ELF News Archives
July 2005
- Securing Seniors -
President Bush took his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, to Atlanta last week to combine the lack of enthusiasm for his Medicare drug plan and the hostility to his Social Security reform and somehow create support for both...."Here's the problem: First of all, Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system. In other words, there's not a trust. ... No, the government takes your money and spends it. It's called pay-as-you-go. You pay, and we go ahead and spend. And what's left is a file cabinet full of IOUs to future generations.
Bangordailynews 7/29
- Feminist Bunk -
Of all the corrosive, nonsensical and damaging movements that have come and gone in American society, none has caused more damage than feminism....It goes without saying that no country can be strong without strong families, and feminism directly attacked the very concept of families. It urged young women to slut around. If men are promiscuous, why shouldn't you be? That alone shows the degree of stupidity that is characteristic of the feminist movement. That's why the feminists bear responsibility for the plight of so many single mothers.
Charley Reese 7/29
- Social Security solvency scares politicians -
House Republicans and Democrats are in agreement about one issue concerning Social Security reform -- neither wants to tackle the system's long-term solvency problems right now, as President Bush wants.
Washington Times 7/28
- The future of Social Security -
The following piece was submitted by the officers of the Ipswich Democratic Town Committee, Ann Fisher, Lorraine Seaton, Ed Traverso, and Patience Wales. ...the problem is that, if nothing is done, benefits will be cut in the distant future.
TownOnline 7/28
- Social Security Battle Pits Bush
Against Democrats, Own Party -
Separate White House and congressional events yesterday spotlighted the deep divisions over changing Social Security, laying the battle lines for a fall fight that pits President Bush not only against Democrats but also against some leaders in his own party.
WSJ 7/28
- Nobody's Fault -
It's been so long since honest speech has come out of a politician's mouth, I'd probably faint if I heard any...It's not just foreign policy. Public education is entirely within the control of politicians, yet they deny any responsibility for its failures. They control Social Security and Medicare and deny any responsibility for the problems in those programs. They vote for the deficits and they write the tax laws, but they deny any responsibility for red ink or impossible-to-understand tax codes.
Charlie Reese 7/27
- PacifiCare To Offer Five Fee-for-Service Plans for Seniors This Fall, USA -
PacifiCare on September 1 will begin to offer five new private fee-for-service plans to seniors in 16 states under Medicare...The plans will require members to make copayments of between $5 and $12 for visits to primary care physicians and between $20 and $25 for visits to specialists.
Medical News Today 7/26
- ELABORATE ELDER FINANCIAL ABUSE SCHEME UNRAVELS -
Seniors were scammed when they attended living trust and life insurance seminars and later duped into investing in phony promissory notes that never panned out.
Community Dispatch 7/26
- LONG DISTANCE CAREGIVING AVAILABLE FREE TO THE PUBLIC FROM THE METLIFE MATURE MARKET INSTITUTE -
There are some 34 million Americans providing care to an older family member, with 15% living one or more hours from that person, according to Miles Away: The MetLife Study of Long-Distance Caregiving conducted by the company’s Mature Market Institute. Seventy-five percent say they spend 22 hours per month helping their relative with Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; 80% work full time...How can families cope? The MetLife Mature Market Institute has a new guide available, free to the public, entitled Since You Care: Long Distance Caregiving.
MetLife 7/26
- AHCA Offers CMS Recommendations to Boost Quality, Access of Medicare Funded Nursing Home Care -
“Although we are generally pleased that CMS has crafted the FY2006 SNF Rule in a way that promotes stable and adequate payment, we have several major recommendations regarding how to best finance a Medicare system that is stronger and better able to meet the growing care needs of our nation’s seniors and persons with disabilities,” stated Hal Daub, President and CEO of AHCA.
