Medicare Website Overhaul

Medicare beneficiaries now can research nursing homes and determine their coverage options from their smartphones or tablets, thanks to a Medicare website redesign.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it spent two years researching user trends of its notoriously difficult-to-navigate website in order to make it easier for beneficiaries, providers, caregivers and families to access. CMS also upgraded Nursing Home Compare and Hospital Compare this summer.
Upgrades to the site allow beneficiaries to search: whether a specific test, item, or service is covered under original Medicare; customized information based on a beneficiary's specific situation; and quick links to replacing a lost Medicare card, finding a Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plan and getting help with healthcare costs.
Click here to visit the overhauled site, and here for a tutorial on the upgrades.

Source: McKnight's

AHCA Announces Nursing Home Quality Winners (VIDEO)

Flavanols Found in Chocolate May Help with Mild Memory Problems (VIDEO)

AHCA Announces Nursing Home Quality Winners

The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) announced the recipients of the 2012 National Quality Award program. A total of 458 skilled nursing or assisted living facilities from across the country earned a Bronze, Silver or Gold from the three-tiered award program which commends those facilities that focus on improving the quality of care for the individuals they serve.

Initiated in 1996 and centered on the criteria of the renowned Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award program has encouraged long term and post-acute care facilities to achieve performance excellence through continuous learning and development. The program’s three levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold – each maintain meticulous criteria, and facilities seeking to attain all three must do so in succession.

In 2012, 404 facilities earned Bronze and 52 earned Silver. Only two facilities were recipients of the program’s highest honor – the Gold award. Golden LivingCenter – Continental Manor in Abbotsford, WI and Grand Islander Center, Genesis HealthCare in Middletown, RI join the Gold platform with only 11 other facilities that have earned the award since the program began.

The awards were presented during AHCA/NCAL’s 63rd Annual Convention & Expo, October 7-10 in Tampa, Florida.

For a complete list of the 2012 Quality Award recipients, please visit the AHCA website.

While there is a lot of debate over what constitutes quality in long-term care, nonetheless, these winners should be applauded for their efforts to make life better for residents. You may want to check them out when searching for care for a loved one.

Flavanols Found in Chocolate May Help with Mild Memory Problems

As reported in Health Day News, a cocoa drink rich in flavanols -- the same antioxidants found in chocolate -- may help people with mild memory problems improve their brain function.

Flavanols are found in tea, grapes, red wine, apples and especially in cocoa plants and are associated with a decreased risk of dementia, Italian researchers said.

Flavanols' ability to help maintain brain function may arise from their ability to protect brain cells, improve brain metabolism and blood flow, which helps preserve memory, the researchers said.

A study was funded by the candy maker, Mars Inc. Researchers assigned 90 elderly patients with mild memory impairment to consume a drink containing either 990 milligrams (mg), 520 mg or 45 mg of cocoa flavanols each day for eight weeks.The researchers assessed participants' brain function with a variety of tests. People consuming the high and intermediate amounts of flavanol showed significant improvement on some of the tests, the study found. 

Researchers cautioned that the study was done with lower-calorie, nutritionally balanced drinks not chocolate itself. And they cautioned that a balanced diet was important. Eating too much chocolate can cause you to gain excessive weight and negate the benefits.

While the study found an association between cocoa flavanols and mental function scores, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

I have one square of dark chocolate each night. I am no worse for wear.

New Tool Searches Nursing Home Deficiencies

New Tool Searches Nursing Home Deficiencies

A consumer-targeted Internet tool allows users to search the federal nursing home inspection reports and deficiencies by keyword, city and facility name.

The Nursing Home Inspect database covers nearly 118,000 deficiencies at 14,565 homes. It was designed by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism.

Nursing Home Inspect uses data from surveyor reports published on Medicare's Nursing Home Compare website. But with Nursing Home Inspect, users can now search the database by keywords such as “elopement” or “pressure sore” or “mistreat.” Unlike the CMS site, Nursing Home Inspect allows searches by keyword and city, as well as a home’s name. Also unlike CMS, the app allows you to search across all the reports at once.

