade us from continued and strong communication regarding this problem.

Regardless of the outcome during this supplemental budget period, you have my word that we will continue to work to identify every option for leveraging real movement on a decades-old rates impasse for our assisted living providers. -Washington Health Care Association

Contact Your House Members Today	Take Action!
Stand with the Governor & Senate on Seniors
We are in the final days of the 2014 legislative session -- and Governor Jay Inslee and the State Senate proposals include funding for Medicaid rates in skilled nursing facilities through the safety net assessment. The House Budget contains no concessions for Medicaid rates for state clients in skilled nursing and assisted living centers. Please make it a priority to communicate to your Representatives that SENIORS MATTER. Make sure and take a moment next session. Take a stand that makes a difference.

New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus

New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus

When it comes to financial goals, achieving peace of mind is seven times more important than accumulating wealth to adults age 45 and older, according to a recent Merrill Lynch study, conducted in partnership with Age Wave. The study found that retirement has been redefined, with people expecting to live and often work longer than any preceding generation, and taking different approaches to preparing for and living their best life during these years.

“Boomers have always paved their own way, and are once again pioneering new territory,” said Andy Sieg, head of Global Wealth and Retirement Solutions for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “They share a strong view that retirement is not an end but a beginning, an opportunity for reinvention. Their perspectives, concerns, goals and how they plan to achieve them are different. What they seek is clarity and confidence about what is possible in the context of their hopes and myriad uncertainties.”

The study was based on a nationwide survey of more than 6,300 respondents age 45 and older. Key findings were published in a report titled “Americans’ Perspectives on New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus,” which reveals new insights into people’s approaches to and thoughts about retirement, including:

Reinvention: Today’s retirees are largely not retiring. They view the “longevity bonus” as a chance to explore new options, pursue old dreams and live life to the fullest. Fifty-seven percent of Americans age 45 and older consider retirement a whole new chapter in life. Many view it as an opportunity for career reinvention, with 51 percent of pre-retirees who plan to work in retirement indicating they want to launch into a different line of work altogether.

Family Interdependencies: Another key finding was the potential financial impact of supporting family members across multiple generations. Within many families, one or more individuals may be struggling financially. Balancing an individual’s or couple’s retirement needs with the needs of parents, siblings, children and grandchildren is a growing and complicated challenge. Fifty-two percent of parents expect to provide their adult-age children with some form of ongoing support—be it financial, healthcare, housing or education—and 35 percent believe they will need to support their grandchildren in such ways.

Connections: People find comfort, meaning and safety in connections with family, friends, communities and trusted guides during their later years. For many, work can play a significant role in maintaining a social network. Although pre-retirees think a reliable income is what they will miss most about leaving their career, retirees find that it is actually the social connections they miss most.

Traditional Values: Today’s retirees are defining happiness not in terms of dollars but in terms of new experiences, peace of mind, helping family and making a difference. When asked what is most important to pass on to future generations, respondents indicated their top priorities are values and life lessons, which are viewed as more than twice as important as financial and real estate assets.

“Americans have mixed feelings about living longer and transitioning into retirement,” said Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Age Wave, a firm that provides research and insight on the aging population and its impact. “While they welcome the extra time to pursue new interests and spend more time with family and friends, they are concerned about outliving their assets and experiencing a serious health disruption. Even those who have saved adequately can be anxious and often overwhelmed by this complexity and the unknowns they face.”

The study also offered new insights about sources of concern and the need for guidance, including:

Health Disruptions: Although many people consider early retirement a sign of financial success, the number one reason that people retire early is actually the loss of health. The cost of healthcare tops these adults’ list of retirement worries—even more so among the affluent (37 percent and 52 percent, respectively).

Falling Short: Not knowing how long one is going to live causes insecurity about the ability to support a long life. Serious health problems, being a burden on one’s family, and outliving assets ranked among respondents’ top concerns when asked about their views on living a long life (72 percent, 60 percent, and 47 percent, respectively).

Home and Community: Whether it is the nearly half of Americans looking for help deciding the best place to live during retirement, the 38 percent who expect to provide housing support for family members (including inviting them to move in), or finding ideal housing or eldercare for parents, decisions about living arrangements are among the most important when it comes to retirement planning.

“Most people understand that retirement planning is not a ‘once and done’ proposition,” said David Tyrie of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “Where guidance is needed most is helping people understand how all of these variables and decisions work together over time.” He ex[plains, "We are developing a new approach to help people carefully consider nearly all aspects of their life when planning for and living in retirement, including health care costs, family, giving, home, work, leisure and finances."

Read the entire "Americans' Perspectives on New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus" report on the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management site [add link to:http://wealthmanagement.ml.com/publish/content/application/pdf/GWMOL/2013_Merrill_Lynch_Retirement_Study.pdf 

www.caycare.com

CayCare is a full service Referral Agency assisting in placement and home care coordination. We also provide Geriatric Care Management. 

