Elder Law Prof Blog

Bye Bye Donut Hole

The Medicare Part D donut hole closed this year (yay) and although it may be gone, it's not forgotten.

Due to federal legislation, the donut hole is closed for brand-name drugs in 2019. This closure means that [that a beneficiary] will be responsible for 25% of the cost of ... brand-name drugs in this coverage period. Although the donut hole for brand-name drugs has closed, [the beneficiary] may still see a difference in cost between the initial coverage period and the donut hole. For example, if a drug’s total cost is $100 and [the beneficiary] pay[s] [the] plan’s $20 copay during the initial coverage period, [the beneficiary] will be responsible for paying $25 (25% of $100) during the coverage gap. The donut hole will close for generic drugs in 2020, at which point [a beneficiary] will be responsible for 25% of the cost of ...  generic drugs.

Kaiser Health News last week ran a story about the demise of the donut hole and the out of pocket costs beneficiaries still face. Doughnut Hole Is Gone, But Medicare’s Uncapped Drug Costs Still Bite Into Budgets  focuses on the need for an annual cap on out of pocket drug spending by telling the stories of some of those who have significant out of pocket costs even with the elimination of the donut hole. "Legislative changes have gradually closed the doughnut hole so that, this year, beneficiaries no longer face a coverage gap. In a standard Medicare drug plan, beneficiaries pay 25 percent of the price of their brand-name drugs until they reach $5,100 in out-of-pocket costs. Once patients reach that threshold, the catastrophic portion of their coverage kicks in and their obligation drops to 5 percent. But it never disappears."

Although none of the Medicare programs have caps on spending, the article illustrates that those enrolled in original Medicare can purchase Medigap policies, which do not extend to Part D  prescription drug plans.  There's a great chart in the article that compares the existing Part D program with proposed legislation which illustrates the effect of the recent proposal to cap the annual amount. 

Stay tuned and stay healthy.

Broken System(s) and Good People Who Still Care

For those who read this Blog regularly, thank you.  Especially as I have been leaving the bulk of recent postings to my wonderful  blogging colleague and all-round elder law guru, Rebecca Morgan.  Thank you most of all, Becky! 

It is early morning on a Sunday as I type this.  The Arizona sun is not quite above the eastern horizon.  A calm morning after several days ...  okay, I confess, weeks ... of small troubles.  I had time to read The New York Times, and there it is once again, an article with a title and content that seem right on point for what I am pondering:

Patients ‘Hit the Call Bell and Nobody Comes.’ Hospital Nurses Demand ‘Safe Staffing’ Levels.

For the last several weeks, my sister and I have been struggling to understand how best to help our mother in the latest part of her journey with dementia.  Recently she fell twice in single week, when rising before dawn and struggling to get dressed by herself.  She did not need to be up so early, but in a lifetime of early rising, it is hard to change. Learning new routines, such as calling for help, is never easy, but especially so when memory and awareness are impaired by dementia.  Her second fall resulted in what Mom had long feared most, a fear that will resonate for many people.  She fractured her hip, as well as a few annoying ribs.  

This put the three of us, my sister, my mother and me, squarely in the middle of doctor consultations, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, home care agencies and a search for alternatives for care.  Do you have a mental image of Queen Elizabeth in London?  Perhaps you have seen photos or news footage of her in recent weeks, walking with determination and carrying her purse, as she attends to her royal duties?  Well, Queen Elizabeth and our mother are the same age and seem to have very similar abilities to persevere.  We think of our mother as a slightly smaller version of the Queen, perhaps walking a bit slower although with equal commitment to the task, complete with her own favorite handbag.  Or she was until the recent set of events.

At age 93, Mom sailed through surgery to stabilize her fractured hip, and even did pretty well during the first phase of recovery in the hospital.  One small blessing for Mom is that she has no memory of the falls, no recollection of the surgery, and no memory of pain. Thus she's surprised when it "hurts" to try to stand, much less walk.  Of course, both pain and understanding of what pain signifies, are important reminders of the need to take things slow.  