The ProPublica project hones in on the narrative part of a surveyor's most recent periodic review, where the conditions and deficiencies are described. A tipsheet from the group cautions users that inspection reports focus only on a given facility's problems, not the accomplishments or improvements that home has made, and describes the results as giving a “snapshot.”

Although the government is reporting nursing home deficiencies online, it does not report how homes plan to fix the problems. These “Plans of Correction” can be viewed at the nursing home or by submitting a FOIA request to the government.

Should Sedentary Lifestyle Be Considered a Medical Condition?

Should Sedentary Lifestyle Be Considered a Medical Condition?

A sedentary lifestyle is a common cause of obesity, and excessive body weight and fat in turn are considered catalysts for diabetes, high blood pressure, joint damage and other serious health problems. But should lack of exercise itself be treated as a medical condition? Mayo Clinic physiologist Michael Joyner, M.D., argues that it should be. 

Physical inactivity affects the health not only of many obese patients, but also people of normal weight, such as workers with desk jobs, patients immobilized for long periods after injuries or surgery, and women on extended bed rest during pregnancies, among others, Dr. Joyner says. 

Prolonged lack of exercise can cause the body to become deconditioned, with wide-ranging structural and metabolic changes: the heart rate may rise excessively during physical activity, bones and muscles atrophy, physical endurance wane, and blood volume decline. When deconditioned people try to exercise, they may tire quickly and experience dizziness or other discomfort, then give up trying to exercise and find the problem gets worse rather than better.

"I would argue that physical inactivity is the root cause of many of the common problems that we have," Dr. Joyner says. "If we were to medicalize it, we could then develop a way, just like we've done for addiction, cigarettes and other things, to give people treatments, and lifelong treatments, that focus on behavioral modifications and physical activity."

Several chronic medical conditions are associated with poor capacity to exercise. Too often, medication rather than progressive exercise is prescribed, Dr. Joyner says.

If physical inactivity were treated as a medical condition itself rather than simply a cause or byproduct of other medical conditions, physicians may become more aware of the value of prescribing supported exercise, and more formal rehabilitation programs that include cognitive and behavioral therapy would develop, Dr. Joyner says.

For those who have been sedentary and are trying to get into exercise, Dr. Joyner advises doing it slowly and progressively.

"You just don't jump right back into it and try to train for a marathon," he says. "Start off with achievable goals and do it in small bites."

There's no need to join a gym or get a personal trainer: build as much activity as possible into daily life. Even walking just 10 minutes three times a day can go a long way toward working up to the 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity the typical adult needs, Dr. Joyner says.

What do you think? Is our butt sitting a medical condition that needs to be treated?

Source: Mayo Clinic

As Recession Holds, Generations Move In Together

According to the Pew Research Center, the recession has helped fuel the largest increase in the number of Americans living in multi-generational households in modern history. From 2007 to 2009, the total spiked from 46.5 million to 51.4 million.

The poverty rate among people in multi-generational households is substantially smaller than for those in other households—11.5% vs. 14.6% in 2009, according to the new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

Slightly more than a third of multi-generational households (4.2 million) encompassed three or more generations, for example, a householder, adult child and grandchild. The remaining multi-generational households, about 857,000, consist of two skipped generations—a grandparent and a grandchild.

According to Pew, the ability to pool financial resources is an advantage of multi-generational living, but it comes with a trade-off. Multi-generational households are relatively large—an average of 4.3 residents, compared with 2.4 in other households.

Key findings of the report include:

• The number of Americans living in multi-generational households increased 4.9 million from 2007 to 2009. By contrast, the number of people in other households rose by only 333,000.
• The number of young adults (ages 25 to 34) in multi-generational households increased to 8.7 million in 2009 from 7.4 million in 2007. Both the numerical growth (1.3 million people) and the percentage increase it represents (16.8%) were larger than for any other age group.
• The most likely groups to live in multi-generational households are Asians (25.8% in 2009), blacks (23.7%) and Hispanics (23.4%). The share among whites was much lower (13.1%).
• In 2009, 16.2% of foreign-born heads of household and 9.6% of native-born heads of household lived in multi-generational households.
• After adjusting to a household size of three, the median income for multi-generational households was $57,533 in 2009, or 2% less than the $59,002 median income for other households.

