Moving can be stressful for anyone and especially so for seniors. On top of hiring movers, packing, and setting up the new home, seniors often experience an emotional toll from leaving a house they may have lived in for years. If the move seems overwhelming, a senior move manager may be able to help.

Senior move managers help seniors with all the emotional and physical aspects of moving. The following are some of the tasks a move manager can assist with:

• Developing a move plan

• Sorting through belongings and arranging the sale or donation of unwanted items

• Packing belongings

• Hiring and overseeing movers

• Drawing up floor plans of the new home to help plan the new space

• Unpacking and setting up the new home

• Helping to prepare the old home for sale

• Removing waste, cleaning, and shopping

Move managers can also help seniors who wish to stay in their own homes, but need assistance organizing their residences to allow them to age in place.

These move managers, many of whom have backgrounds in gerontology, social work, health care, nursing and psychology, charge either an hourly fee or a flat rate, depending on the manager. In addition, if just a little extra help is needed, it may be possible to hire a move manager to assist with just one part of the move (e.g., packing) rather than the whole move.

To find a move manager near you, contact the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) at www.nasmm.org or 877.606.2766. To join NASMM, senior move managers must provide recommendations and prove they have insurance.

In addition to addressing the current housing crisis, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 makes changes to reverse mortgages, including higher borrowing limits and protections from aggressive marketing.

A reverse mortgage allows a homeowner who is at least 62 years old to use the equity in his or her home to obtain a loan that does not have to be repaid until the homeowner moves, sells, or dies. The new law, which goes into affect October 1, 2008, increases the borrowing level on reverse mortgages. The national limit on the amount a homeowner can borrow will be $417,000. However, the limit can be increased to $625,000 in areas with high housing costs. The amount a homeowner can actually borrow depends on the home's value, location, interest rates, and the age of the borrower. Currently, the range in loan limits is between $200,160 and $362,790.

The new law also offers added protective measures for seniors. High fees and aggressive marketing have been cited as problems with reverse mortgages. Under this new law, fees will be capped at two percent of the first $200,000 borrowed and one percent on the balance, with a maximum of $6,000 in fees. In addition, the law prevents lenders from requiring borrowers to purchase insurance, annuities, or other products as a condition for getting a reverse mortgage. Lenders are also prohibited from working with other professionals who are trying to sell seniors financial products as part of the lending process.

To read the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, click here.

For a U.S. News and World Report article on the reverse mortgage provisions in the new housing law, click here.

For the first time in eight years, Medicare's monthly premium will remain unchanged for most of the program's 44 million beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the Part B premium will remain at its 2008 level of $96.40 for 2009 for individuals earning $85,000 or less or couples earning $170,000 or less. The premium will go up for higher earners (see list below). The Part B deductible will remain at its 2008 level as well.

The monthly premium paid by beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part B covers a portion of the cost of physicians' services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment, and other items.

This is only the sixth time since Medicare was created in 1965 that the Part B premium stayed the same for two consecutive years.

Anticipating concerns, Foster, who has worked for the agency since the early 1970s, said "There is no political manipulation." The premium will hold steady in part because Medicare's reserves have increased, according to a CMS statement. Foster said monthly rates are likely to go up in 2010 as health costs continue to rise.

AARP warned in a statement that "Lawmakers should not use today's announcement as an excuse to rest. The average 73-year-old in Medicare has seen his or her premium double since joining the program. Americans old and young continue to struggle with skyrocketing health-care costs." (For example, a recent analysis found that the average monthly premium for stand-alone Medicare prescription drug coverage will increase by 24 percent to $37 next year.)

While the Part B premium and deductible will not rise, other Medicare deductibles and co-payments will. Here are all the new Medicare figures for 2009:

· Basic Part B premium: $96.40/month (unchanged)

· Part B deductible: $135 (unchanged)

· Part A deductible: $1,068 (was $1,024)

· Co-payment for hospital stay days 61-90: $267/day (was $256)

· Co-payment for hospital stay days 91 and beyond: $534/day (was $512)

· Skilled nursing facility co-payment, days 21-100: $133.50/day (was $128)

As directed by the 2003 Medicare law, higher-income beneficiaries will pay higher Part B premiums. About 5 percent of current Part B enrollees are expected to be subject to the higher premium amounts.

The federal government has published new rules that outline the rights of Medicare beneficiaries who have elected the hospice benefit.

To be eligible for Medicare's hospice benefit, a beneficiary must be certified by a physician to have a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its expected course. Hospice care offers a team-oriented approach to medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support tailored to the dying patient's needs and wishes. Medicare pays for this kind of comprehensive end-of-life care delivered at home or in a hospice facility, and the hospice benefit includes many services not generally covered by Medicare.

The new hospice rules include explicit language on patient rights that had not been part of previous regulations, and all Medicare-approved hospice programs must comply with the new rules, which take effect December 2, 2008.

Patients who choose hospice or palliative care over curative treatment are entitled to:

• Participate in their treatment plan

• Receive effective pain management

• Refuse treatment if they wish, and

• Choose their own physicians.

In addition to the new patient rights section, the regulation updates a number of other hospice provider rules. About 1.3 million people received hospice services in 2006 from about 4500 hospices nationwide.

The new rule was published in the Federal Register on June 5, 2008, and is available online in PDF format at:http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/08-1305.pdf
(If you do not have the free PDF reader installed on your computer, download it here.)

For a detailed summary of the new regulation from the Center for Medicare Advocacy, click here.