It is not often that I come across a positive article about seniors and driving. I found this one very encouraging and practical.
More seniors behind wheel | The Columbus Dispatch.
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
Not only do you need to protect your identity from identity theft for your finances, now you need to consider protecting your medical identity. A thief may use your name or health insurance numbers to see a doctor, get prescription drugs, file claims with your insurance provider, or get other care. If the thief’s health information is mixed with yours, your treatment, insurance and payment records, and credit report may be affected.
If you see signs of medical identity theft, order copies of your records and check for mistakes. You have the right to see your records and have mistakes corrected.
Detecting Medical Identity Theft
Read your medical and insurance statements regularly and completely. They can show warning signs of identity theft. Read the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statement or Medicare Summary Notice that your health plan sends after treatment. Check the name of the provider, the date of service, and the service provided. Do the claims paid match the care you received? If you see a mistake, contact your health plan and report the problem.
Other signs of medical identity theft include:
a bill for medical services you didn’t receive
a call from a debt collector about a medical debt you don’t owe
medical collection notices on your credit report that you don’t recognize
a notice from your health plan saying you reached your benefit limit
a denial of insurance because your medical records show a condition you don’t have.
Correcting Mistakes in Your Medical Records
If you know a thief used your medical information, get copies of your records. Federal law gives you the right to know what’s in your medical files. Check them for errors. Contact each doctor, clinic, hospital, pharmacy, laboratory, health plan, and location where a thief may have used your information. For example, if a thief got a prescription in your name, ask for records from the health care provider who wrote the prescription and the pharmacy that filled it.
You may need to pay for copies of your records. If you know when the thief used your information, ask for records from just that time. Keep copies of your postal and email correspondence, and a record of your phone calls, conversations and activities with your health plan and medical providers.
A provider might refuse to give you copies of your medical or billing records because it thinks that would violate the identity thief’s privacy rights. The fact is, you have the right to know what’s in your file. If a provider denies your request for your records, you have a right to appeal. Contact the person the provider lists in its Notice of Privacy Practices, the patient representative, or the ombudsman. Explain the situation and ask for your file. If the provider refuses to provide your records within 30 days of your written request, you may complain to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights.
Protecting Your Medical Information
Your medical and insurance information are valuable to identity thieves.
Be wary if someone offers you “free” health services or products, but requires you to provide your health plan ID number. Medical identity thieves may pretend to work for an insurance company, doctors’ offices, clinic, or pharmacy to try to trick you into revealing sensitive information.
Don’t share medical or insurance information by phone or email unless you initiated the contact and know who you’re dealing with.
Keep paper and electronic copies of your medical and health insurance records in a safe place. Shred outdated health insurance forms, prescription and physician statements, and the labels from prescription bottles before you throw them out.
Before you provide sensitive personal information to a website that asks for your Social Security number, insurance account numbers, or details about your health, find out why it’s needed, how it will be kept safe, whether it will be shared, and with whom. Read the Privacy Policy on the website.
If you decide to share your information online, look for a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL that begins “https:” the “s” is for secure.
To read more about protecting yourself from Medical Identity theft and what to do if you find out that you Medical identity has been stolen go to the Federal Trade Commission Website.
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
Elder abuse is a prevalent issue and needs to be screened for in women aged 60 years and older during preventive health care visits, according to a Committee Opinion published in the July issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The ACOG Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women reviewed published literature and recommendations regarding the prevalence and identification of abuse in women, particularly in older women.
The following are included in ACOG’s recommendations: screen all patients older than 60 years for signs and symptoms of elder abuse, starting with open-ended questions and progressing to more specific questions; advocate for a safe environment for all aging women; follow individual state guidelines for reporting elder abuse to Adult Protection Services; provide education regarding elder abuse to patients, family, caregivers, and health care providers; and encourage research on elder abuse and mistreatment. “Screening, education, and policy change are the best interventions for the prevention of elder abuse,” the authors write. “Early identification and prompt referral should be part of the preventive health care visit for women aged 60 years and older.”
Source/more: Health Day Physician’s Briefing
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
Jiroemon Kimura, who passed away at the remarkable age of 116 years 54 days, held a record that few of us ever have the chance of achieving: the world’s oldest living person. Perhaps more significantly, though, Kimura-san achieved an even rarer accolade when, on December 28, 2012, he became the oldest man who ever lived. As the oldest male whose age could be reliably determined, Kimura succeeded Denmark’s Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand “Christian” Mortensen, who reached 115 years 252 days in April 1988, and became the first man to ever exceed 116 years.
