Good Medical Care for the Elderly and How to Get It

Baby Boomers ambivalent about longevity in parents

Today, it's not unusual for Americans to live to be 90 or even 100. Problems occur when the elderly outlive their savings. Sometimes elderly parents own their own home and a reverse mortgage can help them stay there.

And now about the Baby Boomers -- one quarter of the US population. These folks are accustomed to the idea that their parents might bail them out from time to time, contribute to a down payment on a home, etc. And last, but not least, leave them an inheritance.

Well, it's not happening. Longevity means eating into capital. Not everyone is a Rockefeller. How do baby boomers feel about their parents spending what they'd counted on as an inheritance.\?

Read Hey Folks, You're Spending My Inheritance in the Fall 2007 issue of Dissent Magazine.

Choosing a good nursing home for your loved one

Charles Duhigg reports in the New York Times Health section on September 23, 2007 that private investors have purchased groups of nursing homes, reduced staff (often below minimum requirements), and cut other expenses. As a result, profits for the owners have increased, but quality of care is down, mobility and health of nursing home residents is compromised, and complaints to regulatory agencies are higher.

Families of patients who have died as a result of alleged negligence in such nursing homes increasingly find that complex corporate structures are like mazes and act to insulate the real owners of the facilities from any negligence that might be proven.

Read More Profit and Less Nursing at Many Homes

For help in choosing a safe nursing home for your loved one, see the resources in Appendix A of Good Medical Care for the Elderly and How to Get It. This and other appendices are online and yours to use without charge.