What do you think? Are you seeing this trend? Are you part of it?

Life-Long Learning Key to Quality of Life

According to the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College older adults have a higher level of educational attainment than previous generations, and many are still actively involved in advancing their education. “In 1965, 24 percent of the older population had graduated from high school, and only 5 percent had at least a bachelor’s degree. By 2008, 77 percent were high school graduates or more, and 21 percent had a bachelor’s degree or more,” according to the Older Americans 2010 report.

Adults ages 55 to 74 with a four-year college degree has increased from 9 to 27 percent. The share of adults ages 55 to 74 who have a college degree is projected to rise to 31 one-half (50 percent) of women aged 55-64 had at least some college education compared with only slightly more than a fifth (22 percent) in 1984.

Recent reports show that a small proportion of older (1.4% of those aged 40+) are enrolled as full-time students in public or private institutions of higher education. Projections suggest that “educational upgrading” by older adults (ages 40-64) is occurring, with approximately 1 million projected to earn bachelor’s degrees and 1.2 million master’s degrees between 2008-2018. Among college-going adults aged 50+, half of them attend community colleges.

Older adults with higher educational attainment are less likely to be unemployed and less likely to be employed in physically-demanding jobs or jobs with difficult working conditions. They also are more likely to have access to flexible work arrangements, such as working from home or the ability to control their work schedules.

In 2009, “10.8 percent of workers age 65 or older who had not completed high school were unemployed, compared with 5.8 percent of their counterparts who completed four or more years of college, according to a 2009 analysis of data from the Current Population Survey. Some of this should come as no surprise. 

What I have found in the thousands of hours I spend around seniors is that those with the highest quality of life exhibit certain attributes. One is the desire for life-long learning. Makes sense too doesn’t it. If you continue to learn and challenge your mind, chances are you might hold off dementia and the dreaded Alzheimer’s Disease. As Jim Rohn says “Formal education will get you a job. Self education will get you rich.”

Aerobic Exercise Can Reduce Depression in Heart Failure Patients

Depression is common in patients with cardiac disease, especially in patients with heart failure. Up to 75% of individuals suffering from congestive heart failure develop depression. A new study suggests that aerobic exercise may reduce depressive symptoms.

A trial involved 2322 patients treated for heart failure at 82 medical clinical centers in the United States, Canada, and France. 

Supervised aerobic exercise and home exercise was assigned to a segment of participants. Participants primarily used treadmills and stationary bikes, according to the study.

789 patients (68%) died or were hospitalized in the usual care group compared with 759 (66%) in the aerobic exercise group. Compared with guideline-based care, exercise training resulted in a modest reduction in depressive symptoms, although the clinical significance of this improvement is unknown.

“It's something that most patients can engage in. It results in improved cardio-respiratory fitness, they have more stamina, and now we see that not only do they derive these physical benefits, but they also derive psychological benefits as well.” Duke lead investigator, James A. Blumenthal, Ph.D., told the New York Times.

It seems like an obvious study. It has been proven time and again that aerobic exercise releases chemicals in our body that boost our mood and attitude. It seems to always boil down to basics doesn't it. Get exercise. And you also in the process likely decrease your chance for cardiac problems to begin with!

Cataract Surgery Reduces Incidence of Hip Fracture

Maybe this is one of those "really you needed a study for this?" posts. University of California, Los Angeles researchers found that Medicare beneficiaries who had cataract surgery had lower odds of hip fracture within 1 year after surgery compared with patients who had not undergone cataract surgery.

Think about this now. If you can see better, it makes sense that you may not slip and fall as much. 

In the study,

• 16% of people who had surgery had fewer hip fractures within the first year than those who did not.
•  Participants between the ages of 80 and 84 experienced the biggest benefit of the surgery, with a 28% reduced risk of fractures.

“This is elective surgery, and sometimes people think, ‘I'm too sick to have my cataracts out,' or ‘I'm too old,' ” the study's lead author, Anne L. Coleman, M.D., told the New York Times. “But the take-home message from this study is that if you're starting to have vision problems and the doctor says you have cataracts, you should probably think of having them removed.”

Well yeah don't you think?

