Earlier this month, the United States Senate rejected a measure that would have extended veterans benefits to some same-sex married couples. The proposal, which would have amended existing federal rules on the subject, missed the mark by just seven votes. View image | gettyimages.com Unfortunately, many of the news reports on the issue have created… Read More »
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Applying For Medicaid Can Be Tough
Medicaid is an essential part of healthcare and life planning for America’s elderly, but getting signed up is vastly more complicated than most first-timers anticipate. That’s true whether you’re applying for yourself or for an aging parent. View image | gettyimages.com Of course, those who’ve dealt with government applications in the past are probably unsurprised… Read More »
Twenty-Five Percent of America’s Nursing Homes Harbor MRSA
We turn to nursing homes when our loved ones need more constant or aggressive healthcare. It’s horrifying to think, then, that the nursing home might be the place they contract a potentially life-threatening infection. And yet a startling new study finds that more than a quarter of U.S. nursing homes harbor MRSA. View image |… Read More »
Robin Williams’ Will: No Exploitation of His Image for 25 Years
Don’t look for a Robin Williams hologram at next year’s Oscars. Who can forget the dancing Michael Jackson hologram at last year’s Billboard Music Awards? Or Celine Dion’s “American Idol” duet with a posthumous Elvis? Or the recent Audrey Hepburn commercial for Dove chocolates? The advertising and entertainment industries love a good resurrection. But they… Read More »
Older People Really Do Have Wiser Minds!
From the time we’re toddlers, we’re taught to respect our elders. We seek their advice and listen as they regale us with stories from olden times. There’s something about their insight and perspective that we just can’t find anywhere else. View image | gettyimages.com As it turns out, that old illusion of “elderly wisdom” is… Read More »
Doctors and Hospitals Sometimes Ignore Advance Directives
Advance directives have been a popular part of estate planning since at least 1990, when Congress passed the Patient Self-Determination Act. Since then, Americans have only grown stronger in their sentiment that they should decide for themselves what kind of treatment they’ll receive in the face of terminal illness. View image | gettyimages.com Advance directives… Read More »
Bad News at the VA: A Roundup of Recent Veterans Affairs Scandals
It’s been a tough couple of months for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA). Politico, Forbes, the New Jersey online syndicate, and countless other outlets published stinging indictments of the VA, tackling a wide range of issues. News organizations even began running articles about how much bad news accumulated at the VA in the month… Read More »
Preventing Dementia Might Be Easier Than You Think
Nothing scares us more than dementia. Increasingly, studies find that people fear Alzheimer’s and other such illnesses more than cancer, heart disease, auto accidents, or any other leading cause of death. Undoubtedly, that shift in the cultural anxiety is due in part to a decrease in the rate of cancer and cardiovascular death. But there’s… Read More »
Does Harper Lee Really Want Her Second Novel Published?
At nearly ninety years old, Harper Lee is considered one of the greatest living authors in the world, even though she’s only written one book — until now. View image | gettyimages.com To Kill a Mockingbird, which Lee released in 1960, won widespread acclaim and a Pulitzer price. The book is regarded as not only great… Read More »
Only the Lonely Retire Unhappily
Companionship can make all the difference. Studies show that people who live their lives in close contact with others — whether a spouse or a group of friends — are generally happier, more productive, and more fulfilled. That’s true both before and after retirement. View image | gettyimages.com But keeping close ties becomes more challenging… Read More »