May 20, 2020 | by Hannah Turk and the National Care Planning Council
Functions of the Heart
Our heart is a muscle, divided into 4 chambers. The right and left atriums occupy the upper chambers while the right and left ventricles fill the bottom chambers. The right side of the heart receives blood from the body and pumps it through the lungs to reoxygenate the blood. The left side of the heart pushes the replenished blood back through the body. This cycle repeats with every beat of the heart. Blood travels through the body's circulatory system. Blood vessels, arteries, arterioles, capilla ...... Read More
Helping Seniors Cope with COVID-19
March 31, 2020 | by Hannah Turk and the National Care Planning Council
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
Right now, several states are encouraging, and even mandating, self-isolation and quarantine due to the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019, or COVID-19. COVID-19 is a virus identified as the cause of a respiratory illness outbreak first identified in China. COVID-19 was detected in November, 2019 and has gone on to affect more than 450,000 people in over 150 countries in the world.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. While many media sources have reporte ...... Read More
Facing the Realities and Adversities of Aging
November 12, 2019 | by Thomas Day
Getting older is definitely not a cakewalk. If there is one thing that is true for every living person on this planet it is that everyone of us will get older and eventually die. No one yet has ever figured out a way around this fact of life. And it is also a given that as our bodies age every one of us will be more susceptible to developing one or more of the 3 D's – disease, disability or dementia. Chances are many individuals who are not even at retirement age have already developed one or more of these conditions. In this message I’m going to ad ...... Read More
Does Long Term Care Insurance Really Work?
October 29, 2019 | by Thomas Day
Insurance agents who sell long term care insurance and the people who buy this insurance are confident this product will protect the purchasers from the financial ravages of needing long term care services in the future. Having sold long term care insurance myself for many years, both I and my clients generally experienced a piece of mind that all challenges associated with the future need for long term care had been solved. Over the years, I have discovered that peace of mind assurance is not always warranted. The insurance does not always provide the s ...... Read More
Dealing with the Challenges of Aging
October 15, 2019 | by Thomas Day
Every working day at the National Care Planning Council we receive numerous requests from the public for assistance for aging seniors. Most of these requests are submissions of online forms for our members which go directly to their emails. Some of these requests come directly to us. And somewhere between 3 to 10 email or phone requests a day come from individuals seeking where to find information on veterans benefits.
Virtually all of our requests for information on veterans benefits come from distraught family members who are seeking help for their ...... Read More
What is the Greatest Risk for Retired Seniors?
October 1, 2019 | by Thomas Day
By far, the greatest risk for retired seniors, especially those who are advanced in age, is the need for long-term care services. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projections estimate that 70 percent of Americans who reach the age of 65 will need some form of long-term care in their lives for an average of 3 years. (See HHS Administration on Aging website) Unfortunately, based on our 17 years of experience at the National Care Planning Council, and in dealing with thousands of aging seniors and their families, we conclude that most elderly peo ...... Read More
Five Things You Should Know About Home Health Care Before You Need It
Once a family starts considering home health care for a loved one, it is because they’ve realized that they can’t provide the level of care their family member needs. The key is that the entire family, especially the loved one in need of care, must be part of the process. Home health care benefits both the patient and the caregiver(s). Moreover, knowing all that you can about home health care before you need it is the most proactive step you can take to help decide when the right time for it should be.
Rarely do we take a hard look at ourselves enough to know when things aren’t we ...... Read More
3 Reasons to Take Social Security at Age 62
September 10, 2019 | by Thomas Day
Assume that you are age 62 this year and your full Social Security retirement age will be 67, five years from now. Assume the age 67 amount will be $1,500 a month or $18,000 a year. What if you wish to take Social Security now instead of waiting until your full retirement age? At age 62 your full retirement benefit will be reduced to 70% of the age 67 amount and you will only receive $1,050 a month or $12,600 a year for the rest of your life. Why then would you want to take a reduced amount of Social Security for the rest of your life? Here are three p ...... Read More
What Is Survivors Pension with Aid and Attendance?
August 20, 2019 | by the National Care Planning Council
Survivor's Pension – also known as Death Pension – is a disability income program available to the single surviving spouse and/or dependent children of a deceased veteran who served during a period of war.
Eligibility requirements for the deceased veteran include active duty service for at least 90 days - with one of those days during a period of war - and an honorable discharge or a discharge classified as other than dishonorable. Service in combat is not required. For deceased veterans of the Gulf War, the service require ...... Read More
What Is the Difference between Conservatorship and Guardianship?
August 6, 2019 | by the National Care Planning Council
Sometimes it may be necessary to pursue a conservatorship or guardianship for a person who is not able to make or communicate decisions. Unlike a power of attorney, an individual appointed as a conservator or guardian can make decisions on behalf of the person being protected and those decisions cannot be overridden by the protected person. In a sense, in order to shield the protected person or the community from harm, the protected person's freedom regarding the specific decisions being overseen by the court or legal document has ...... Read More
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