Health Hazards of Tablet Use

Presented By: OnlineDegrees.org

4 Ways to Reconnect with Estranged Family Members

The following is a guest post from Alvina Lopez.

As we grow older, we become more cognizant of the fact that the world is a lonely place, and all we can do is hold on to our nearest and dearest as tightly as we can. But life has a funny way of sometimes creating a painful distance between you and those closest to you. It’s fairly common for many of retirement age to be estranged from their children and grandchildren, from their siblings, from close friends. But if there’s one thing that contributes to good health in old age, it’s having a close-knit family and circle of friends. If you’ve become estranged from your family, here are a few ways to reconnect.

1.     Reach out several times. Not just once.

The main reason that so many familial relationships deteriorate over the years can often be traced to simple lack of communication and stubbornness. Perhaps you feel that you’ve been wronged by a family member, or vice versa. The other thinks you should make the effort, whereas your reality dictates that they should make the effort. This situation can often lead to a communication deadlock that can last for years. Instead, offer an olive branch and make the effort yourself. Let go of whatever it is that’s holding you back. And try not just once, but several times until your family member comes around.

2.     Forgive and ask for forgiveness.

Whatever it is that’s holding you back from being close with your loved ones, it’s likely that both parties were in the wrong. If your son or daughter no longer talks to you out of shame after some argument, go out of your way to forgive them. Don’t just forgive them in your heart, but forgive them with words. On the flipside, if it’s you that’s caused the schism with your family members (even if it’s a misunderstanding), admit to your transgressions and ask for forgiveness.

3.     Confront the issues.

Asking for forgiveness is a good start, but it won’t go extremely far in your pursuit to mend broken relationships. You and your family have become estranged from each other for a reason or set of reasons. You cannot forgive each other and then proceed to ignore the elephant in the room. No matter how painful it is, talk about what went wrong. Don’t argue; discuss. Talk about how you felt, and explain that actions are often perceived in different ways by different people. Whatever you do, talk through all your problems. 

4.     Once you’ve resolved problems, follow through.

Reuniting, talking, forgiving all have strong roles to play when mending family relationships. But it doesn’t end there. After being estranged for so long, it’s so easy to slip back into old habits. The reason you’re seeking reconciliation is to have a strong relationship. And strong relationships are tended to with patience, care, and communication consistently. At the very least, call your loved ones once or twice a week. Remember birthdays. Show your love.

Do you have personal stories of family estrangement and subsequent reconciliation? How did you get through it?

A freelance writer and blogger, Alvina Lopez now mainly contributes her expertise about online colleges to accreditedonlinecolleges.com. Her ultimate goal is to help future students discover their potential by enrolling in the right program for them. She also writes about trends in education, personal finance, and sustainable living. She loves getting feedback from her readers at alvina.lopez@gmail.com.

NCOA Publishes Reverse Mortgage Info (VIDEO)

Despite Vow to Curb AntiPsychotics Industry Receives a Failing Grade (VIDEO)

NCOA Publishes Reverse Mortgage Info

Reverse Mortgages or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) have become increasingly popular. Reverse mortgages can be a useful financial tool for older homeowners, but they’re not for everyone. 

Here are some tips about reverse mortgages from the National Council on Aging. 

• Myth #1: A reverse mortgage works the same as any other type of home loan.
  
  A reverse mortgage is a special type of loan for homeowners aged 62 and older that lets you convert a portion of the equity in your home into cash. But unlike a traditional home equity loan or second mortgage, you don’t have to repay the loan until you either no longer live in the home as your principal residence or you fail to meet the obligations of the mortgage.
  
  Learn more about how reverse mortgages work in their free consumer guide: Use Your Home to Stay at Home™.
   
• Myth #2: Most reverse mortgage borrowers use their loan funds for vacations and other fun things.
  
  The truth is that most borrowers today use their loans for immediate needs, such as paying off their existing mortgage or other debts.
  
  Learn more about ways to improve your budgeting and save money with their Savvy Saving Seniors™.
   