AHCA 7/26
- Maintaining Your Quality of Life over Age 50 -
How do older Americans measure their quality of life? Maybe it's based on whether they are playing more golf than they were 10 years ago, or whether they have enough money to spruce up their homes and gardens. Or it could be whether or not a person is plagued by worries about health-care costs down the road. These are just some of the issues that come up when we think about our well-being as we age.
Forbes 7/22
- MEDICARE ANOTHER EXAMPLE -
Speaking of trust funds, what’s happening with Medicare’s $298 billion trust fund? Politicians that are screaming about Medicare being in more trouble than Social Security haven’t said a word about the Medicare trust fund. How long do the trustees predict this trust will last? Where’s all the hullabaloo about this trust?
Ether Zone 7/22
- ‘Lifestyle drugs’ become quality-of-life issue -
Is there a difference between medicine that enhances our “lifestyle” and our “quality of life,” and our life itself?
Kansas City Star 7/20
- Nanto City, Japan: Robotic Companions -
Japan is one of the oldest countries in the world, with a full 28% of the population expected to be 65 years or older by 2010, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Fewer young people translate into a shortage of caretakers. The hope is that robotic companions can ease some of the burden.
Forbes 7/20
- Growing old, getting real -
Time for Americans to face realities about long-term care, nursing homes...If perception is reality, then the nursing home industry is in big trouble. Americans - rightly or wrongly - don't think very highly of the 18,000 nursing homes in this country, according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation released late last week.
Market Watch 7/19
- Prudential Financial Outlines Four Pillars of Retirement Security -
"The Four Pillars of U.S. Retirement," a comprehensive framework that outlines retirement income sources and discusses how Americans can fund retirement goals. The framework has its origin in the traditional "three-legged stool" of retirement security, which includes Social Security, employment-based plans and personal savings. To this, Prudential has added a fourth pillar--retirement choices--to capture emerging, non-traditional tools available for retirees.
Yahoo Biz 7/19
- Your Retirement Redefined -
Increases in life spans, baby-boomer preferences, workforce demographics and financial realities are converging to completely redefine retirement. Increased longevity means assets will not only have to last longer, they will also have to be structured differently based on how individuals choose to spend their “bonus.”
Queens Chronicle-Eastern 7/19
- Governors Discuss Concerns About 'Clawback' Provision in Medicare Law, Medicaid Reform, USA -
The National Governors Association on Monday during its annual meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, is expected to approve a slate of cost-saving proposals for Medicaid, the...Proposals under consideration from NGA include:Changing how Medicaid programs purchase prescription drugs by increasing the amount of drug company rebates collected by states, Encouraging seniors to use "reverse mortgages" on their homes to refund Medicaid for services...
Medical News Today 7/19
- ETFs For Retirement -
If you hope to avoid flipping hamburgers or greeting shoppers at discount stores when you're old and gray, Exchange Traded Funds may have a place in your retirement planning.
Forbes 7/18
- Social Security Bill Would Hike U.S. Debt -
The leading House bill to overhaul Social Security would marginally extend the program's solvency, but it would add $851 billion to the national debt over 11 years, according to an analysis released Friday by the system's chief actuary.
Guardian Unlimited 7/18
- Social Security This Week: July 15, 2005 -
The Cost of the Status Quo, Social Security Action Rescheduled, White House Reiterates Support for Personal Accounts
Cato 7/18
- Social Security, earnings rules complex -
If you receive Social Security benefits, you may have to pay federal income tax on a portion of your benefits. It depends on your overall income. And there's a tricky calculation you must make to figure out whether some of your benefits will be taxed.
Dallas News 7/18
- House delay means Social Security overhaul not likely this year -
House leaders said Wednesday that they can't take up a Social Security bill before this fall, dealing a serious blow to any hope that Congress might enact an overhaul of the nation's retirement system this year.
KRT Wire 7/14
- Pavilion hosts two forums on elder abuse -
According to the National Research Council Panel to Review Risk and Prevalence of Elder Abuse and Neglect found between 1 million and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited or mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care. The forum will examine ways to recognize and escape abuse and neglect.
