Senior Living

Medicare officials have issued guidelines allowing homebound beneficiaries to leave their homes for special occasions--such as family reunions, graduations or funerals--without losing their home health care benefits. More . . .

Around the country, a handful of new approaches are being tried to do away with the hospital model for nursing homes and replace it with care that gives meaning to residents' lives, according to an article in the Washington Post.

How much you need to live on after retirement depends in large part on where you live. A good place to gauge expenses in different areas is the Web site BestPlaces, which allows you to compare cost-of-living and quality-of-life data...

The federal government has begun issuing statistics on the quality of care in nursing homes, beginning with data on facilities in six states. More . . .

'Nursing Home Compare,' the government Web site that disseminates information about conditions in individual nursing homes, has major flaws that can mislead families seeking a safe facility, according to a Congressional report. More . . .

A draft federal report showing that nine out of 10 U.S. nursing homes are understaffed is now available for download from the Web. More . . .

To help people choose a good continuing care retirement community (CCRC), the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging offers a 46-page guidebook that covers everything from accommodations and services to contracts and tax issues.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision allowing states to use what is known as the "income-first" rule. Because of this decision, depending on the state, a community spouse of a Medicaid recipient could quickly be thrown into poverty...

Medicaid 101

Most Americans over the age of 45 are in for a bad case of sticker shock if they or a loved one ever requires long-term care, according to the results of a new survey by the AARP. Full story...