• Myth #3: Reverse mortgages are too expensive.
  Taking out any home loan can be costly because of origination fees, third-party closing charges (such as an appraisal, title search, and recording costs), and servicing fees. You can pay for most of these costs as part of the reverse mortgage loan. Borrowers who select a traditional HECM Standard reverse mortgage also must pay a hefty upfront FHA mortgage insurance premium that can be as much as 2% of the value of their home. But this insurance guarantees that you will receive the expected loan payments.
  
  There are many factors to consider if you are thinking about using your home as a financial resource. Take a free Quick Check to explore the cost and benefits of tapping home equity through a loan or by selling your house at Home Equity Advisor.
   
• Myth #4: Reverse mortgages should only be used as a last resort.
  
  It’s never a good idea to make a financial decision under stress. Waiting until a small issue becomes a big problem reduces your options.
  
  If you wait until you are in a financial crisis, a little extra income each month probably won’t help. Reverse mortgages are best used as part of  a sound financial plan, not as a crisis management tool.
  
  Find out if you may qualify for help with expenses such as property taxes, home energy, meals, and medications at BenefitsCheckUp®.

Find the answers to these other myths by reading the full post.

• Myth #5: Most people who take out a reverse mortgage are elderly widows

• Myth #6: A fixed rate reverse mortgage is always a good ide

• Myth #7: Reverse mortgage counseling is a waste of time.

• Myth #8: Most reverse mortgage borrowers who end up facing foreclosure were scammed.

Obesity is InHUMANe

That's a fat cat.

In a month that celebrates Adopt-a-Dog Month and National Cat Day, it is only appropriate that we have this.

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Massachusetts has opened the nation's first weight-loss center catering exclusively animals.

According to The Week, pets are even fatter than we are. Studies show that up to 60 percent of the dogs and cats in the U.S. qualify as obese, while only 35 percent of their human counterparts do.

Obesity can lead to potentially deadly health problems in animals as surely as it can in humans. Dogs and cats aren't prone to coronary artery disease, which is a leading obesity side effect in humans, but extra pounds increase pets' risks of breathing problems, diabetes, and joint problems, reducing the animals' quality of life and life expectancy.

The vets at Tufts say it can be hard for doting pet owners to say no when their animals beg for food. The clinic aims to treat 600 patients annually by 2015, researching new methods to prevent and treat pet obesity, and teaching owners how to make sure their dogs and cats get proper nutrition, while helping them figure out how to find time in their busy schedules to exercise their pets. 

Good news for you. A 2006 study at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Wellness Institute found that overweight pets can encourage their overweight owners to go outside and exercise with them.

Source: The Week

Despite Vow to Curb AntiPsychotics Industry Receives a Failing Grade

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General issued an updated report on the use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes. The news is abysmal. Virtually all nursing facilities were found not compliant with federal regulations governing residents who take atypical antipsychotic medications.

Nursing home standards require extra protections for nursing facility residents receiving antipsychotic drugs. Nursing facility staff are required to assess each resident’s functional capacity upon admission to the facility and periodically thereafter. Staff must specify in a written care plan, based on these assessments, the services that each resident needs. 

Nearly all records reviewed (99 percent) failed to meet one or more Federal requirements for resident assessments and/or care plans.

Read my blog on about.com for further information.

Romney Wins on Style but Pay Attention to Health Care People

There is no doubt that Romney won style points last night. He was energized. The president looked tired. Romney sort of faked smile. The president more or less smirked. But that should not effect voting. The issues should.

In my role here, I only want what is best for people to lead better quality lives and healthier lives. 

There is a lot right with health reform and with the market forces that were in place before the Affordable Care Act. Just two days ago, hospitals started feeling the effects of getting paid for outcomes and quality with value-based purchasing and readmission rewards and penalties kicking in. 

There is one trillion dollars in healthcare waste, fraud and abuse so reducing Medicare by $750+ billion is not going to affect quality of care. Many hospitals have already been operating to Medicare rates in anticipation. Providers can well afford it when you take into consideration their huge margins and high executive salaries.

Does Romney forget that he implemented Obama Care in MA?
 
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office came out this summer with the costs of repealing the Affordable Care Act. According to the CBO, it would increase the federal budget deficit by an estimated $109 billion between 2013 and 2022. 