Wheeling Countryside 7/14
- Pension whistleblower won't return to board -
The system, which has a deficit of at least $1.4 billion, could transfer its assets to the state's pension fund or be forced into new management, perhaps as part of bankruptcy proceedings...
San Diego.Com 7/14
- Social Security Status Quo versus Reform: What's the Tradeoff? -
In a new study, Cato senior fellow Jagadeesh Gokhale questions reform opponents’ argument that transition costs would adversely affect financial markets, making personal accounts prohibitively expensive. If changes to Social Security policies are delayed, runaway growth in Social Security's financial shortfall is likely to ensure higher tax rates and more adverse reactions by financial markets in the future.
Cato Institute 7/12
- Elder abuse team forming in Napa County -
Napa County advocates are looking to increase efforts to prevent the untimely deaths of seniors...
While suspected murders are already investigated by law enforcement agencies, the Napa County advocates on the proposed Elder Death Review Team would increase the number of deaths investigated, looking for signs of physical or financial abuse that can hasten a senior's demise.
NapaNews 7/12
- McNulty: Simple fix for Social Security -
a simple answer to solving the future Social Security dilemma - stop spending the billions of dollars in extra payments currently coming in every year
Troy Record 7/12
- Quality of Life: America: Financial Police State -
...US bankers (accountants and lawyers, too) now are US police 'eyes and ears' when it
comes to spotting 'suspicious' banking activity. It's a crime for a banker not
to report suspicious activity of all kinds, and another crime if the banker
tells a person who is under investigation...don't you think for a second that anti-terrorism is the real reason for all this Nazification of the US financial system. And it's not the threat of drug
lords or the mafia. It is spawned by government's insatiable appetite for
control of our lives. All the rest are just convenient excuses.
Sovereign Society 7/12
- Study Questions Statins' Value Against Alzheimer's -
Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins have been linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, but a new study questions that association.
Forbes 7/11
- Unreal surprise at pension mess -
Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell...said he was downright surprised after a new actuarial report found that pension fund liabilities are $1 billion higher than expected....County taxpayers, who will be forced to pick up about $114 million a year in new taxes or service cuts just to make up for the pension shortfall, aren't surprised by the actuarial reality, but they do seem angry, if callers and letter-writers are any indication.
OCRegister 7/11
- Remote Retirement -
Telemedicine promises to explode as affluent boomers slide into retirement. Rather than settling for Florida or Arizona, with their massive infrastructure of hospitals and geriatric clinics, boomers are buying retirement homes in places like Costa Rica and Croatia.
Forbes 7/11
- What's Behind the Trade Deficit Numbers? -
The U.S. trade deficit is an American problem, writes Antony Mueller. It is the result of insufficient savings at home and a widening budget deficit.
Mises 7/09
- DEPENDENCY ON GOVERNMENT -
Between 1962 and today, American dependence on government has more than doubled and shows little sign of abatement.
JMU 7/09
- Nursing home offers overnight services -
Exhausted new mothers might wish they could sign up for this service, at least for one night...Heritage Manor nursing home in Gibson City says its brand-new overnight care service is strictly for the elderly, and the people who care for them in their homes...overnight care is just like day care programs for kids and senior citizens: People can reserve an overnight stay at the nursing home for an elderly person under their care, with drop-off in the evening and pickup the next morning.
News Gazette 7/07
- Medicare Rx Benefit May Leave Some Worse Off -
When Medicare starts covering prescription drugs next year, some low-income seniors may find themselves worse off than they are now, according to a new study.
