Medical Search Engines:
Elder Care and End-of-Life Choice Resources
AARP: Am. Assoc. for Retired Persons
AARP's site is updated often. Targeted to the healthy older adult, its purpose is to encourage, inform, advise, and warn the older consumer about opportunities, resources and hazards.
Provides home and community-based services to millions of older persons through the programs funded under the Older Americans Act.
LeadingAge: Expanding the World of Possibilities for Aging Leading Age
Provides valuable information on nursing homes, continuing care retirement communities (CCRC), assisted living residences, senior housing and community service organizations for the elderly.
Deals with issues relating to long term care services and such topics as myths and realities about nursing homes, making the transition to institutional care, Alzheimer's disease, and long-term care (LTC) insurance.
Assisted Living Federation of America and Nat'l Ctr. for Assisted Living
These sites provide information on selecting assisted living or residential care facilities, a state-by-state locator and long-term care insurance.
Advice on caring for the dental needs of a person with dementia, monitoring their dietary habits and helping with oral hygiene and denture hygiene.
This user-friendly site, offers links to virtually every aspect of aging: housing options, mental health services, retirement planning and long-term insurance.
Intended for caregivers providing care to people of all ages. Offers links to sites of particular interest to caregivers of elders.
Compassion and Choices: End of Life Choices
Shares information on options for a peaceful death and right-to-die issues.
Exercise for older adults from the National Library of Medicine.
A community-based nonprofit organization that address the needs and interests of family members and friends providing long-term care at home.
Site of a "nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting a consumer's right to choose a meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral." Contains a directory of nonprofit funeral consumer groups, FAQs on planning and paying for funerals and burials, "state-by-state legislative activity that has some bearing on funeral-related and end-of-life issues," guidelines for filing a funeral or cemetery complaint, links to related resources, and more.
This guide discusses the financial aspects of funerals in the U.S. Topics include pre-need planning, the Funeral Rule (enforced by the Federal Trade Commission) which "requires funeral directors to give you itemized prices in person and, if you ask, over the phone," different types of funerals (traditional, direct burial, and direct cremation), choosing a funeral provider, funeral costs, and services and products (such as caskets and cemetery sites). From the Federal Trade Commission.
This is an Internet community of persons dealing with grief, death, and major loss.
Provides information and support to patients and families facing life-threatening illnesses.
Welcome to Hospice of Michigan Hospice of Michigan provides comprehensive, compassionate comfort care to people with acute chronic illness and support to their loved ones.
Michigan Nursing Home Directory
Michigan Nursing Homes and rehabilitation, convalescent facilities listed in the Compare Nursing Homes database at www. medicare.gov
Consumer Voice for Nursing Home Reform
This organization strives to define, achieve and maintain quality of care for people with long-term care needs in nursing homes, assisted living and board-and-care facilities.
STheir mission is to improve the health and well-being of older Americans through research, training, disseminating health information and providing program related to aging.
This easy-to-use Web site features health and wellness information for older adults from the National Institutes of Health. Use the buttons at the top of each page to make the text bigger, change text color, or hear the text read aloud.
Serves as a funeral watchdog with valuable information for undertakers, funeral suppliers, crematoria and cemeteries.
Health Insurance Resources
Affordable Care Act (ACA) Insurance Marketplace
(800) 318•2596
America's Best Health Plans (U.S. News & World Report)
Healthcare costs continue to rise, and most employees are getting no healthier. Employers are beginning to introduce wellness programs with teeth, rather than those that offer small perks like discounted gym memberships.
Comprehensive national directory of practitioners, searchable by state/city or specialty. Includes Top Doctors and directories of hospitals and health plans.
Performance ratings of thousands of hospitals, physicians, health plans, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospice programs and fertility clinics based on Medicare data.
This is the new Federal Goverenment Healthcare Information Site. Check back frequently, because it is being loaded with information about the 2013 changes taking place to national Health Care.