Kimura was born in 1897, the same year as authors Enid Blyton and William Faulkner, aviator Amelia Earhart, and jazz musician Fletcher Henderson. In the same year, Queen Victoria celebrated her 60th anniversary on the British throne, and William McKinley became President of the United States. The retired postal worker is one of the few men known to have lived across three centuries, and would have seen immense social and technological advances including the advent of motor vehicles, television, powered flight, space travel and the internet, and seen the accession of six U.K. monarchs, five Emperors of Japan, and 20 U.S. Presidents.
Only seven people are known to have ever reached the age of 116 years. Of these, only four went on to celebrate their 117th birthday, all of them women. Among them was Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who reached the record age of 122 years 164 days – the oldest person whose age has been fully authenticated.
Source: EPA/Guinness Book of World Records
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
In March of 2013 at the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request, a U.S. district court has temporarily shut down a Brooklyn, New York-based operation that the allegedly used deception, threats, and intimidation to induce elderly consumers to pay for medical alert systems they neither ordered nor wanted.
In its complaint, the FTC charges that telemarketers for Instant Response Systems call elderly consumers – many of whom are in poor health and rely on others for help with managing their finances – and try to pressure them into buying a medical alert service that consists of a pendant that supposedly allows them to get help during emergencies. In numerous instances, Instant Response Systems allegedly has falsely claimed during sales calls that consumers who did not order the medical alert service have, in fact, bought the service and owe the company money — often hundreds of dollars.
The company also allegedly has shipped bogus invoices and unordered medical alert pendants to consumers without their consent, has repeatedly threatened consumers with legal action in order to induce and coerce payment, and has subjected them to verbal abuse. In addition, the FTC contends that Instant Response Systems has illegally made numerous unsolicited calls to consumers whose phone numbers are listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.
According to the FTC’s complaint, consumers who tried to contact the company to dispute the false charges or find out how to return unopened packages often were unable to reach anyone. If they did reach a representative, they allegedly faced threats, verbal abuse, and demands that they pay for the product.
Based on this alleged conduct, the FTC charged the company and its principals with making illegal misrepresentations to consumers, violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule by calling phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry, and violating the Unordered Merchandise Statute by sending consumers pendants they did not order.
Similar scams have now been reported in Texas, Wisconsin and Kentucky. The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has received about 50 complaints about this scam in the past two weeks. The Better Business Bureau is telling consumers that get similar calls just to hang up the phone, do not press any buttons and if someone does talk to you, be sure to first ask for the company’s physical address. If the representative wants your address but won’t give out its own address, it’s a red flag to a scam.
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
In mailboxes across the country, people with Medicare will soon see a redesigned statement of their claims for services and benefits. The new statement will help them better spot potential fraud, waste, and abuse. Because of actions like these, the number of suspect providers and suppliers thrown out of the Medicare program has more than doubled in 35 states. The redesigned notice will make it easier for people with Medicare to understand their benefits, file an appeal if a claim is denied, and spot claims for services they never received. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will send the notices to Medicare beneficiaries on a quarterly basis.
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
As proud and dedicated members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), we are helping to recognize and celebrate May as National Elder Law Month. Along with hundreds of elder law attorneys across the country, our entire firm focuses our practice on the issues of older individuals and individuals with special needs in order to help them deal with their special concerns. We also dedicate substantial time to educating seniors, individuals with special needs, and their families in the greater Silicon Valley about the legal matters they care most about and the importance of planning for their future health and legal needs.
As part of National Elder Law Month, during May our firm will be holding the following workshops and seminars at the firm’s offices and around the community:
Check out our firm’s website to learn more about us and how dedicated we are to representing and advocating for older and disabled individuals and their families in our community.
To learn more about National Elder Law Month, visit the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) website.
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
A recent story in the Los Gatos Patch illustrates that elder abuse can occur anywhere, even here in our beautiful little town of Los Gatos in the heart of the highly educated Silicon Valley. It is a growing problem everywhere. Certainly, we don’t know why the abuse happened in the particular case that was reported or everything about why it ever occurs. And, we are struggling as a society with efforts to stop its spread. But, we do know that help is available for victims. Concerned people can spot the warning signs of a possible problem and make a call for help if an elder is in need of assistance. We can start by knowing that elder abuse includes:
Physical abuse, which is the type of abuse we most commonly recognize. It is the use of physical force that results in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment to a senior. Examples of physical abuse include acts of violence (such as hitting, beating, pushing, shoving, shaking, slapping, kicking, pinching, and burning), as well as inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints, force-feeding, and physical punishment of any kind.
