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California Caregivers may be interested in the the new Medi-Cal publications issued by The California Health Care Foundation:
- Overview of Medi-Cal Program for Seniors: This fact sheet provides a broad overview of Medi-Cal for seniors, including an overview of eligibility and enrollment; a comparison of Medi-Cal and Medicare (a.k.a. "dual eligibles"); service use and expenditures; and health care delivery.
- Medi-Cal for Adults with Disabilities: Three new reports are available on Medi-Cal for adults with disabilities. The reports examine beneficiaries’ perspectives on the Medi-Cal delivery system; health plans’ perspectives on the successes and challenges of serving beneficiaries with disabilities; and lessons learned by state Medicaid programs offering comprehen-sive managed care programs to this population. The publications can be downloaded at www.medi-cal.org.
A new online database on Medicaid benefits in the 50 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. territories is offered through The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) and the National Conference of State Legislatures. The database includes information about benefits covered by each state, the populations eligible for the benefits, and the limitations, co-payments and payment rules that apply. Users can search it by Medicaid benefit or by state. See www.kff.org/content/2003/20031027/. For more information about KCMU’s work on Medicaid, call (202) 347-5270.
To mark the ten-year anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the National Partnership for Women and Families launched its new Paid Family and Medical Leave Clearinghouse. This Clearinghouse, housed at www.paidleave.org, features searchable materials and information on paid family and medical leave initiatives around the country, and includes resources for policy makers, researchers, the business community and advocates. The National Partnership is working with state lawmakers and private and public employers to explore ways to make paid leave available to more Americans. In 2002, California became the first state to adopt a comprehensive paid family leave law. Paid leave bills have been introduced in 27 other states.
The California Telephone Access Program is a program of the California Public Utilities Commission and provides special phones free of charge to people who have difficulty hearing, seeing, remembering, moving or speaking. For more info: (800) 995-6831.
The elderly and their caregivers can find information on how to use medications safely at www.SeniorCarePharmacist.com. The site also includes an easy-to-use, searchable directory of senior care pharmacists in the United States and Canada.
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Medical Instrumentation at Marquette University in Milwaukee is conducting a survey of consumers with all kinds of disabilities. The survey hopes to identify barriers to acceptable health care created by inaccessible equipment, and focuses on four categories of medical euipment: diagnostic (e.g., thermometers, blood pressure cuffs); procedural (e.g., furniture, fixtures); therapeutic (syringes, ventilators, pumps); and assistive technologies (wheelchairs, hearing aids). See www.rerc-ami.org/personal/starter.htm.
How much does assisted living, nursing home care or home care cost in your state? Metlife Mature Market Institute has published new reports on the average costs of long-term care in every state. The average cost of assisted living nationwide currently is $2,379 a month. The average daily rate for a private room in a nursing home is $181.24 and the average hourly rate for home health aides provided by a home care agency nationwide is $18.12 per hour. For additional information, go to: www.metlife.com and click on the Mature Market Institute under the Business to Business tab.
Caregiving at Life’s End is a free, five-day train-the-trainer program presented by The Hospice Institute of the Florida Suncoast. Designed for professionals and volunteers experienced in hospice, aging/elder care, caregiving and long-term or palliative care, the program shows participants new ways to educate and engage caregivers in their communities, how to establish their agencies as community caregiving resources, and offers a model for effective end-of-life caregiving. Two different sessions are available: January 26-30, 2004 and March 1-5, 2004. To register, email [email protected] or phone (727) 773-2361.
Upcoming Conferences:
January 22-24, 2004
Health Action 2004 National Grassroots Meeting
Washington, DC
Sponsored by FamiliesUSA
(202) 628-3030
www.familiesusa.org
April 14-17, 2004
Taking the Journey Together
San Francisco, CA
Sponsored by American Society on Aging and National Council on the Aging
www.agingconference.org/jc04
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