We've done the hospital surgery stay "thing" before with Mom, and we've learned to treat such events as a marathon, rather than a sprint.  We've learned, for example, that our mother's agitation after surgery makes IVs difficult and that any form of narcotic pain medication is likely to trigger days of vivid and disturbing hallucinations. For pain, fortunately tylenol is enough with Mom.  We work hard to come up with a way for someone (usually my sister, until I can fly in) to be there each night, when we know hospital staffing levels can be low and call buttons may not be answered quickly. We know that without being there, when Mom does sometimes complain of pain, we will to need to remind the staff that tylenol is usually sufficient.

We try to rotate nights.  My sister is a pro, and after weeks of my somewhat frantic naps on airplanes, I've become pretty good at falling into a wakeful sleep mode in an upright position.  Staying overnight in a hospital is disorienting for the healthiest person and much more so for someone like my mother who cannot understand why this "hotel" has staff members that keep waking her up at night to take her temperature and hand her medication to swallow.  I will be forever grateful to the nurse who, after my mother spit a full mouthful of water and the medicine back in her face, nonetheless returned promptly to help throughout the third shift, still offering smiles and kind words.  The nurses who advocate for change in The New York Times article have it right -- "safe staffing levels" are one key to sound hospital care; only with adequate staffing can nurses be expected to keep working in such taxing circumstances.

The next decision was about where to go after the hospital. One option presented by the discharge planner was to go to a skilled nursing facility, a/k/a nursing home.  We had previewed a wide range of places and we already had a list of possibilities. But we were pretty confident Mom could tolerate physical therapy, and therefore, after consultation, we opted for a facility that specialized in rehabilitation.  

One complication:  The rehab facility's admissions director said that they were not willing to take someone with dementia unless the family made sure there was 24/7 assistance during periods of confusion and, they emphasized, to keep her from wandering.  With gratitude, we accepted a brochure offered by the admissions director for a local home care agency that they had worked with before.  My sister, a true angel, and I, very much a mortal, knew we couldn't do this alone.

And thus began a strange variation on the "Bell Rings; Nobody Comes" theme of The New York Times article about hospital care.

The first yellow flag was when one of the line staff, a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at the rehab facility, who heard we were hiring companions from an agency, commented, "Well, okay, if you want to do that, but just so you know, these people don't do a darn thing.  They won't lift a finger to help."  I didn't know what to say; I think I said something like, "Well, let us know if there is a problem."

The "problem" emerged quickly.  Companions from the home care agency said the rehab staff were not responding to call buttons when help was needed for our mother.  The rehab staff were complaining that the companions didn't provide any help.   I talked to an administrator at the rehab center.  He assured me that their policy was for staff  to respond promptly to call buttons and that he would remind the staff that a family member or hired companion was doing "the right thing" by using the call buttons to seek help.  

But the reports continued, even as Mom began to recover more function, and thus actually needed more help in key tasks because she was more mobile.  Different companions and even friends reported that the CNAs at the rehab center would, for example, help our mother to the bathroom toilet, but then would refuse to stay until she finished.  Some reported the CNA turning to the agency's companion and saying with disdain, "You should handle it from here."  

I tried talking again with Rehab's administrators, this time the director of nursing.  She was also quick to reassure me that we were not wrong to ask the rehab staff to assist our mother in the bathroom and to remain with her till she finished, as our mother was still unable to rise on her own and also could not or would not use the pull cord.  She thought the most recent report was about one new rehab employee, who may not yet understand his or her role.

But the reports continued.  One report came from a friend visiting Mom.  She noticed buzzers ringing endlessly on Mom's floor, even when available staff were chatting nearby.  I tried talking with the management staff again.  At one point, the home care agency actually swooped in and removed a companion we hired to help our mother, after the rehab center complained to them that the companion was complaining "too loudly" about the rehab staffing and lack of coordination with staff.  In response to the turmoil my sister ended up taking another night shift in rehab (after a long-day as an administrator for a charter school).  I started planning another flight to Arizona.

