Senior Citizen Healthcare

See our Medicare Summary page for an overview of Medicare. Also, there is extensive, detailed information on Medicare on the Medicare website. You can find answers to most common questions. Also, AARP has useful articles on Medicare on its web site.

The Medicare Rights Center has a Consumer Booklet on Medicare that includes online information about Medicare coverage of home health care, nursing home care, hospice care

Medical Assistance (Medicaid)

There is information about Medical Assistance (Medicaid) for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled in a Nutshell in the Government Benefits section of the Peoples Law Library.

Medical Assistance for Nursing Home Care - Frequently Asked Questions (provided by the Legal Aid Bureau's Nursing Home Program)

The Medicaid Waiver for Older Adults, which is administered by the Maryland Department of Aging and a network of 19 Area Agencies on Aging, may provide services to low-income adults living at home or in licensed assisted living facilities. You can read about the waiver on the Maryland Department of Aging's web site.

Health Insurance

AARP has a series of articles on Health Insurance Options on it's web site.

Maryland has a Pharmacy Assistance Program that covers most of the costs of prescription drugs for people who do not have prescription coverage under private insurance or Medical Assistance (for low income people). Also, see the information in the Government Benefits section of the Peoples Law Library on QMB (Qualified Medicare Beneficiary) and SLMB (Special Low Income Medicare Beneficiary).

Senior Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy (Senior HICAP): Trained volunteers assist seniors with the preparation and filing of health insurance claims, and provide assistance with the selection of health insurance policies. Contact your local Senior Information and Assistance office or call the Maryland Department of Aging at 1-800-AGE-DIAL.

Home Health Care

Some private health insurance policies, Medicare, and the Medical Assistance Program cover home health care, including home visits by medical professionals. The exact terms of eligibility and coverage may be complicated, so services such as the Senior Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy program, described above, may be helpful. Also, hospital and nursing home discharge planners are required to help patients find services and make arrangements.

The Medicaid Waiver for Older Adults, which is administered by the Maryland Department of Aging and the 19 Area Agencies on Aging, may provide extended services to low-income adults living at home or in licensed assisted living facilities. You can read about the waiver on the Maryland Department of Aging's web site.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides articles and reports on aging and the elderly.

Assisted Living

Assisted Living in Maryland - What is It? (Basic Facts)

See the Department of Aging's information about the Medicaid Waiver for Assisted Living.

Nursing Homes

Nursing Homes: What You Need to Know is a book published by the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland in partnership with the Maryland State Bar Association, the University of Maryland School of Law, the Maryland Department of Aging, The Legal Aid Bureau, and the Maryland Legal Assistance Network. This book is in Adobe Acrobat PDF file format.

Maryland's Health Care Commission's web site has an extensive Nursing Home Performance Evaluation Guide including a checklist and suggestions for selecting a nursing home, a Facility Search page where you can look up information on all licensed nursing homes in Maryland about the facilities' characteristics, patient characteristics, and State inspection results, and more. You should visit their web site before selecting a nursing home.

The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has a web site on nursing homes that includes information about choosing a nursing home and a vast amount of other information. On this web site, you can search for and read the actual survey and deficiency reports on nursing home anywhere in the United States. (Note: the HCFA web site loads slowly; if you get a "file not found" message, try clicking the Refresh button on your web browser.)

AARP's web site has an article on choosing a nursing home.

Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports Magazine published a book, Consumer Reports Complete Guide to Health Services For Seniors, with extensive information about selecting a nursing home, which nursing homes have had bad records, which states do a good job (or a bad job) of monitoring the quality of care in nursing homes. The book also discusses assisted living facilities and options for keeping relatives at home with in-home or community support. In addition, the book includes ratings for Medicare HMOs and Medicare supplemental insurance policies in 30 cities. The book is published by Three Rivers Press and is available for $19.95 anywhere books are sold, including amazon.com, bn.com ( Barnes & Noble's on-line bookstore) or by calling 1-800-500-9760.