866-337-1176

email: contact@caycare.com

Preventing Financial Elder Exploitation

The nonprofit Investor Protection Trust (IPT) recently surveyed 762 securities regulators, adult protective services workers, medical professionals, law-enforcement officials and others on the “front lines,” and discovered these alarming statistics:

• 58 percent of the respondents said they deal with elderly victims of investment fraud and financial exploitation “quite often” or “somewhat often.”
• 96 percent of the experts say the problem of financial swindles that target the elderly is “very serious” or “somewhat serious.”

An earlier IPT survey found that over seven million older Americans have already been victimized by a financial swindle—that’s one in five people over age 65! IPS president Don Blandin says, “The message from those on the front lines of investor protection is clear: swindles targeting older Americans are a bigger problem today than ever before.”

The IPT has sponsored the Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation Prevention program, which educates doctors and other medical professionals to be alert for signs that a senior patient is being victimized, or might be at risk of investment fraud due to cognitive impairment or other reason. IPS chairman Robert Lam says, “We need to recognize that there is a medical component to elderly investment fraud that cannot be addressed solely by regulators. As state agencies, we need to combine our efforts with the unique front-line perspective of doctors, adult protective services and other professionals to get help to victims, and those most at risk of becoming victims, at the earliest possible point. Together, we can do an even better job of protecting our seniors and their money.”

To learn more about preventing financial elder abuse, view the “Elder Investment Fraud: a National Epidemic”Elder Investment Fraud: A National Epidemic video on the IPT website.

CayCare is a proud member of: 

National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers

National Association of HealthCare Advocates

Case Management Society of America

Do Driver's Tests Provide and Accurate Picture of a Senior's Driving Ability?

Do Driver’s Tests Provide an Accurate Picture of a Senior’s Driving Ability?

The issue of seniors and driving is coming more to the forefront with the aging of the baby boomers. Families worry whether their older loved ones are safe behind the wheel—and when a senior is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other memory loss, family are especially concerned. Much research is underway to understand the decline in driving ability as people age. This is not a simple subject.

Researchers at the Rhode Island Hospital’s Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders Center wanted to find out whether standardized road tests can determine whether older adults should continue to drive. The researchers installed cameras in the cars of 103 older adults, some of whom had mild cognitive impairment. They wanted to observe the drivers “in their natural state—in their own vehicles going about their daily routines.” They found that some cases, seniors were actually better drivers than their driver’s test would suggest.

Lead author Jennifer Davis, PhD, reports, “Many older people don’t like to drive far from their homes; they like to stay in their comfort zone. They don’t drive many miles, and they often avoid driving at night. Taking them out of that comfort zone and placing them in an environment of formal test-taking—one with carries with it potentially life-altering consequences (loss of their driver’s license)—may lead to significant anxiety, which in itself could impair their driving abilities.”

The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, showed that people with cognitive impairment made more errors both on the driving test and in day-to-day driving. However, the errors made during normal driving were less serious. The researchers say this study suggests that mild cognitive impairment shouldn’t result in an automatic revocation of a person’s driver’s license. Said Davis, “Rather, it should emphasize the importance of monitoring an older person’s driving so that he or she can safely maintain their mobility and independence for as long as possible.” She added, “It’s natural to worry about older adults behind the wheel, even more so if they appear to have memory or cognitive issues, or have been formally diagnosed as such. But many of the people in our study drove safely.”

Dictionary of Eldercare Terminology: 95-Year-Old Attorney Releases Updated Edition of His Classic Compendium

Anyone in the field of aging knows that it has its own unique language. Understanding all the shifting terms, however, can be a challenge. Walter Feldesman, a prominent New York attorney for more than 65 years, recognized this need in 1997, when he published the first edition of his Dictionary of Eldercare Terminology .

It remains the first and only dictionary defining eldercare words and terms.

At 95, Feldesman recently released the third edition of the dictionary and is making it available online through the website of the National Council on Aging (NCOA). “Walter is an incredible example of someone who continues to contribute to society well past the traditional retirement age,” says NCOA President Jim Firman. “That’s why we gave him the first NCOA Exemplar of Vital Aging Award in 2009. Now, we’re proud to offer his newly updated dictionary as a great online resource for anyone interested in aging.”

Feldesman entered the world of elder law informally in 1990 when his bedridden mother-in-law asked him who was paying for all of her care. He did not have an answer—so he started researching.

The result was a comprehensive dictionary that includes overviews of major eldercare fields, including home care, long-term care insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare supplemental insurance, and Social Security. The new, third edition includes a wide mix of gerontological terms, as well as financial, estate planning, and legal terms related to eldercare.

The first two editions were quoted, cited, and accredited by many sources, including Medicare’s consumer handbook Medicare and You and the official Medicare website, www.medicare.gov.

Feldesman has served on numerous boards, including NCOA’s Leadership Council. He enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a corporate attorney, director of public companies, hospital and college trustee, philanthropist, and author.

