JULY 20, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3 When General Motors Corporation first began offering health insurance to its retired employees in 1961, it required them to pay a portion of their medical care. By 1968, however, GM was not only paying all the costs of medical insurance for retirees, but was also covering their spouses,…

JULY 13, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 2 Anna Elizabeth Guess lived to the age of 83 on her farm in Cabot, Arkansas. She raised seven children, and had been generous to them on many occasions. In 1989, for example, she gave her son Wayne title to ten acres of her farmland in return for a…

JULY 6, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 1 Arch and Emily Tucker were a married couple living in Colorado in 1962. That year, they both signed new wills, though Emily’s will could not be found decades later when problems arose. Arch’s will, though, included language reflecting an agreement between the two of them not change their…

JUNE 29, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 52 Adult care homes are usually seen as friendlier, more home-like and more pleasant than nursing homes. Many seniors are well cared for in adult care homes, particularly in the early stages of dementia or chronic illness. Such homes may also be less expensive for residents, with typical costs…

JUNE 22, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 51 A patient in an Arizona nursing home is likely to incur expenses of $3500 to $4000 (or more) per month. For patients who have already paid nursing home expenses for months or years, and who have exhausted their savings, ALTCS, the state’s Medicaid program, usually ends up subsidizing…

JUNE 15, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 50 Thirty-eight million individuals now receive their medical care through the federal Medicare program. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which manages the Medicare program, is busily preparing a new, $40 million version of its annual handbook for Medicare recipients, which will shortly be available to participants, providers and…

JUNE 8, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 49 Martha Travers and her husband Richard Travers decided to get divorced after twenty years of marriage. The Phoenix couple was relatively well-off, and (through their lawyers) they agreed that Martha Travers should receive a monthly income designed to represent her interest in the common property plus any right…

JUNE 1, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 48 Financial exploitation of the elderly has been a growing problem across the country in the past several decades. In many cases, the only way to protect vulnerable adults from continuing thefts and abuses has been to seek court intervention, usually in the form of conservatorship (or, as it…

MAY 25, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 47 Living Trusts are a popular estate planning device. Frequently seniors choose to transfer assets to living trusts to avoid probate court and the problems associated with the probate process, including public disclosure of assets, expenses of administration and the possibility of outside control of personal matters. In addition,…

MAY 18, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 46 With improvements in medical care, nutrition and sanitation, we have steadily lengthened life for most seniors. It has been less clear, however, whether the quality of life has been improved at the same time. In this youth-oriented culture, the image of aging is frequently tied to chronic illness…