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The Savvy Senior

 

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Jim Miller. The Savvy Senior (Hyperion, New York, N.Y., 2004; 250 pages).

 

 

$13.95 from Amazon.com (click on book to order)

You will indeed be savvy about senior issues after finishing this information-packed book. It offers a wealth of resources and basic, need-to-know information on a broad range of topics of vital interest to seniors.

Within the book's 250 pages you will find information on locating volunteer opportunities for seniors, avoiding identity theft, fall-proofing a home, tracking down alternative housing arrangements, reducing the cost of prescription drugs, and securing assistance for the caregivers of Alzheimer's victims to name just a few of the scores of concerns the book addresses.

The author, Jim Miller, clearly knows his subject matter. Miller is the creator and writer of The Savvy Senior syndicated column, currently running in more than 400 newspapers around the nation, and manages the Savvy Senior Web site.

The issues Miller covers are grouped under six main categories: Lifestyle, Home, Health, Medicare and More, Social Security, and Finances. The Health section, for example, briefly summarizes a range of conditions that afflict the elderly -- from macular degeneration to osteoporosis -- giving warning signs and frequently recommended treatments.

In his characteristically personable style, Miller explains topics as arcane as Medicare's new prescription drug benefit and then offers up a storehouse of "Savvy Facts" and resources for further help, including associations, government agencies, and Web sites. Miller further spices up what could otherwise be dry reading with flashes of wit: a section discussing pre-paid funeral plans is titled "Shop Before Your Drop."

You might well ask, What does a self-described "MTV-generation guy" know about senior issues? As Miller explains it, his Savvy Senior publishing empire had its origins in October 2000, when his parents died within three weeks of each other. Miller subsequently took a temporary job at a retirement community because he thought that being around older people might help him with his grief. Residents at the community kept asking him questions that he couldn't answer but that he thought someone should. Soon he began writing a question-and-answer column for the local newspaper, and the rest, as they say, is history -- luckily for us.

 


Created date: 04/10/2005
Medicaid 101
What Medicaid Covers

In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Coverage in your state may depend on waivers of federal rules.

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How to Qualify for Medicaid

To be eligible for Medicaid long-term care, recipients must have limited incomes and no more than $2,000 (in most states). Special rules apply for the home and other assets.

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Medicaid’s Protections for Spouses

Spouses of Medicaid nursing home residents have special protections to keep them from becoming impoverished.

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What Medicaid Covers

In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Coverage in your state may depend on waivers of federal rules.

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How to Qualify for Medicaid

To be eligible for Medicaid long-term care, recipients must have limited incomes and no more than $2,000 (in most states). Special rules apply for the home and other assets.

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Medicaid’s Protections for Spouses

Spouses of Medicaid nursing home residents have special protections to keep them from becoming impoverished.

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Medicaid Planning Strategies

Careful planning for potentially devastating long-term care costs can help protect your estate, whether for your spouse or for your children.

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Estate Recovery: Can Medicaid Take My House After I’m Gone?

If steps aren't taken to protect the Medicaid recipient's house from the state’s attempts to recover benefits paid, the house may need to be sold.

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Help Qualifying and Paying for Medicaid, Or Avoiding Nursing Home Care

There are ways to handle excess income or assets and still qualify for Medicaid long-term care, and programs that deliver care at home rather than in a nursing home.

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Are Adult Children Responsible for Their Parents’ Care?

Most states have laws on the books making adult children responsible if their parents can't afford to take care of themselves.

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Applying for Medicaid

Applying for Medicaid is a highly technical and complex process, and bad advice can actually make it more difficult to qualify for benefits.

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Alternatives to Medicaid

Medicare's coverage of nursing home care is quite limited. For those who can afford it and who can qualify for coverage, long-term care insurance is the best alternative to Medicaid.

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ElderLaw 101
Estate Planning

Distinguish the key concepts in estate planning, including the will, the trust, probate, the power of attorney, and how to avoid estate taxes.

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Grandchildren

Learn about grandparents’ visitation rights and how to avoid tax and public benefit issues when making gifts to grandchildren.

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Guardianship/Conservatorship

Understand when and how a court appoints a guardian or conservator for an adult who becomes incapacitated, and how to avoid guardianship.

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Health Care Decisions

We need to plan for the possibility that we will become unable to make our own medical decisions. This may take the form of a health care proxy, a medical directive, a living will, or a combination of these.

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Estate Planning

Distinguish the key concepts in estate planning, including the will, the trust, probate, the power of attorney, and how to avoid estate taxes.

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Grandchildren

Learn about grandparents’ visitation rights and how to avoid tax and public benefit issues when making gifts to grandchildren.

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Guardianship/Conservatorship

Understand when and how a court appoints a guardian or conservator for an adult who becomes incapacitated, and how to avoid guardianship.

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Health Care Decisions

We need to plan for the possibility that we will become unable to make our own medical decisions. This may take the form of a health care proxy, a medical directive, a living will, or a combination of these.

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Long-Term Care Insurance

Understand the ins and outs of insurance to cover the high cost of nursing home care, including when to buy it, how much to buy, and which spouse should get the coverage.

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Medicare

Learn who qualifies for Medicare, what the program covers, all about Medicare Advantage, and how to supplement Medicare’s coverage.

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Retirement Planning

We explain the five phases of retirement planning, the difference between a 401(k) and an IRA, types of investments, asset diversification, the required minimum distribution rules, and more.

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Senior Living

Find out how to choose a nursing home or assisted living facility, when to fight a discharge, the rights of nursing home residents, all about reverse mortgages, and more.

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Social Security

Get a solid grounding in Social Security, including who is eligible, how to apply, spousal benefits, the taxation of benefits, how work affects payments, and SSDI and SSI.

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Special Needs Planning

Learn how a special needs trust can preserve assets for a person with disabilities without jeopardizing Medicaid and SSI, and how to plan for when caregivers are gone.

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Veterans Benefits

Explore benefits for older veterans, including the VA’s disability pension benefit, aid and attendance, and long-term care coverage for veterans and surviving spouses.

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