Pebble Beach, CA Telemedicine Is Here To Stay, Says Medicare

A person holding a stethoscope in front of a laptop.


More than three times as many Medicare beneficiaries had access to their doctors via a phone or video visit during the pandemic than before, a trend which is likely to continue with the new COVID-19 variant causing another surge in coronavirus cases.  The Kaiser Foundation, which recently conducted a study on this issue, said that expanded telehealth care is really good news for people of color, those with disabilities and low income families.   Those living in rural areas had difficulty getting to the doctor even before coronavirus.  Believe it or not, Monterey County is considered rural and indeed in South and North County populations are spread out over quite a large footprint. Thankfully, in early 2020, Medicare expanded coverage of such visits to enable all enrollees to keep up with their medical care while minimizing their r4isk of exposure to the coronavirus.  Although the rules only extend through the end of 2021, there are a number of bills in Congress which would make telehealth coverage permanent.

https://www.aarp.org/health/medicare-insurance/info-2021/telehealth-increase-covid-pandemic.html

Pandemic, Inflation Weight Heavily On Social Security Fund

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Trustees for the Social Security trust fund have revised their forecasts, and although the pandemic weighed heavily on the system, it was not as bad as originally thought.  The program is forecasted to be out of funds by 2034, just one year sooner than they had forecast in their April 2020 report.  Unless Congress shores up the fund, benefits will be automatically reduced starting in 2034.  Also weighing heavily on Social Security is the fact that inflation has increased, pushing up the cost of living increase which will further deplete funds.  “There is an incredible amount of uncertainty,†one senior administration official said. “We haven’t lived through a pandemic like this in over 100 years, so we don’t know what the effects are.â€

Pacific Grove, CA Financial Elder Abuse Abounds Amidst Pandemic

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AARP The Magazine recently ran an article about financial elder abuse, which, unfortunately, is often done by a family member.  Liz Loewy, former chief of the Elder Abuse Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and now chief operating officer of a financial-monitoring company EverSafe said these crimes are all too prevalent.  Sadly, many cases go unreported.  A study of New York residents found that only 1 in 44 elder abuse cases were reported to authorities.  “They may start out helping a parent, with good intentions, and then, after the parent exhibits signs of diminished capacity, start diverting funds,†Lowey said.  “It often starts small, then progresses into ‘I wrote a few checks to pay for Johnny’s college.  lways said she wanted to help with tuition.’  Or beyond that, home improvement or a new car,†she said.  If you believe that you are witnessing elder abuse, please call Adult Protective Services.  Unfortunately, with the wealth on the Monterey Peninsula residents of Carmel, PG and Pebble Beach are often targeted.

http://mcdss.co.monterey.ca.us/aging/

Telehealth Booming During Pandemic

A person holding a stethoscope in front of a laptop.


Telehealth has expanded rapidly during the pandemic, and is likely here to stay.  Before the pandemic, Medicare was limited to beneficiaries living in rural areas only, with many restrictions on where you could receive services and by whom.  In early 2020, however, Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded coverage to make it easier to use Telehealth services.  Hopefully this will remain intact.  Under current rules, the expanded Telehealth coverage is set to expire once the pandemic is over.

https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-and-telehealth-coverage-and-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-and-options-for-the-future/?utm_campaign=KFF-2021-The-Latest&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=128256590&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–RXNnPjavKL184o0qKSG9L1m0wDM8ttcr5udBuLn5BgacMbgQX0oDKczuGvZJGgClVcbhGNBl_99-oxdqb74zYkr-vsg&utm_content=128256590&utm_source=hs_email

New Study Finds Older People Happier Than Younger People, Even During COVID-19 Pandemic

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A new study out of Stanford University found that older people are happier than younger people, even during the pandemic.  The researchers surveyed roughly 1,00 people from 18-74 years old and ask them how often and how intensely they had felt 29 different emotions during the past week.  Older people admitted they were more at risk of getting COVID-19 than younger people, but surprisingly they also reported feeling more positive emotions than negative emotions than young people did.  One of the researchers suggests that when there is less time ahead of us, we focus on the good things.  As the phrase goes, life is short.