With prescription drug costs rising, insurance companies that provide policies to supplement Medicare coverage, known as Medigap policies, some of which include pharmaceutical coverage, have raised premiums, forcing many seniors and people with disabilities out of the plans. About 560,000 Americans age 65 and older have drug coverage through Medigap policies. Some researchers fear that these drug plans will become more and more expensive and therefore less and less available to Medicare beneficiaries. Several economic factors are fueling the trend, according to experts. They force them out as soon as they can get them out.
People are going into nursing homes older, nursing home administrators say.
At Ozanam Hall in Bayside, the average age was 85 in 1985. Today, it's 90. Brant Fries, a professor at the University of Michigan's Institute of Gerontology, who is studying nursing home patient characteristics for the federal Health and Human Services Department, said nursing homes get reimbursed at a higher rate for patients who require greater care, including those closer to death. Industry officials dismiss the suggestion, saying the increase is largely due to the increased demand for nursing home care. Conforming amendments are made to regulations affecting ordinary trusts, pooled income funds, charitable remainder trusts, trusts that qualify for the gift and estate tax marital deduction, and trusts that are exempt from generation-skipping transfer taxes.