Aging Partners

Houston Done from the "Aging Partners" out of Lincoln,  provided the program this noon at Kiwanis. The "Lincoln Based" organization serves an 8-County area including Seward. Their mission is to enhance daily living, expand personal choices and educate the community in an effort to ensure the independence and full life of the people they serve. He got the attention of our group by asking if we knew the fastest growing age group in the USA. It turns out to be those who reach 100. Since Done is an Insurance Counselor, he spent most of his time talking about  Medicare and Medicaid within his message of: planning ahead, staying well, living at home, senior care options, assisted living, nursing homes, etc. Some of the statistics are rather frightening. There was a time when we talked about people, epically farmers, "living poor and dieing rich". Today, it seems that the opposite is more often the case. He mentioned the high percentage of people requiring skilled nursing home care that become eligible for Medicaid after less than a year. Somewhat unique to Nebraska, is a provision that became affective on January 1, 2014 which is called the "Spousal Impoverishment Program." The intent is to help keep a spouse in their own home if either the husband or wife is on Medicaid. It's not a subject we like to talk about but something we all need to face.