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Aging News Alert

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Time For Annual Rx Drug Checkup For Seniors On Medicare

Seniors hurt by the recent economic downturn can find a way to save precious dollars on prescription drugs. The open enrollment season for Medicare Part D began on Nov. 15, which means now is the perfect time for people with Medicare to re-evaluate their prescription drug coverage. MyMedicareMatters.org, a program of the National Council on Aging (NCOA), can help people learn how to review and evaluate their plan options to make sure that they have selected the right plan for 2009.

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Brookdale Foundation Has Grants to Encourage Leaders in Aging

The Brookdale Foundation is offering two-year research grants of up to $125,000 to encourage emerging leaders in the field of aging. It will accept applications for people in a broad range of disciplines, including medical, biological and basic sciences, nursing, social sciences, the arts, and humanities.

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ASA, BFA Seek Nominations For Business & Aging Awards

The American Society on Aging (ASA), in conjunction with its Business Forum on Aging, is now soliciting nominations for its 20th annual Business and Aging Awards. The awards recognize for-profit companies for exemplary programs and services that meet the needs of older people and their families, expand public awareness of the private sector's increasing involvement with older adults and create performance models for other companies to emulate.

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Falling House Prices Seen Leaving Millions Dependent On Social Security In Retirement

As presumptive presidential contenders Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Barrack Obama (D-IL) fine-tune their plans for Social Security in preparation for the 2008 election, a new report from the Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR) shows that, due to the collapse of the housing bubble, the vast majority of Americans have accumulated little or no wealth. This means that they will be almost completely reliant on Social Security and Medicare to support them in their retirement years.

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Bank Fees Rough on Seniors

Americans age 55 and older pay $4.5 billion in fees annually for overdraft loans they haven't asked for and typically don't want, according to a new study by the Center for Responsible Lending. Of that, nearly $1 billion comes from people heavily dependent on Social Security income.

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CMS Adds Source To Help Determine Coverage For Anti-Cancer Drugs

CMS has provided additional updates to the information it uses in determining which drugs may be covered under Medicare Part B when used to treat patients undergoing cancer treatment through chemotherapy.

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Boomers Face Massive Loss Of Retirement Wealth Due To Housing Meltdown

Former GAO Comptroller General David Walker testified Tuesday before the House Budget Committee about a proposed commission to cut Social Security and Medicare for future retirees. However, as Congress debates this issue, members should take into account the financial situation of near retirees.

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Alzheimer’s Research: What If Drug Firms Are Wrong?

In recent decades, researchers seeking a drug to treat the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease have focused their efforts mainly on amyloid-beta plaques -- telltale clumps of protein that appear on the brains of individuals suffering from the disease, which were first noted by Alois Alzheimer in 1906. But after years of research and extensive trials of numerous drug candidates, scientists have started to express frustration with the amyloid-beta approach.

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Michael J. Fox Foundation Launches Research Funding Initiative

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is launching a funding initiative to promote development and testing of technologies to image alpha-synuclein and/or Lewy body-related pathology associated with Parkinson's disease in living brain tissue.

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Report Finds Accurate Revenue Estimates Needed For Retirement Policy

The Profit Sharing/401k Council of America (PSCA) and nine other advocacy organizations issued a research report highlighting the need for accurate federal budget scorekeeping estimates for proposed legislative changes affecting retirement savings. The report, Revenue Estimates and Retirement Poli...

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Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Older Workers

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that an age anti-discrimination law protects federal employees who faced retaliation after complaining about discrimination.

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Poll Shows Americans Want Congress To Protect Poor Seniors From Rising Medicare Costs

A new telephone poll conducted by Harris Interactive for the National Council on Aging finds that 89% of adults aged 18 and over believe that improving programs to protect low-income seniors against rising Medicare costs should be a top priority for Congress this year.

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Funding To Study Healthcare Public Reporting, Pay-for-Performance

Preference will be given to those applicants who may be either public entities or nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

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Research Funding To Study Rejuvenating The Aged Immune System

The National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) seek Research Project Grant applications from organizations that want to study the biology of thymic involution and the decline of naive T cell production, differentiation, and function in the aged population. The deadline for applications is June 18.

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Women With Osteoporosis Seen Not Doing Enough To Stay 'Strong To The Bone'

A new nationwide survey conducted by Harris Interactive of over 1,000 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis found that about one in three women had not currently been prescribed medication and more than half reported they do not know enough about this potentially serious disease.

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Special Meals Target the Older Set

For a lot of older adults, cooking becomes an increasing burden as they age. DineWise, a direct marketer of chef-prepared meals, recognized the need and developed its own line of meals for older adults.

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Initiative Aims To Improve Healthcare; Offers Incentives To Professionals

CMS is encouraging physicians and other eligible professionals to take part in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), a program designed to improve the quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries.

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House Labor Committee Approves Bill to Expose Hidden 401(k) Fees

American workers would receive clear and complete information about fees that could be cutting deeply into their 401(k)-style retirement savings under legislation approved Wednesday (April 16) by the House Education & Labor Committee.

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Psychological Distress, Not Depression, May Increase Risk of Stroke

Psychological distress, but not depression, may increase the risk of stroke, according to a newly published study.

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IRS Provides New Details for Recipients of Social Security, Veterans Benefits

The Internal Revenue Service has released additional information about the upcoming economic stimulus payments in a specially designed section for taxpayers on IRS.gov.

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AAHSA 'Future of Aging Services' Conference Approaches

The American Association of Homes & Services for the Aging's 2008 Future of Aging Services Conference, March 31-April 2 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC, will offer 21 education sessions, including many on transforming the way attendees recruit and retain people of talent.

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Attorneys General Press Congress On Background Checks For Nursing Home Workers

Thirty-nine state-level attorneys general and three state authorities that house Medicaid Fraud Control Units have fired off a letter to members of Congress in support of the proposed Patient Safety & Abuse Prevention Act of 2007.

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Committee on Aging Tackles Challenges Facing Older Voters

Making certain older voters or other people with disabilities are able to cast votes in an election requires policymakers to think broadly about access, senior-level officials from the Government Accountability Office told the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

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CDC Funds State Arthritis Efforts

The funding is designed to help build state arthritis programs that exponentially expand access and use of evidence-based interventions.

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FDA Not Conducting Mandated Inspections of Medical Device Makers

This issue may be problematic for the elderly, a significant number of whom use medical devices manufactured by companies purportedly not being inspected by the FDA in accordance with the law.

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Bush Expected to Soon Reveal Physician Fee Proposal

President Bush likely will unveil his proposal for changing the Medicare physician fee formula during his State of the Union address on Monday, Jan. 28.

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Program to Provide Beneficiaries Lower Prices, Stronger Anti-Fraud Protection

CMS is tagging 70 new areas across the nation to become part of the second phase of a competitive bidding program aimed at helping reduce Medicare beneficiaries' out-of-pocket costs and improve their access to high-quality durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies.

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