I slowly began to realize that this was not a problem that could be "fixed" with polite requests or even more directly-worded complaints about staffing roles.   I learned:

• The direct care workers at the rehab center felt seriously over-worked and under-appreciated;
• The rehab center was often short-staffed, especially when employees called off on short notice; 
• The direct care workers resented the agency's companions "doing nothing" when an extra pair of hands, any hands, would have made their work easier;
• There was tension between the direct care workers, most of them CNAs, and the cehab Center's other "higher" staff, including nurses and shift supervisors;
• Family members of other patients were also concerned and confused about what to do about unevenness of care.  They weren't required to have a companion as their loved one did not have the dreaded "dementia." But their need for prompt assistance for loved ones recovering from car accidents, strokes, or major surgery was just as great.

A family member of another patient in rehab commented to me, "This is a broken system."  At first I thought she meant the Rehab Center.  But she clarified.  "This is just one part of a broken care system."  She meant that all of care is a broken system.

Continue reading

Will There Ever Be A Cure for Alzheimer's?

Two recent stories from the Wall Street Journal on a recent failure of an Alzheimer's drug in testing made me pause. Latest Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Fails Testing. Drugmakers Biogen and Eisai ended studies of treatment, deeming it unlikely to benefit patients in latest research setback  ("[t]he search for new Alzheimer’s disease treatments hit another big setback on Thursday when drugmakers Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co. said they would terminate two late-stage studies of an experimental drug after determining it would likely fail to help patients") and Where Alzheimer’s Research Is Pushing Ahead. Disappointing results for drugs targeting Beta amyloid buildup in the brain has renewed focus on drugs that act in other ways ("[t]he failure last week of Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co.’s once-promising Alzheimer’s disease drug was the latest in a spate of disappointments for medicines designed to target Beta amyloid, a sticky substance long known to accumulate in the brains of people with the disease...The repeated failure of such drugs are giving greater currency to efforts by academics and smaller biotech companies to better understand the biology of Alzheimer's ....) (subscription required to read both articles) certainly wasn't the headlines we hope for.  Then this article in Time Magazine caught my eye. What the End of a Promising Alzheimer’s Drug Trial Means for One Patient in the Study describes this "failure is the latest in a string of let-downs involving drugs that target amyloid, leading experts to question whether future treatment strategies should focus so heavily on amyloid plaques. Therapies that target some of the other proteins involved in the disease are ongoing, but until recently, the predominance of amyloid in the brains of people affected by Alzheimer’s has led drugmakers to focus on that protein in particular."  The article also summaries different tactics that researchers are considering next, so at least there's still hope. Stay tuned.

New GAO Report on Retirement Security

The GAO has issued a new report, Retirement Security:  Most Households Approaching Retirement Have Low Savings, an Update. The report, an update from the 2015 report, is 4 pages long and available here as a pdf. The update incorporates "estimates on the percentage of households aged 55 and over with selected financial resources."  Here are the fast facts from this update

The 2015 report on retirement security included estimates on the percentage of households aged 55 and over without retirement savings or a defined benefit plan (traditional employment-based pension plans that offer benefits based on factors like salary and years of service)... We updated these estimates using data from the most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, which was released in September 2017... We found that the percent of households headed by someone aged 55 and over that had no retirement savings decreased from about 52 percent in 2013 to about 48 percent in 2016.

 

NJ Bill on Medical Aid in Dying

The NJ legislature has passed a medical aid in dying bill which the Governor of NJ has indicated he will sign. New Jersey approves bill allowing terminally ill patients the right to die reports that the votes were somewhat close, with the NJ House voting 41-33 and the NJ Senate, 21-16.  Safeguards similar to the laws in other states for medical aid in dying are included in the NJ legislation. "Two physicians would be required to attest that the person had less than six months to live. The patient would have to ask for the medication three times — twice orally and once in writing — before receiving it. The written request would have to be witnessed by two people, including one who is not a family member, a beneficiary of the patient's will or the attending physician... The patient would then be required to self-administer the medicine, if he or she decides to take it at all." The legislation is available here.

 

 

CDC Says Dementia Deaths Up

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported last week that the Rate of dementia deaths in US has more than doubled, CDC says from the new report for the National Center for Health Statistics.

Here is the abstract from the 29 page report from the National Center for Health Statistics:

Objectives—This report presents data on mortality attributable to dementia. Data for dementia as an underlying cause of death from 2000 through 2017 are shown by selected characteristics such as age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and state of residence. Trends in dementia deaths overall and by specific cause are presented. The reporting of dementia as a contributing cause of death is also described.

