Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will resume routine inspections of all Medicare and Medicaid certified providers and suppliers to improve the safety and quality of life of patients and residents. CMS had previously suspended certain routine inspections as part of its response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to prioritize infection control and immediate jeopardy situations and to give health care providers and suppliers time needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19.
83% of the seven hundred elderly and disabled clients of the TRIP volunteer driver transportation service for Riverside County California were able to continue to access stores and get to scheduled medical appointments each month in March and April, according to Richard Smith, CEO of the nonprofit Independent Living Partnership (ILP).
Nearly 42 million Americans identified as caregivers for an older adult before COVID-19. Almost overnight, it's likely that millions more have since joined their ranks. With COVID-19, there are added complications, notably physical separation. Some people are supporting older relatives who live far away while others may be close by, but are maintaining a safe distance. The goal is to maintain social closeness while also practicing physical distance.
Testing! Testing! Testing! That’s what the experts say is necessary to move the country back to normalcy. Almost daily, local TV stations in New York City where I live run public service announcements urging viewers to get a test for COVID-19. Those announcements tell how to find a testing site, and most point out that the tests are free.
Ryan White, the courageous teenager who fought discrimination after contracting AIDS, never saw the impact his short life would have on hundreds of thousands of individuals living with HIV and AIDS. Ryan, who contracted the disease from a blood transfusion in 1984, died in April 1990, only months before the establishment of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. The Indiana teen was 18 when he died.