Veruca, you can try a landline that you can program in the key numbers and label with names. Best wishes.
Just received the Oct 2017 Consumer Reports issue - cover story “Who Will Care for You?” Well thought out 13 page feature. President of CR stated “the average age of new assisted living residents was 84 in 2016 - and assisted living facilities now account for 17% of America’s senior housing, a 33% increase from just five years ago. What’s more, these residents tend to be sicker than previous generations.”
@veruca - my MIL has a Jitterbug cell phone and loves it. ( this is a cell phone that is designed for the elderly and is vey simple to use) She still has her wits about her and she has a landline at home and also a Jitterbug in her purse. The cell phone comes in handy when she is in the hosp/rehab. When she is home, she mostly uses her landline.
The problem with having only a cell phone might be that she loses track of where it is.
My 88 YO in-laws have a cell phone and a land line. Sometimes they ‘forget’ to turn off their cordless land line phone and the line stays ‘busy’. Cell phone may be in MIL’s pocket or purse and she doesn’t hear it or has it off/on vibrate. The cell phone is under BIL’s family plan - it was their way to get MIL/FIL on a cell phone.
Just saying, MIL couldn’t learn how to use speed dial.
@lookingforward if you pre-programmed the phone and gave her written step by step instructions, along with a ‘training session’, she still couldn’t do it?
SOS, she was past that. We had #1 set to ring us, a note taped on, (whatever it is…eg, press #1,) but she never got it. This is all about the individual. In contrast, my mother could manage a cell.
@GTalum, we had to take away my mother’s jewelry and even make sure any buttons on her clothing were secure and she would put anything she could into her mouth. We “child proofed” the house and bought lots of infant teething toys and other infant items that were safe for her to finger, hold, and even put into her mouth. They kept her occupied and safe.
Can I ask a Medicare question here? Or perhaps I should start a new thread? I am so confused about Medicare and private insurance. My folks obviously have Medicare and also buy a Blue Cross Senior plan (about $80/mo per person). I always assumed that Medicare was very limited coverage, just like Social Security is not enough to live on. (Not sure that is a fair analogy, but that is what was in my head)
So when they go to the doctor, they have a $40 co-pay from their BC. Big hospitalizations have not really cost them much out of pocket.
However, a new provider (psychologist) just contacted me to say that they would have to pay her $40 copay since “Medicare is the secondary insurance and BC is the primary. Usually it’s the other way around.”
What does this mean? I have been on the Medicare site and the BC site and it is so confusing and I thought I was pretty well-read 
Try this www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/10/medigap-vs-medicare-advantage-consumer-reports/index.htm
“Original Medicare” Part A covers hospital, B is doctors and a few extras.
Sounds like they have a Medicare Advantage thru BC. In this case, BC is the primary payer.
(If they had the extra coverage via a group plan from a former employer, then Medicare would be the primary.)
Or if they had Medigap, eg, the sort of plan through AARP, Orig Medicare pays first.
People pick the sort of extra coverage they think will work best for their projected total annual med costs, what a plan costs and covers. Aiui, you can change annually, but you’d need to run numbers.
I have been told that a rule of thumb is one week to recover for each day spent in the hospital by a senior!
Thanks, @somemom. I’ll tell that to my ex, whose dad was just transferred to a nursing home-rehab facility after his four-day hospital stay.
Thanks @lookingforward I need to crunch some numbers and look into my crystal ball to see what sorts of health crises will pop up next year 8-|
@surfcity our family learned about the significance of Medicare being the primary vs blue advantage plan (hmo)
Mother broke her pelvis needed rehab.
Because she had blue advantage (hmo) they were the primary meaning they had input and control over her time in rehab.
We learned that plan f was superior in so many ways for excellent senior coverage.
By choising the medigap plan f - Medicare became the primary and plan f medigap kicks in and has offered her excellent coverage!
Yes, the monthly premium soared but that is a trade offnwe can live with as she is now 88 !
My mother had Plan F. Amazing. After bypass, she wasn’t limited to the Original Medicare coverages, time limits, and deductibles, her plan kicked in to cover more. The whole shebang cost her very little out of pocket.
But for me, the monthly expense overrode the likelihood I’d have the sort of med needs she did. So rather than Medigap, I went with a Medicare Advantage plan via BCBS. Half the cost of my mother’s and I do have some deductible on each hospitalization, until I hit some max out of pocket, but within reason. I deal with BCBS on questions or issues, they manage all billing/payment and potential authorizations, if needed. But in my state, very well run.
Well, so far, so good with settling my folks into their new place at SR living community. They are settling in and see many folks they know. We are all helping them get settled at their new place.
Oh my goodness, Medicare part F?? I really have to do some reading. I am also thinking there may be a presentation or something at their community and there are services like this that I may look into. http://www.aging.pa.gov/aging-services/insurance/Pages/default.aspx
Here’s a Medigap plan comparison. https://medicare.com/medicare-supplement/medigap-plan-benefits-chart/
I found that looking at these extras gave me a way to easily compare them to Medicare Advantage plans. (Cost depends on location, age, and some other variables.) Then it’s also easier to go back into OM and see its basic details.
The folks are settling in nicely to their SR community. Today, when sus picked them up for church, they were eating breakfast in the dining room with two their couples they are friendly with. They normally go out with my sis and her family after church but wanted to go back “home” to their new place instead, so sus dropped them off.