I have helped many family memebers in the same situation. The bills for medicines, doctor visits and hospitalizations can be daunting. Add the fact that they may be sick or can't see well and it is very frustrating and they give up. I hope Mr. Gable finds someone to help him but if he needs help please contact me, I would be glad to help.

Maybe if there wasn't so much Medicare fraud by certain pharmacists and doctors, there would be enough money available so others could make a decent profit, but gouging senior citizens instead of cleaning house is a not the way to handle the problem. An Asian woman I know told me that she knows for a fact that certain doctor's approach people on government assistance and buy their unused prescription and medical coupons for $20 each. The doctors even provide a pick up service at the home of these "patients." And we spend 1.7 million to find out the state needs more traffic lanes on the freeway.
What is it all coming to?

If you have a Costco card, you may shop in the Costco business center. There they have many items, i.e. Tylenol, already prepackaged for sale in vending machines. I have not checked on the cost of purching meds this way, and you would certainly need to have an outside person to purchase and deliver to the nursing homes. Does the purchase and delivery have to be by a family member? What a great community service this would be.

It is important for all seniors to look into the Medicare Part D program. While it is mandatory for persons that are on Medicaid, it is an optional program for those that are private pay. Yes, we shoule look at the fraud and less than honest business practices, but fixing that is a long time off and will not help our seniors today. My parents have both enrolled in a Medicare D program and are happy that they did. I encouraged my father, who was not on any medications at the time to enroll in a program as a preventative measure. As it turned out, about 5 months after he enrolled, he needed a heart catherization and insertion of 2 stents. The medications he needed after that procedure were quite costly. Being on a Medicare D program allowed my parents to save a couple of dollars. Since most assisted living clients are private pay, this is an alternative that should be looked at, obviously keeping with any state regulations for packaging and such. More information could be located at www.medicare.gov.