NPR 7/07
- Senators Introduce Health Care Information Technology, Medicare Pay-For-Performance Bills, USA -
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Thursday introduced legislation that would link a part of Medicare reimbursements to quality of care
Medical News 7/07
- THE HEALTH CARE MESS -
The health care industry represents about 1/9th of our gross domestic product. In spite of this huge outlay, wonks and politicians regularly lament the status of our medical care citing, among other statistics, our infant mortality rate, which supposedly lags behind much of Europe. However specious those statistics may or may not be, it's obvious that we spend far too much on health care with a return that is less than optimal.
Ether Zone 7/06
- Nursing Homes Long Term Care Management -
"Some of the people who work here belong on the assembly line." This was an observation from one of the elderly residents in a focus group at a large nursing home in western New York. Residents were discussing obstacles to quality of life. "We are the assembly line," another resident added. "They do the same things for us day after day."
Nursing Home News 7/06
- New probe ordered into nursing home deaths -
The facility came under fire after RTE’s Prime Time investigative programme revealed footage of what appeared to be an elderly woman restrained in a chair against her will, a care worker harassing a resident and other incidents.
Yahoo 7/06
- CVS to Work on Education and Outreach Efforts to Medicare Beneficiaries -
Nation's Largest Retail Drugstore Will Participate in UnitedHealth Group's Medicare Pharmacy Drug Benefit Network
Yahoo 7/06
-The Uncomfortable Truth -
- THE FUTILITY OF...
THROWING MONEY AT AFRICA -
Why does poverty exist even in the richest nations? It has something to do with human nature and character. There are those people in all societies who do not have the desire, the capability, or ambition to raise themselves out of poverty. In Africa, despite all of the advances in agricultural technology made in the last two hundred years, you find rural Africans using the most primitive methods of farming used for thousands of years to eke out a subsistence living.
Ether Zone 7/06
- The Coming Pension Crisis -
The problem is that many companies like Allegheny (nyse: ATI - news - people ) still haven't recovered from the stock market fall nearly four years ago, which not only dragged down their stock but also shares in their pension portfolios. More than half the companies in the S&P 500 had overfunded pensions in 1999. Now only 51 do.
Forbes 7/05
- Researcher finds good news for boomers facing retirement -
As a group, baby boomers have been the subject of numerous news stories, largely focused on their inability to save and the likelihood they'll have to work well into their 60s and 70s.
StarTribune 7/05
- Celebrating Independence From the State -
The twentieth century, with the Progressive Era, First World War, New Deal, Second World War, Cold War and Great Society, cascaded with dramatic setbacks for American independence from the State. The federal government came to implement a permanent income tax, a central banking system, an ever-growing web of business regulations, and intrusive measures that assaulted the core of personal liberty like practically no domestic policies since slavery...According to most polls taken throughout the nineties, a considerable majority did not trust the federal government to do what was right most of the time.
Lew Rockwell 7/04
- Social Security This Week: July 1, 2005 -
Looking for a July Vote, House GOP Discusses Bill, Senate, too, Looks for an Early Vote on Social Security Reform, A Real Lockbox for Social Security
Cato 7/04
- U.S. Pension Plan Funding Under Scrutiny -
Total underfunding among the 1,108 weakest defined benefit pension plans in the U.S. reached $353.7 billion at the end of 2004, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. announced on June 7.
Forbes 7/04
- Cologne: Educated, Active and Elderly -
Generationenvertrag, or inter-generational contract. The concept is simple: Young people in the workforce finance the pensions of the older generation, with the expectation that future generations will do the same for them. But that expectation may soon be unsustainable. According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, half of the population will be older than 48 by 2050.
Forbes 7/04
- House Republicans considering reducing Social Security benefits promised to well-off retirees of future -
Key House Republicans are considering steps to reduce Social Security benefits promised to upper-income retirees of the future as lawmakers write legislation creating personal accounts
Fox 23 News 7/01
- House committee passes pension bill -
House Republicans advanced legislation Thursday that would overhaul the rules governing private pension plans, even as Democrats said they hadn't had sufficient time to assess it and voted "present" in protest.
Myrtle Beach News 7/01