Clear here to read more

The Ethics of Early-Stage Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

Huge steps have been made in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. Medical tests can now detect the brain changes of the disease at an early stage—even before patients are experiencing any symptoms. These tests can also predict who is at higher risk of developing the disease. Yet we are not close to a cure for Alzheimer’s, and the effectiveness of treatment has not kept up with the new advances in diagnosis. What does this mean for patients who receive a diagnosis before the symptoms are noticeable or affect their lives?

Dr. Jason Karlawish of the University of Pennsylvania Health System calls for establishing safeguards to protect these patients from discrimination, stigma, and threats to independence and autonomy that they might experience in the workplace, at the driver’s license bureau, in financial planning and so forth. He says, “We need to develop systems now, to navigate the challenges of a pre-clinical Alzheimer’s diagnosis.”

Karlawish, an expert on the ethics of early diagnosis, warns that while the new tests allow for improved treatment and planning, knowing the prognosis can also have negative consequences for patients. He cautions, “The discovery of pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease may be how we prevent the tsunami of Alzheimer’s disease dementia, but we must not drown in the challenges created by our own discovery.”

The study appeared in the journal Neurology [optional: link to the journal article at http://www.neurology.org/content/77/15/1487.abstract?sid=4dd1c39e-1477-4139-bcc2-3ca0c5774bc0].

Are You Taking Advantage of Medicare Health Screenings?

If you or a loved one is on Medicare, it’s smart to learn about the free screenings that are now available under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

According to Dr. Carolyn Clancy of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHQR), these preventive and screening tests now include:

• Bone mass measurement (also known as bone density test): Covered every 2 years.
• Cholesterol and other cardiovascular screening: Tests for cholesterol, lipid, and triglyceride levels are covered every 5 years.
• Colorectal cancer screening: Medicare covers colonoscopy tests once every 2 years for people at high risk; otherwise, once every 10 years.
• Diabetes screening: Up to two fasting blood glucose tests are covered each year.
• Flu shot: Medicare covers a shot once per flu season in the fall or winter.
• Mammogram: Screening mammograms are covered once every 12 months. Diagnostic mammograms are covered when medically necessary.
• Prostate cancer screening: Medicare covers a digital rectal exam once each year; prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests are covered once each year.

This is in addition to the new “Welcome to Medicare” wellness visit for people who are new to the program.

Read more about Medicare screening services on the Medicare.gov website (www.medicare.gov/coverage/preventive-and-screening-services.html)

Grooming and Dressing Tips for People with Alzheimer’s Caring for a loved one who is living with Alzheimer’s disease or a similar disorder can mean that small tasks become challenging. The National Institute on Aging’s Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center offers advice for caregivers on a wide variety of topics. This month: ideas on helping your loved one with grooming and dressing. When people feel good about how they look, they often feel better. Helping people with Alzheimer’s disease brush their teeth, shave, put on makeup, and get dressed can help them feel more like themselves. Mouth Care Here are some tips to help the person with Alzheimer’s care for his or her teeth and mouth. Show the person how to brush his or her teeth. Go step by step. Remember to let the person do as much as possible. Brush your teeth at the same time. Help the person clean his or her dentures. Ask the person to rinse his or her mouth with water after each meal and use mouthwash once a day. Try a long-handled, angled, or electric toothbrush if you need to brush the person’s teeth. Take the person to see a dentist. Some dentists specialize in treating people with Alzheimer’s. Ask the dentist how often the person should be seen. Other Grooming Here are some other suggestions for grooming: Encourage a woman to wear makeup if she has always used it. If needed, help her put on powder and lipstick. Don’t use eye makeup. Encourage a man to shave, and help him as needed. Use an electric razor for safety. Take the person to the barber or beauty shop. Some barbers or hairstylists may come to your home. Keep the person’s nails clean and trimmed. Dressing People with Alzheimer’s disease often need more time to dress. It can be hard for them to choose their clothes. They might wear the wrong clothing for the season. They also might wear colors that don’t go together or forget to put on a piece of clothing. Allow the person to dress on his or her own for as long as possible. Other tips for dressing: Lay out clothes in the order the person should put them on, such as underwear first, then pants, then a shirt, and then a sweater. Hand the person one thing at a time, or give step-by-step dressing instructions. Put away some clothes in another room to reduce the number of choices. Keep only one or two outfits in the closet or dresser. Keep the closet locked if needed. Buy three or four sets of the same clothes if the person wants to wear the same clothing every day. Buy loose-fitting, comfortable clothing, such as sports bras, cotton socks and underwear, and sweat pants and shorts with elastic waistbands. Avoid girdles, control-top pantyhose, knee-high nylons, high heels, and tight socks. Use Velcro® tape or large zipper pulls for clothing instead of shoelaces, buttons, or buckles. Try slip-on shoes that won’t slide off or shoes with Velcro® straps. Source: The National Institute on Aging’s Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center. For more caregiving tips and other resources, visit www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/ topics/caregiving. You can also call the ADEAR Center toll-free: 1-800-438-4380.       As Featured On:

www.caycare.com lisa@caycare.com 1.866.337.1176