Sexual abuse, which is non-consensual sexual contact of any kind. Sexual contact with any person incapable of giving consent is also considerer sexual abuse and includes, but is not limited to, unwanted touching, all types of sexual assault or battery, such as rape, sodomy, coerced nudity, and sexually explicit photographing.
Emotional or psychological abuse, which is the infliction of anguish, pain, or distress through verbal or nonverbal acts. Examples of this type of abuse includes verbal assaults, insults, threats, intimidation, humiliation, and harassment. It also can include treating an older person like an infant; isolating an elderly person from his/her family, friends, or regular activities; and giving an older person the “silent treatment.”
Neglect, which is the refusal or failure to fulfill any part of a person’s obligations or duties to an elder, is also abuse. It typically means the refusal or failure to provide an elderly person with such life necessities as food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medicine, comfort, personal safety, and other essentials included in an implied or agreed-upon responsibility to an elder. It also includes the failure of a person who is responsible for the elder’s finances to pay for necessary home care services and the failure on the part of a care-provider to provide necessary care.
Abandonment, which is the desertion of an elderly person by an individual who has assumed responsibility for providing care for the elder, or by a person with physical custody of an elder.
Financial or material exploitation is the illegal or improper use of an elder’s funds, property, or assets. Examples include, but are not limited to, cashing an elderly person’s checks without authorization or permission; forging an older person’s signature; misusing or stealing an older person’s money or possessions; manipulating, coercing or deceiving an older person into signing documents such as contracts, trusts and a will.
Self-neglect is characterized as the behavior of an elderly person that threatens his/her own health or safety, such as refusal or failure to provide himself/herself with adequate food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, proper medication, and safety precautions. Certainly we may inflict such abuse on ourselves as our personal choice. However, when the abuse is the result of incapacity, the court can step in and appoint a conservator to prevent further such self-neglect.
If you are worried about an elder in your family or a older (or other dependent adult) friend or neighbor in Santa Clara County, you can contact Adult Protective Services (408-975-4900 or 1-800-414-2002) to make a report, call 911 if you think it is an emergency situation, or seek the advice of a local elder law attorney, such as our firm. We can also help seniors protect themselves from future abuse through pre-planning. Contact us if you have a question or want to discuss your circumstances.
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
Today is National Health Care Decisions Day. All adults can benefit from thinking about what their healthcare choices would be if they are unable to speak for themselves. These decisions can be written down in an advance directive so that others know what they are.
In California we refer to this as an Advance Health Care Directive. With this document you can choose an agent and alternative agent(s) to make health care decisions for you in the event that you are not able to do so or if you want your agent to be involved with your health care immediately. You are able to state the types of treatments that you want and do not want. These can include: whether you agree or disagree to diagnostic tests, surgical procedures, and medication plans. Whether or not you would permit the providing, withholding, or withdrawal of artificial feeding and fluids and all other forms of health care, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). You can also plan for your funeral, the disposition of your remains, and state your wishes in regards to pain management, religious practices, and anatomical gifts/organ donation and autopsy.
In my experience of advising clients when making difficult decisions for their incapacitated loved ones, the burden and stress is lessened when their family member or friend has clearly stated their wishes. Both parties benefit in that the patient gets the treatment that they wanted without the treatment that they do not want and the agent can feel confident in the decisions that they are making.
There are a number of resources available to you to help you make these decisions. Depending on your specific concerns you may want to talk with your doctor, with an attorney, or use a fill in the blank form. To learn more about advance directives in general you can visit the National Health Care Decision website.
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
There is a new telephone scam that is targeting seniors who have Medicare. According to complaints filed with Better Business Bureau offices throughout the country, scammers are calling Medicare recipients and encouraging them to provide bank account information to receive direct deposits from Medicare.
The scammers claim to be working for the government. They say that the senior’s new Medicare card is in the mail, but in order to continue receiving Medicare benefits, the senior must give out his or her bank account and routing number so that Medicare benefits can be deposited straight to the senior’s account. Unfortunately, there is no new Medicare card or direct deposit on the way. The scammer simply wants access to the senior’s bank account.
If you receive one of these calls, you should hang up immediately. While this may sound authentic to you because you may have read or heard a news report that the Social Security Administration has recently moved to a direct deposit system, allowing monthly Social Security funds to be deposited straight into a recipient’s account, Medicare is a different program. Medicare does not distribute funds or benefits directly to the senior.
* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.
