| Aged care fees set to rise for many in $1.5b overhaul
MANY new residents in high-care nursing homes will pay an average of $635 more a year from next year as part of a $1.5 billion Federal Government revamp to relieve strain on aged-care services. Almost half of all people entering high-care nursing homes will be charged a higher accommodation fee from March next year, while about one-fifth will pay less - on average $1317 - as part of a move to spread charges more equitably. Those already in homes will not have to pay the fee increases. For the first time self-funded retirees who cannot meet their own accommodation costs will be eligible for government help, as part of the changes announced by the Prime Minister, John Howard, yesterday. "There's an anomaly in the present system where a pensioner and a self-funded retiree with the same amount of assets are treated differently," Mr Howard said on Channel Nine.
TECH CHRONICLES / VISIONS OF INDIA / A daily dose of postings from the Chronicle's technology blog ...
The Tech Chronicles' Al Saracevic is spending a few days in India, checking in on the world's fastest-growing technology economy. Stick with him over the next few days as he ventures to the greatest engineering school in the world. And visits Cyber City. And even gets to Bollywood, all in search of the latest tales from the new economy.
Apparently, sending jobs to India is a lot easier than sending yourself. That much I learned on the first few days of my journey to India's technology heartland. I endured a Marco Polo voyage that thousands of Bay Area tech workers deal with on a regular basis. How bad? Consider this: I left SFO Jan. 31 and touched down in Chennai on Feb. 2. It took me two cabs, three planes, two bus rides, four naps, a well-timed Bloody Mary and a tram ride to get here.
He's a friend when nursing home's patients need one most
Jeff Francis, a former patient at the Hallmark Manor skilled nursing facility in Federal Way, provides just that. After a four-month stay to recuperate from a broken hip, Francis, 57, returned as a volunteer and later a part-time employee. He chose the nursing home because he had a friend living there. He immediately noticed that the staff was friendlier than in other nursing homes he had visited. “I was just thrilled with the service I got here. They were very attentive, very kind," Francis said. After his stay, Francis, a retired business owner, returned as a volunteer in the activities department. He helped set up bingo games, Bible studies and socials. “To the other people here, I feel like I'm one of their peers," he said. Noticing his dedication and developing relationships with patients, Hallmark Manor staff offered Francis a part-time position in July as a feeder.
First Exchange for New Trend in Retirement Living
The first contracts have been exchanged on the UK's largest retirement village for over 55s based in Lancaster. The newest trend in retirement living was unveiled in September last year and the trend-setting development by Prestigious Retirement Villages has already seen more than half of first phase homes reserved. .
BedAvailability.com Urges Use of Federal Veteran's Benefits ...
MISSION VIEJO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- January 15, 2007 -- BedAvailability.com, a California Corporation, has aligned with a Statewide company to provide education about, and processing of, Veteran's Benefits, to help pay for assisted living, residential care and RCFE costs of our Veterans. Stuart Furman, CFO of BedAvailability.com, and also a practicing California attorney, states, "There is a Federal program that offers benefits available to our Veterans that has been around since the early 1950s that most people are not aware of. Given the ever-increasing cost of assisted living, residential care, and board and care in the Country, this program, paid directly from the United States Federal Treasury, has dramatically helped those qualifying Veterans with their housing costs in assisted living facilities, board and care facilities and RCFEs." .
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