Methods—Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Using multiple cause-of-death data files, dementia is considered to include deaths attributed to unspecified dementia; Alzheimer disease; vascular dementia; and other degenerative diseases of nervous system, not elsewhere classified.

Results—In 2017, a total of 261,914 deaths attributable to dementia as an underlying cause of death were reported in the United States. Forty-six percent of these deaths were due to Alzheimer disease. In 2017, the age-adjusted death rate for dementia as an underlying cause of death was 66.7 deaths per 100,000 U.S. standard population. Age-adjusted death rates were higher for females (72.7) than for males (56.4). Death rates increased with age from 56.9 deaths per 100,000 among people aged 65–74 to 2,707.3 deaths per 100,000 among people aged 85 and over. Age-adjusted death rates were higher among the non-Hispanic white population (70.8) compared with the non-Hispanic black population (65.0) and the Hispanic population (46.0). Age-adjusted death rates for dementia varied by state and urbanization category. Overall, age-adjusted death rates for dementia increased from 2000 to 2017. Rates were steady from 2013 through 2016, and increased from 2016 to 2017. Patterns of reporting the individual dementia causes varied across states and across time.

Conclusions—Death rates due to dementia varied by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and state. In 2017, Alzheimer disease accounted for almost one-half of all dementia deaths. The proportion of dementia deaths attributed to Alzheimer disease varies across states.

 

Combating Loneliness in Older Adults

Kaiser Health News ran a story last week on how to push back vs. loneliness in older adults. Understanding Loneliness In Older Adults — And Tailoring A Solution doesn't mean telling folks to get a hobby. Instead, the idea of fighting loneliness is making connections with others, living a purpose-filled life, and having important social roles.  Loneliness among elders has been found to be connected to many issues. "Four surveys (by Cigna, AARP, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of Michigan) have examined the extent of loneliness and social isolation in older adults in the past year. And health insurers, health care systems, senior housing operators and social service agencies are launching or expanding initiatives."  Not everyone will respond well to one solution, so it's important that programs offer alternatives.

Interestingly, the story describes two categories of loneliness, what might be called short-term and long-term loneliness. "The headlines are alarming: Between 33 and 43 percent of older Americans are lonely, they proclaim. But those figures combine two groups: people who are sometimes lonely and those who are always lonely... The distinction matters because people who are sometimes lonely don’t necessarily stay that way; they can move in and out of this state. And the potential health impact of loneliness — a higher risk of heart disease, dementia, immune dysfunction, functional impairment and early death — depends on its severity."

The article not only explores the length of loneliness but the depth and types of it as well. "According to a well-established framework, “emotional loneliness” occurs when someone feels the lack of intimate relationships. “Social loneliness” is the lack of satisfying contact with family members, friends, neighbors or other community members. “Collective loneliness” is the feeling of not being valued by the broader community. .. Some experts add another category: “existential loneliness,” or the sense that life lacks meaning or purpose."

A program that might effectively combat loneliness has to look at the causes of it. Those include the sense that people don't care about you, disappointing relationships, for example. Some types of loneliness might have an easier fix. The article offers the example of "[s]omeone who’s lost a sense of being meaningfully connected to other people because of hearing loss — the most common type of disability among older adults — can be encouraged to use a hearing aid. Someone who can’t drive anymore and has stopped getting out of the house can get assistance with transportation. Or someone who’s lost a sibling or a spouse can be directed to a bereavement program."

The article is very interesting and brings depth to a very important topic.

Florida AG Creates Senior Protection Team

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced last week the creation of the Senior Protection Team "an intra-agency group of experts working together to fight fraud and abuse. The team is comprised of leading members from the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Consumer Protection Division and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Seniors v. Crime and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will also actively assist the team with investigations and outreach efforts." The team is being led by Statewide Prosecutor, Nick Cox, a long-time advocate for the protection of elders from scams and frauds.

Kudos to General Moody!

Florida AG Creates Senior Protection Team

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced last week the creation of the Senior Protection Team "an intra-agency group of experts working together to fight fraud and abuse. The team is comprised of leading members from the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Consumer Protection Division and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Seniors v. Crime and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will also actively assist the team with investigations and outreach efforts." The team is being led by Statewide Prosecutor, Nick Cox, a long-time advocate for the protection of elders from scams and frauds.

Kudos to General Moody!

College Students Living In Elder Living Communities

AARP's Livable Communities newsletter had 2 articles of interest regarding housing and elders.  The first, Rethinking Student Housing focuses on several projects  along the lines of an artist-in-residence program, where music students get free housing in an elder housing community in return for performances as well as "helping with errands and socializing with ...  neighbors."  The second article, Rethinking What Makes a Great Roommate, focuses on a project that melds two issues: lack of affordable housing and elders who want to stay in their homes but need income. This project,  "Nesterly, a website that connects older people who have rooms to spare with young and lower income people seeking medium-term affordable housing. "Homeshare with another generation: The easy, safe way to rent a room," states the site's homepage. "  There is a small fee to use the service, which checks out the potential renters.  The two parties come to agreement on the terms and price.

Two very creative ideas!

Check out the Updated Law Enforcement Guide EAGLE 2.0

EAGLE, the Elder Abuse Guide for Law Enforcement, has been updated and the newest version is now available.  The email announcing the updates explains

EAGLE 2.0 has incorporated roll call videos developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Department of Justice updates and archived webinars.   EAGLE is both a systematic and streamlined tool for law enforcement to assess elder abuse, as defined by the statutes of each state.  Although EAGLE was designed for law enforcement and by law enforcement, EAGLE is for anyone who would like to learn more about the types of elder abuse and what can be done to build strong community supports to prevent future occurrences. 

The roll call videos are in six parts and based on real cases, "highlight[ing] the actions of responding officer that led to a resolution of the case."

This guide is an incredibly valuable resource. Be sure to check out the webpage!

 

New Report from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new report at the end of February, Suspicious Activity Reports on Elder Financial Exploitation: Issues and Trends.

Here is a summary of the report

Since 2013, financial institutions have reported to the federal government over 180,000 suspicious activities targeting older adults, involving a total of more than $6 billion. The reports provide unique data on these suspicious activities, which can enhance ongoing efforts to prevent elder financial exploitation and to punish wrongdoers.

This report presents the findings of a study of elder financial exploitation Suspicious Activity Reports (EFE SARs) filed with the federal government by financial institutions such as banks and money services businesses between 2013 and 2017. This is the first public analysis of EFE SAR filings since the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which receives and maintains the database of SARs, introduced electronic SAR filing with a designated category for “elder financial exploitation” in 2013. The findings provide an opportunity to better understand the complex problem of elder financial exploitation and to identify ways to improve prevention and response.

The full report is available here.

The key findings of the report provide some sobering data:

•SAR filings on elder financial exploitation quadrupled from 2013 to 2017. In 2017, elder financial exploitation (EFE) SARs totaled 63,500. Based on recent prevalence studies, these 2017 SARs likely represent a tiny fraction of actual incidents of elder financial exploitation.

•Money services businesses have filed an increasing share of EFE SARs.In 2016, money services business (MSB) filings surpassed depository institution (DI) filings. In 2017, MSB SARs comprised 58 percent of EFE SARs, compared to 15 percent in 2013.

•Financial institutions reported a total of $1.7 billion in suspicious activities in 2017, including actual losses and attempts to steal the older adults’ funds

•Nearly 80 percent of EFE SARs involved a monetary loss to older adults and/or filers (i.e. financial institutions).

•In EFE SARs involving a loss to an older adult, the average amount lost was $34,200. In 7 percent of these EFE SARs, the loss exceeded $100,000.

•When a filer lost money, the average loss per filer was $16,700.

•One third of the individuals who lost money were ages 80 and older.

•Adults ages 70 to 79 had the highest average monetary loss ($45,300).

•Losses were greater when the older adult knew the suspect. The average loss per person was about $50,000 when the older adult knew the suspect and $17,000 when the suspect was a stranger.

•Types of suspicious activity varied significantly by filer.When the filer was an MSB, 69 percent of EFE SARs described scams by strangers. DI filings, in contrast, involved an array of financial crimes, with 27 percent involving stranger scams.

•More than half of EFE SARs involved a money transfer. The second-most common financial product used to move funds was a checking or savings account (44 percent).

•Checking or savings accounts had the highest monetary losses. The average monetary loss to the older adult was $48,300 for EFE SARs involving a checking or savings account while the average loss was $32,800 for EFE SARs involving a money transfer.

•The suspicious activity reported in an EFE SAR took place, on average, over a four-month period.

•Fewer than one-third of EFE SARs indicated that the filer reported the suspicious activity to a local, state, or federal authority. Only one percent of MSB SARs stated that the MSB reported the suspicious activity in the SAR to a government entity such as adult protective services or law enforcement.

Read the entire report. The information is important.

Thanks to Julie Childs from the DOJ Elder Justice Initiative for alerting me to this new report.

When Do Lawyers Have to Report Suspected Elder Abuse-A Webinar

Mark your calendars for this important webinar.  The National Center for Law and Elder Rights is offering this webinar, Elder Abuse: Mandatory and Permissive Reporting For Lawyers, on April 3, 2019 from 2-3 edt.

Here is the info about the webinar

When working with older adults, lawyers may be faced with legal and ethical decisions about when and how to report suspected elder abuse. In making these decisions, lawyers must balance the ethical need to honor their client’s autonomy, with potential legal requirements to intervene. An understanding of mandatory and permissive reporting laws is essential for lawyers working in this field.

This webcast will introduce lawyers to the concept of mandatory and permissive reporting, and provide an overview of the analysis a lawyer should take when determining how to proceed in circumstances of suspected abuse. Participants will learn how to:

• Analyze reporting obligations

• Determine who is a mandatory reporter in their state

• Inform clients about mandatory reporting requirements

• Weigh the benefits and burdens of reporting

The webcast will build on previous NCLER trainings, including Legal Basics: Elder Abuse and Legal Basics: Signs of Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation.

 

To register, click here.

Justice Department Announces Elder Fraud Sweep

On March 7, 2019, U.S. DOJ announced the biggest U.S. elder fraud sweep. Justice Department Coordinates Largest-Ever Nationwide Elder Fraud Sweep. Attorney General Focuses on Threats Posed by Technical-Support Fraud offers a look at the staggering amount of elder fraud.

The cases during this sweep involved more than 260 defendants from around the globe who victimized more than two million Americans, most of them elderly. [DOJ] took action in every federal district across the country, through the filing of criminal or civil cases or through consumer education efforts. In each case, offenders allegedly engaged in financial schemes that targeted or largely affected seniors. In total, the charged elder fraud schemes caused alleged losses of millions of more dollars than last year, putting the total alleged losses at this year’s sweep at over three fourths of one billion dollars.

Want to see the results of the sweep in your state?  Click here.

The sweep included tech support fraud, mass mailing fraud and  money mules.  Consumer education was also part of the effort,

[DOJ] and its law enforcement partners focused the sweep’s public education campaign on technical-support fraud, given the widespread harm such schemes are causing. The FTC and State Attorneys General had an important role in designing and disseminating messaging material intended to warn consumers and businesses.

Public education outreach is being conducted by various state and federal agencies, including Senior Corps, a national service program administered by the federal agency the Corporation for National and Community Service, to educate seniors and prevent further victimization. The Senior Corps program engages more than 245,000 older adults in intensive service each year, who in turn, serve more than 840,000 additional seniors, including 332,000 veterans. Information on Senior Corps’ efforts to reduce elder fraud can be found here.

Click here to read the full press release. The AG's remarks are available here.

Thanks to my colleague, Professor Podgor, for alerting me to the press releases.

Maryland House Passes Physician-Aided Dying Bill

The Baltimore Sun reported that the Maryland House of Delegates has passed a measure to legalize physician-aided dying in Maryland. Maryland House of Delegates approves legalizing medically assisted suicide notes that the bill passed by a close margin and a corresponding bill is pending in the Maryland Senate.The House version contains various protections, including "[t]he patient must be 18 years old, have a terminal illness with a prognosis of less than six months to live and be able to take the drugs by themselves. The patient must request the prescription on three separate occasions, including at least once in private and at least once in writing — provisions meant to prevent patients from being coerced into obtaining the medication."  More information about the House bill is available here.

