Category Archives: Aging

The older population is growing and becoming more diverse

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Photo by Street Phonicz Photography via nappy.co

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has published its profile of older Americans 2021, an annual summary of critical statistics related to the older population. The updated report shows an older population that’s increasing in size and diversity.

There’s a wealth of data in this report journalists can use as a starting point to report on local and state social services, community programs, Medicaid expenditures, housing, transportation and myriad other issues affecting older adults — defined by the Administration on Aging as those 65 and older.

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Liz Seegert is an independent health journalist and AHCJ’s topic leader on aging. She covers older adults, baby boomers, health policy, and social determinants of health, as well as many other health issues. Her bylines include stories for PBS/NextAvenue.org. the American Journal of Nursing, TIME Health, Medscape, Consumer Reports, and Medical Economics, as well as dozens of other trade and mainstream media. Her articles have been syndicated in Forbes.com, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, the Saturday Evening Post and other major outlets.

U.S. News & World Report nursing home ratings poke holes in CMS ratings

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Photo by Wellness Gallery Catalyst Foundation: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-people-woman-girl-12085633/

U.S. News & World Report recently released its 2022-2023 nursing home ratings, which revealed major differences in its assessments compared with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) star rating system. The media company found that only a small portion of the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes were high performing in short- or long-term rehabilitation, and only a few hundred were high performing in both. 

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Liz Seegert is an independent health journalist and AHCJ’s topic leader on aging. She covers older adults, baby boomers, health policy, and social determinants of health, as well as many other health issues. Her bylines include stories for PBS/NextAvenue.org. the American Journal of Nursing, TIME Health, Medscape, Consumer Reports, and Medical Economics, as well as dozens of other trade and mainstream media. Her articles have been syndicated in Forbes.com, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, the Saturday Evening Post and other major outlets.

A livability index tool for reporting on ‘age-friendliness’ of cities and communities

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Photo by Greta Hoffman via pexels.

The AARP Livability Index is a valuable tool for journalists who want to take a closer look at the “age-friendliness” of their cities and communities. The interactive tool scores every neighborhood and community in the United States for the services and amenities that impact a community’s ability to meet the current and future needs of people of all ages, regardless of income, physical ability, or ethnicity.

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Liz Seegert is an independent health journalist and AHCJ’s topic leader on aging. She covers older adults, baby boomers, health policy, and social determinants of health, as well as many other health issues. Her bylines include stories for PBS/NextAvenue.org. the American Journal of Nursing, TIME Health, Medscape, Consumer Reports, and Medical Economics, as well as dozens of other trade and mainstream media. Her articles have been syndicated in Forbes.com, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, the Saturday Evening Post and other major outlets.

CMS cracks down on the nation’s poorest-performing nursing homes

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Photo by Ulrich Joho via flickr.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is increasing scrutiny and oversight over the country’s poorest-performing nursing facilities, to immediately improve the care they deliver. A series of revisions to the Special Focus Facility (SFF) Program will toughen requirements for completion of the program and increase enforcement actions for facilities that fail to demonstrate improvement. CMS is also calling on states to consider a facility’s staffing level in determining which facilities enter the SFF Program.

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Liz Seegert is an independent health journalist and AHCJ’s topic leader on aging. She covers older adults, baby boomers, health policy, and social determinants of health, as well as many other health issues. Her bylines include stories for PBS/NextAvenue.org. the American Journal of Nursing, TIME Health, Medscape, Consumer Reports, and Medical Economics, as well as dozens of other trade and mainstream media. Her articles have been syndicated in Forbes.com, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, the Saturday Evening Post and other major outlets.

New legislation may improve advance care planning

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Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA)

Journalists may want to keep an eye on new companion bills recently introduced in the House and Senate. The legislation would expand access to critical advance planning services in Medicare and allow people with serious illness to access more advance care planning services.

The Improving Access to Advance Care Planning Act would allow social workers to provide advance care planning (ACP) services, remove beneficiary cost-sharing, promote increased education for providers on current ACP codes, and improve reporting on barriers to providing ACP services and billing the corresponding codes. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and in the House by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).

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Liz Seegert is an independent health journalist and AHCJ’s topic leader on aging. She covers older adults, baby boomers, health policy, and social determinants of health, as well as many other health issues. Her bylines include stories for PBS/NextAvenue.org. the American Journal of Nursing, TIME Health, Medscape, Consumer Reports, and Medical Economics, as well as dozens of other trade and mainstream media. Her articles have been syndicated in Forbes.com, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, the Saturday Evening Post and other major outlets.