Good Medical Care for the Elderly and How to Get It

Knee & Hip replacement | Good tips from New York Times resources

The New York Time published a extremely valuable article about hip and knee implants over the 4th of July weekend. According to statistics, about 806,000 such procedures were performed in the US in 2007. This is twice as many as were performed a decade earlier. Though routine, replacements are not without risk or potential for a future replacement.

Dr. Henrik Malchau, an orthopedic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston told the NY Times that implants must sometimes be replaced. According to a 2007 study, 7 percent of  hip implants in Medicare patients had to be repeated within seven and a half years.

Dr. Malchau states that while this may seem insignificant, the study suggests that thousands of hip patients eventually require a second operation. That translates into additional recoveries, and increased medical expenses. The failure rate should be lower. Dr. Malchau and Dr. Daniel Berry, chief of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. had some very good suggestions to improve the success rate for seniors undergoing hip and knee replacements. Photo credit Mayo Clinic.

Internet resources for seniors & others seeking affordable medical insurance

Reported in a newsletter by MoveOn.org, here is some valuable information about Internet resources to assist seniors (and others) trying to assess and access affordable health care.

• Yesterday, www.HealthCare.gov, a new online portal where anyone can go to find insurance options in their state, went live. It's a very handy resource for information that used to be difficult to find. It's available to help millions who need insurance find it, and as a resource for those who want to shop around for new options or find out their new benefits under the new law.