We at Basic American Medical would like to bring to you some of the most interesting news in long-term care this week from AHCA/NCAL Gazette.

American Legion honors elderly veterans

By Heather J. Smith. The Dispatch, Lexington, NC. 11/12/09

As communities across the nation paid tribute to veterans yesterday, residents of Brookstone Retirement Home, who served their country, were presented with veterans hats and certificates at a ceremony put on by Lexington-based American Legion Post 255. Seventeen residents received specially made navy blue baseball caps with “veteran” embroidered in gold across the front denoting the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and those who served in Vietnam.

“The worst thing to happen to a veteran who served through the mud and the blood and the fighting, who is now older, in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home, is to sit there and wonder ‘Does anybody remember what I did?’” said Robert Curlee, who spearheaded the outreach..

Law group launches program to help veterans

By Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times. 11/12/09

A pro-bono law group in California has launched a program to provide free legal assistance to veterans needing help with medical and mental health benefit claims. The group will team with lawyers in more than 25 states. “Many veterans who return home to their families are facing a system that routinely rejects their benefit claims,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “That’s absolutely unacceptable. We can and must do more for our nation’s heroes.”

MA: Patrick OKs expanded benefits for veterans

State House News Service, Boston Globe. 11/12/09

Massachusetts Gov. Patrick Duval yesterday signed a bill increasing cash bonuses for military personnel who have served multiple times in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“The least we can do for our veterans is to provide them the very best opportunities when their service is done,” Patrick said in a statement yesterday. “This law serves as a pledge to Massachusetts veterans that we will continue in our efforts to secure for them the benefits they have earned.”

Swine flu deaths in Europe doubling by the week, agency says

By Bloomberg News, Washington Post. 11/12/09

The number of swine flu deaths in Europe doubled in three of the last four weeks, bringing the total number of deaths in European countries to 414. “We are globally entering the acceleration phase” of the pandemic, said Denis Coulombier of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. “We are heading toward the peak for sure.”

CDC now says 4,000 swine flu deaths in U.S.

By The Associated Press, New York Times. 11/11/09

CMS plans to increase data sharing among Medicaid agencies

By Mary Mosquera, Government Health IT. 11/12/09

CMS plans to increase interoperability in their Medicaid systems, allowing related agencies to share information within each state and across state lines. Information sharing would contribute to improved quality of care, said Rick Friedman, director of the division of state systems in CMS/Center for Medicaid and State Operations.

Beyond California: Nine states in fiscal peril

Stateline.org. 11/12/09

California and nine other states have been particularly hard-hit by the current recession, according to a study by the Pew Center on the States. The article includes scorecard for all 50 states.

On the front lines of health-care reform

By Lois Romano, Washington Post. 11/12/09

AARP’s policy director, John Rother, has been under attack for his group’s support of the House health care reform bill. Frustrated that ‘scare tactics’ have caused between 40,000 and 60,000 people to drop their memberships in AARP, Rother said, “The opponents of health reform have targeted this population and have . . . misrepresented the facts, and have consciously tried to scare seniors who depend on health care,” he says. “So no surprise that they feel anxious, because they’re hearing messages every day designed to scare the bejesus out of them.”

Few Americans make end-of-life wishes known

By Mike Sedensky, Associated Press. Houston Chronicle. 11/11/09

Too many Americans, in their last weeks of life, are hospitalized repeatedly, undergoing CT scans, blood tests, IVs and insertion of feeding tubes, when they might prefer  less invasive care..Dr. Joel Policzer is medical director for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, at the Florida Medical Center said, “It doesn’t happen because people are never asked. If they were, people would tell you they want to die at home in bed, surrounded by their family, their friends and their pets,” he said. “People who are dying do not need to have needles shoved in them two or three times a day. It’s not going to make a difference.” 

IA: Voters to decide fate of county nursing home

Telegraph Herald, Dubuque. 11/11/09

Voters in Lafayette County, Iowa, will decide today whether to fork up $500,000 to run the county-run nursing home for the next three years. Sixty-seven residents are cared for by 90 employees at the Darlington facility. Although many feel that maintaining the nursing home is a moral obligation, the county expects to face a budget shortfall by next year.