Making Sense of Medicare
See Also: Governmental Resources (Web Resources for Seniors)
Sponsored by the Dept. of Health and Human Services, using this site you can get resources, stories, and newsletters about taking care of someone with Medicare. If you're one of the nearly 66 million Americans caring for an aging, seriously ill, or disabled family member or friend, we're here to help make your life a little easier..
Sponsored by the National Council on Aging. Has self-help, interactive forms to help you to determine if you are eligible for government benefits or if the Medicare Prescription Benefit is a good choice for you.
The Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., founded in 1986, is a national non-partisan education and advocacy organization that identifies and promotes policy and advocacy solutions to ensure that elders and people with disabilities have access to Medicare and quality health care. The Center for Medicare Advocacy's national office is in Connecticut, with offices throughout the country, including Washington, DC.
The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare Information. There are two valuable searchable indexes here: Medicare Compare offers comparison shopping of Medicare Providers' plans and options—costs of premiums, types of benefits, plan quality, etc.; Nursing Home Compare does the same for every Medicare and Medicaid certified facility in the country, including their most recent violations at their last evaluation. Searchable by zip code, county, or state.
This full-text guide is intended "to assist the public and policy makers in understanding the structure and operation of the Medicaid program." Describes program eligibility, benefits, financing, and administration. Also includes legislative history, resource bibliographies, and indexes to federal laws and regulations. From the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage
Official information from Medicare about its prescription drug plan and the Medicare prescription drug coverage (Medicare Plan D) effective January 1, 2006. Covers enrollment periods, local plans, and common coverage situations. Includes a prescription drug plan finder, a drug finder, online enrollment, and publications. From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder
This site allows you to "compare the price of various medical prescription drugs."Select the "Quick Search" tab, enter your ZIP code, and select the drug or drugs from a list. This will produce a list of prices, sorted by prescription card program, from both local and mail-order pharmacies. Also includes eligibility questions and links to related resources. From the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A national, not-for-profit organization providing telephone answers to individuals who need answers to Medicare questions or help securing coverage, together with topical links. Tip sheet on using the Medicare's drug finder, information on supplemental plans and options. Also includes information in Spanish and specific to New York state. The MRC receives its funding from many foundations and from the federal and New York state and city governments.
Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assistance Program
Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assistance Program (MMAP) is a free health-benefit counseling service. Since 1984, MMAP has provided education and counseling assistance to Michigan's Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and their families or representatives.
MMAP accomplishes its mission through 48 MMAP sites housed in regional Area Agencies on Aging, County Departments on Aging, Senior Services Agencies, Commissions on Aging and other similar organizations located throughout Michigan.
Currently, MMAP has over 500 highly trained and certified volunteers and volunteer coordinators. These dedicated and compassionate people, many of them seniors, answer questions and act as guides through the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
In 2003, MMAP assisted over 22,000 Michigan beneficiaries and saved them $17 million in out-of-pocket expenses, bringing peace of mind to those who are often confused and frightened when they deal with unfamiliar and difficult government systems.
Sponsored by the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) and the Access to Benefits Coalition (ABC), with support from AstraZeneca. .Quick and easy forms can help you assess your situation; find and compare plans; or join a plan.
Prepaid Funeral Contracts & Burial Plots: A Guide for Medicaid Applicants
This 2007 fact sheet discusses the impact of owning a prepaid funeral contract or a burial plot on a person's right to obtain Medicaid benefits. Describes a prepaid funeral contract, considerations in buying a funeral contract or burial plot, and what happens to the money given to a funeral home. In English and Spanish. From the Legal Assistance Resource Center of Connecticut.
Mental & Psychological Health
Physical Fitness / Exercise
According to the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, inactive people are nearly twice as likely to develop heart disease as those who are more active.
Despite the age-defying benefits of getting fit, seniors are the least physically active of all Americans—40 percent of women and 30 percent of men over 70 report that they never exercise.
Explore the resources below to learn about the benefits of exercise, the dangers of inactivity, and helpful tips on getting started: