CAREGIVERS: ASSISTANCE AND BENEFITS

I recently spoke with a few caregivers who need help with expenses, medical costs, food, and financial support.  They’re taking care of sick relatives and unable to work or hire someone to care for their family members.

Most people think the Social Security Administration can help them with their financial situations, however based upon my research, social security can’t help them but Medicare can!

I decided to start digging and found the following information which I believe will be very beneficial and useful to people who are struggling with the cost of staying home and caring for a sick spouse or other family member. 

Some of the resources mentioned below are for people who live in the State of Georgia, but you can also find resources in your state as well.

1.  Contact your local social services or welfare to see if there are locally sponsored programs to help you.

2.  National Family Caregiver Support:  http://www.nfcacares.org/

3.  Georgia Care Planning Council:  http://www.caregeorgia.org/

4.  Strength for Caring, a place for caregivers: http://www.strengthforcaring.com/util/resources/index.html

5.  Caring.com:  http://www.caring.com/articles/payment-for-family-caregiver

6.  The Well Spouse Association:  http://www.wellspouse.org/

The following came from the Well Spouse Association http://www.wellspouse.org/government-benefits/government-benefits/

New Online Help for Caregivers

Caregivers now have a new resource, the Ask Medicare Website, launched by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The site includes information on navigating through Medicare, finding doctors who participate in Medicare services, health care services, links to partner organizations that assist caregivers, and personal caregiver anecdotes.

Click on Caregiver support to find this:

"Recognizing that taking care of a seriously ill, aged or disabled friend or family member can be emotionally and physically exhausting, Ask Medicare is committed to helping caregivers manage issues such as stress and depression and providing informational resources to help them lead balanced, rewarding lives. Here, we provide answers to questions about:

-Financial help for caregivers
-Legal assistance for caregivers
-Plan for long-term care
-Managing nursing home transitions
-Help with transitions
-Taking care of yourself
-Find support in your community"

I hope and pray that this information will give you hope and strength to carry on.

God bless the caregivers

Scam Targets Seniors' Social Security Benefits

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- In a new scam targeting seniors and the disabled, identity thieves are fraudulently rerouting Social Security benefits to their own bank accounts and prepaid debit cards.

It's pretty straightforward: Identity thieves get their hands on the personal information they need, like a full name and bank account number. Then they contact the Social Security Administration and request that payments be rerouted to their own accounts.

That's what happened to 64-year-old William Combs, a disabled Vietnam War veteran from Brookville, Ohio. He said identity thieves have now stolen his tax refund, two months' worth of Veteran's disability benefits and most recently, one of his Social Security disability payments.

Combs said he immediately notified each agency about his missing payments. While he eventually received his tax refund, he still hasn't received the $5,400 in Veteran's disability payments that disappeared earlier this year. And it took about a month for him to get his $2,000 Social Security payment, after his benefits check didn't show up in the mail in August.

"My landlady is going to kick me out ... I went a whole month with nothing to eat but peanut butter and crackers," said Combs. "I had to take a loan from a credit union to pay rent one month, and I had to borrow money from my daughter to pay rent the other months -- and that's the last thing in the world you should do. I was crying when I asked her."

The Social Security Administration said it can't comment on or verify individual cases.

This article was copied from the CNN's website:  http://www.money.cnn.com/2012/09/26/pf/seniors-social-security-scam/index.html

Related:  Senior Victims lose Average of $140,500 to Financial Abuses.  Please visit

http://www.money.cnn.com/2012/08/22/pf/seniors-financial-abuse/index.html?iid=EL

DO NOT CALL REGISTRY SCAM

The following message came directly from the "National Do Not Call Registry" as follows:

"Scammers have been making phone calls claiming to represent the National Do Not Call Registry. The calls claim to provide an opportunity to sign up for the Registry. These calls are not coming from the Registry or the Federal Trade Commission, and you should not respond to these calls. To add your number to the Registry you can call 888-382-1222 from the phone you wish to register, or go click on “Register a Phone Number” in the left column of this page." (on their website)

"Your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm."

You can also add your cell phone number to that list.

LAPTOP WEBCAM HACKERS

If you have a built-in laptop webcam, there is something you need to know about the latest pc hacker attacks.  It has been discovered that there is a new malicious software out there that can hack into your laptop webcam.  It even has the capability of turning the webcam light off, indicating that your webcam is not turned on.  Don't be deceived.  They can see you. 

A few things you can do is to make sure your firewall is on and your antivirus program is updated and running.  Another thing you can do is if you aren't using your webcam but you are using your pc, cover the indicator eye and mute your voice control.  That's one way to keep these creeps from seeing you or hearing what your're doing.  

There's no place to hide when you're on the net; remember that!   

EMAIL HACKERS ALERT!!!

This is an urgent alert to all people who have email accounts.  It has recently been brought to my attention that a hacker was able to gain access to someone's email account at Yahoo.com.  Fortunately, Yahoo sent this person a notification that the hacker gained access from somewhere in the United Kingdom.

They got through all of the security settings and programs!!  This is scary!  My advice is to change ALL of your passwords, and I mean ALL OF THEM.  Be alert and set your system security settings to high unless you get a cookies notification.  In that case, you can always change it back.  Its better to be safe than sorry.

If these hackers can get into your email account, they can get into your bank accounts online.  Change your passwords and make them long!  The longer the better, and make them complicated.  Hackers now have a system that runs through a series of numbers until it finally finds the matching password.  Change your passwords often - once a week, or more!

Be safe my friends.