| $6,000 Medicare Out of Pocket - Employment Digest - Medication Literacy |
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| Policy Plus Action | The AARP Public Policy Institute Newsletter |
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COVID-19 booster shots should be required for residents and staff of nursing homes as the facilities face a surge in COVID-19 infections due to the Omicron variant. AARP called for a requirement for booster shots after documenting a noticeable difference between those residents and staff who received the initial two-dose vaccination protocol and those who have also received a booster shot. The AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard shows only about half of residents, and just one in five staff, have received a booster shot.
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Medicare provides vital health care coverage to millions of people ages 65 and older—yet, contrary to common assumption, older adults with the coverage still incur significant out-of-pocket costs. On average, they’re paying more than $6,000 per year for their health care, while half of all Medicare beneficiaries live on less than $26,000 a year. A recent AARP Public Policy Institute Policy Now video sheds light on the issue.
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Policymakers should make permanent the pandemic-motivated temporary elimination of age restrictions tied to the earned income tax credit for childless workers ages 19-24 and those over 64. The outdated restrictions’ temporary reprieve, which expired on December 31, showed the promise of making the change permanent: It kept millions of low-income taxpayers age 65 and out of poverty.
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Medication literacy, or the degree to which individuals understand and process patient-specific information about their medications, is often low among older adults. Yet without the full ability to comprehend, communicate, calculate, and process information about medications, many have trouble making informed medication and health decisions. This not only creates safety issues but can also lead to other medication decision-making problems that increase both out-of-pocket costs and health care system costs. Developing and applying a robust medication literacy effort could reduce hospitalizations and improve health outcomes.
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Ten newly released papers offer proven practices and resources for hospitals to improve family engagement and better support family caregivers. The papers, part of a publication series titled "Supporting Family Caregivers Providing Complex Care,” focus on areas including transitions in care, pharmacy innovations, staff training, electronic health record uses, better communication, screening practices, and the benefits of the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act. As the role of family caregivers has become increasingly critical and complex during the COVID-19 pandemic, the series offers timely examples for
responding with tools that work now and for the future.
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The unique staffing model used by Green House homes, an alternative to traditional nursing facilities, provides a framework for improving the quality of work life for all staff and in particular the direct care team of certified nursing assistants. Working in a smaller environment than a traditional nursing home, the Green House direct care team, known as the Shahbazim, receive coaching and extra training to go along with additional responsibilities. The report, which is the latest in the LTSS Choices long-term services and supports series, highlights data showing positive outcomes for residents under this model, as well as significantly
lower staff turnover rates and somewhat-improved wages.
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As the overall unemployment rate increased to 4 percent from 3.9 percent in January, the unemployment rate for people ages 55+ also increased, from 3 percent to 3.1 percent, the January Employment Data Digest reported. The difference between men 55+ and women 55+ however, shrunk, as the rate increased from 2.7 percent to 3.2 percent among men and declined from 3.2 percent to 3.1 percent among women. The labor force participation rate for the 55+ increased slightly to 39.1 percent but was down for those ages 65 and older, to 19.1 percent.
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The Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA) spotlighted the legislative actions of several states in modernizing their access-to-care laws by lifting restrictions on advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). These legislative wins, supported by CCNA, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, allow nurse practitioners to best meet the health demands of more patients, and improve access in rural and underserved areas. The Nurse Practitioner Journal’s 2021 legislative update detailed several of the success stories for statutory amendments among states, including those removing a
requirement for physician oversight and other incremental steps that broaden the authority of APRNs.
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Editor-in-Chief: Susan C. Reinhard, RN, PhD, FAAN
Senior Writer/Editor: Carl Levesque |
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