Prior Authorization: a System That Harms and Frustrates Patients When Paula Chestnut needed hip replacement surgery last year, a pre-operative X-ray found irregularities in her chest. As a smoker for 40 years, Chestnut was at high risk for lung cancer. A specialist in Los Angeles recommended the 67-year-old undergo an MRI, a high-resolution image that… Continue reading Feds Move to Rein In Prior Authorization

Get to Know this Year’s Annual Caregiver Story Contest Judges We are thrilled to present our panel of independent judges for Shield HealthCare’s 20th Annual Caregiver Story Contest. This year’s panel hailed from California, Texas, and Ohio. We would like to extend a sincere thank you to our judges for participating, and for taking time… Continue reading Introducing the 20th Annual Caregiver Story Contest Judging Panel

What Are Developmental Disabilities? Developmental disabilities are a group of conditions that come from a physical, learning, language, or behavior impairment that manifests before the individual turns 22. These conditions usually last throughout a person’s lifetime and can affect everyday living. Recent estimates in the United States show that about one in six (17%) of… Continue reading Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month: Beyond the Conversation

Here’s Why Music is the Universal Language This past autumn in that magical window of time before the weather requires multiple layers but after the leaves start to change, our family attended a festival to raise money to clean up the river that winds its way through our small town. The “Riverfest” was less than… Continue reading Music is the Universal Language

We Cannot Underestimate the Importance of Disabled Role Models for Our Kids I’m pretty good at being my son Charlie’s mom. I know the difference between his sad cry and mad cry, his happy laugh and jokester laugh. I know his favorite foods and can probably guess what he’d want to do at any given… Continue reading The Importance of Disabled Role Models

Advocacy Doesn’t Have to Mean 100% Inclusion I want my son Charlie to be with his peers. I want him to roll his wheelchair out onto the playground for recess and sit in the cafeteria during lunch and participate in the Fun Run (where his aide wheeled him in whirligig circles on the track until… Continue reading Is Inclusion Always the Right Choice?

Weighing Risks of a Major Surgery Larry McMahon, who turned 80 in December, is weighing whether to undergo a major surgery. Over the past five years, his back pain has intensified. Physical therapy, muscle relaxants, and injections aren’t offering relief. “It’s a pain that leaves me hardly able to do anything,” he said. Should McMahon,… Continue reading 7 Questions Older Americans Should Ask Their Surgeon

I’m Not Raising a Wilting Flower This pandemic has challenged every single one of us as humans. Children, teens, adolescents, adults: we all have had to balance an extra set of life demands that have been outside of the scope of any other life experience we have had thus far. I often pose the question… Continue reading How to Raise Resilient Children

Stress is a common feeling for caregivers. Some coping strategies to combat caregiver anxiety are outlined below: Recognize...

Crying in the Library and Other Signs You Need a Break One Wednesday in late winter, I returned a book to the library. Driving home, I felt pretty good about myself, knowing the book had a hold on it and the next person would be happy to know they could get it that much sooner.… Continue reading Signs You Need a Break