Rural Nursing Homes Closing

The New York Times ran a story that notes that nursing homes are closing in rural America, leaving residents with few options.  Nursing Homes are Closing Across Rural American, Scattering Residents   highlights the dilemma for many in rural areas when the local nursing home closes. "More than 440 rural nursing homes have closed or merged over the last decade ... and each closure scattered patients like seeds in the wind. Instead of finding new care in their homes and communities, many end up at different nursing homes far from their families. ... In remote communities ... there are few choices for an aging population. Home health aides can be scarce and unaffordable to hire around the clock. The few senior-citizen apartments have waiting lists. Adult children have long since moved away to bigger cities."  Think about the implications when the facility closes and there isn't another one near by. Not only might the resident suffer from transfer trauma, there are other implications. As the article notes, with distance comes the lack of ability for frequent visits, the time spent traveling to the new SNF, the inability to get to the new SNF quickly if a need arises and the vagaries of Mother Nature who may heap bad weather on the area, making it unsafe to travel. There are various reasons why nursing homes in rural communities are closing, including financial instability, Medicaid reimbursement rates, failure to meet the minimum health and safety standards and even the inability to hire staff.

Medical Records Not Reviewed By Medical Director Before Claim Denied

Forbes is reporting on a story first appearing on CNN,  where the Former Aetna Medical Director Admits To Never Reviewing Medical Records Before Denying Care.

"This admission was made during a deposition in a lawsuit brought against Aetna by [a patient]... with common variable immune deficiency (CVID) who was denied coverage for an infusion of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) four years ago."  The former medical director testified that the process was for nurses to review records and then make recommendations to him.  Additionally, "when asked by Washington's attorney if it was his general practice to look at medical records as part of his decision making process, he replied that it was not."

Thanks to Julie Kitzmiller for alerting me to the story.

Bibliography on Physician-Aided Dying

The Law Library Journal has published a comprehensive bibliography on Physician-Aided Dying. Physician-Assisted Death: A Selected Annotated Bibliography, prepared by Alyssa Thurston, who is head of Reference Services at Pepperdine University School of Law Library in Malibu, Calif.,  provides a comprehensive update on this important topic.

Here is the abstract of the paper. "Physician-assisted death (PAD), which encompasses physician-assisted suicide and physician-administered euthanasia, has long been controversial. However, recent years have seen a trend toward legalizing some form of PAD in the United States and abroad. The author provides an annotated bibliography of sources concerning PAD and the many issues raised by its legalization."

The introduction offers some helpful information for the reader:

¶3 This bibliography compiles selected secondary and primary materials on
PAD. Secondary sources include books, book chapters, law review and law journal
articles, bibliographies, websites, and current awareness materials, and are mostly
limited to publication dates of 2007–2018.10 Many of these materials discuss multiple
issues within the broader topic of PAD, and I have categorized them by subject
based on what I perceive to be their primary themes.
¶4 Most of the included materials focus on the United States, but a number of
sources also discuss other countries, and one section is devoted to international
experiences with PAD. In addition, PAD is often debated alongside other end-oflife
topics, such as withdrawal or refusal of medical treatment,11 palliative care,12
hospice care,13 or the use of advance directives,14 and some of the scholarship listed
in this bibliography concurrently address one or more of these subjects in depth.

Thanks to my colleague, Professor Brooke Bowman, for alerting me to this helpful resource!

U. of Ill. Lecture Today on Med. Mal. & Elderly

Professor Richard Kaplan, elder law prof extraordinaire and a good friend, sent me a notice about a fabulous program today at the University of Illinois College of Law.  The Ann F. Baum Memorial Elder Law Lecture will take place today at noon est. The speaker, Professor David M. Studdert of Stanford  Law will present Medical Malpractice Litigation and the Elderly: An Empirical Perspective.  If only I was within driving distance. I know it will be  successful. Thanks to Professor Kaplan for letting us know.