Latest California Healthline Stories

Learning To Live Well With Dementia
Two leading experts on caring for people with Alzheimer’s offer ways to make life better for patients and their caregivers.

No Gaps In Understanding: Here’s Your Primer On Medigap Coverage
Seniors often don’t realize that private insurers are required to offer Medigap policies, or supplemental insurance, only when people first sign up for Medicare.

A Hospital’s Human Touch: Why Taking Care In Discharging A Patient Matters
Patients and caregivers often feel abandoned and lose trust in health care professionals when they sense a lack of caring during transitions. With it, they feel better able to handle concerns and act on their doctors’ recommendations.

Geriatric Assessments Could Fine-Tune Cancer Care For Older Adults
The American Society of Clinical Oncology issued a new guideline that recommends adults 65 and older receive a geriatric assessment when considering or undergoing chemotherapy.

That ‘Living Will’ You Signed? At The ER, It Could Be Open To Interpretation.
End-of-life documents express your preferences for care but may not be binding medical orders. Here’s how to better prepare for the unexpected — that your last wishes won’t be carried out.

Dodging Dementia: More Of Us Get At Least A Dozen Good, Happy Years After 65
With longer lives and lower rates of dementia, most seniors are enjoying more years of life with good cognition — a welcome trend.

Living Apart Together: A New Option for Older Adults
Why older couples in supportive, loving, long-term relationships decide to live apart and not get married.

New Medicare Perk For Diabetes Prevention Stumbles At Rollout
On April 1, Medicare launched a major initiative — a diabetes prevention program for seniors and people with serious disabilities— that is available in only a few cities.

What We Know And Don’t Know About Memory Loss After Surgery
Memory problems and trouble multitasking are among the symptoms of POCD, a little-known condition that affects a substantial number of older adults after surgery.

Scrutinizing Medicare Coverage For Physical, Occupational And Speech Therapy
Treatment has been terminated for some seniors because therapists told them they weren’t making enough progress or that they had reached their annual limit. We examine the treatment benefits and the barriers under Medicare’s coverage rules for therapy.