And let's not forget our responsibility. Two-thirds of Medicare spending is used for people with five or more chronic conditions. We are a nation that takes it for granted that there will be a pill, procedure or implant ready for us if we let ourselves go to pot. Well it's time we all looked at ourselves in the mirror. It is not about health care. It is about wellness. And if we can achieve a healthier country, health care costs and the health care crisis will fade.

Find out more here.

Genworth Publishes LTC Cost Data (VIDEO)

Questions You Should Be Asking Those Running for Office

Thanks to the NCOA for the following tips - 

5 Questions to Ask the Candidates

Find out where your members of Congress and political candidates stand on these critical issues facing seniors. Attend an event, host a meeting, or simply ask these questions via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

1. Federal Funding for Seniors Programs

What will you do to protect investments in seniors’ health and economic security under discretionary programs, including maintaining or increasing funding for the Older Americans Act, elder falls prevention, housing for the elderly, and nutrition and energy assistance?

2. Medicare

What are your plans to help protect and strengthen the Medicare program and ensure adequate, affordable coverage for the growing population of beneficiaries?

3. Federal Deficit

What are your plans to address the mounting federal debt in a way that enables our nation to meet the critical needs of vulnerable seniors and their families, and do you support a balanced approach that includes both spending reductions and increased revenues?

4. Long-Term Services & Supports

With the aging of the U.S. population, how would you recommend the country address its current and growing needs for long-term services and supports?

5. Medicaid

What improvements should be made within the Medicaid program to provide choices for seniors and individuals with disabilities to receive services at home rather than in more costly nursing homes and institutions?

Genworth Publishes LTC Cost Data

Genworth recently published data about the cost of various services in the aging continuum of care.

Not surprisingly, costs in facility-based providers has steadily increased while home care has remained flat.

In 2007 the median annual rate for a private nursing home room was $65,700, compared with the 2012 median annual rate of $81,030. The national hourly private pay median rate charged by a licensed home health agency for a home health aide was $18 in 2007. The 2012 hourly rate crept up to $19. Home care rates have remained flat in part because of increased competition among agencies and the availability of unskilled labor, and because the companies that provide these types of services do not incur the costs associated with maintaining stand-alone health care facilities.

Here is how it broke down further.

Provider Type	Description	Rate	Increase Over 2011	Five Year Annual Growth
Homemaker Services (Licensed)	“Hands-off” care such as helping with cooking and running errands. Often referred to as “Personal Care Assistants” or “Companions.” This is the rate charged by a non-Medicare certified, licensed agency.	National Medium Hourly $18	0%	1.15%
Home Health Aide Services (Licensed)	Provides “hands-on” personal care, but not medical care, in the home, with activities such as bathing, dressing and transferring. This is the rate charged by a non-Medicare certified, licensed agency.	National Medium Hourly $19	0%	1.09%
Adult Day Health Care	Provides social and other related support services in a community-based, protective setting during any part of a day, but less than 24-hour care.	National Medium Daily Rate $61	1.67%	N/A
Assisted Living Facility (One Bedroom – Single Occupancy)	Provides “hands-on” personal care as well as medical care for those who are not able to live by themselves, but do not require constant care provided by a nursing home.	National Medium Monthly Rate $3,300	1.19%	5.71%
Nursing Home (Semi-Private Room)	Provides skilled nursing care 24 hours a day.	National Medium Daily Rate $200	3.63%	4.5%
Nursing Home (Private Room)	Provides skilled nursing care 24 hours a day.	National Medium Daily Rate $222	4.23%	4.28%

No secret why we continue to publish data like this. Our platform is educated aging - physical, financial, emotional. Count this in the financial column and heed the message of saving for your anticipated long term care needs so that you are not blind-sided in a crisis should something happen to you.

Running Infographic

Here's a great infographic as a follow up to our post yesterday.



Compiled By: InsuranceQuotes.org

1 in 4 Getting Divorced Are Over 50

Jogging Adds Years to Life & Makes You Happier (VIDEO)

1 in 4 Getting Divorced Are Over 50

Who would have thought that divorce among those aged 50 to 64 has spiked?

Susan L. Brown is the co-director of the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green University in Ohio. Her research shows that:

• one in four people getting divorced is over the age of 50. In 1990, it was less than one in 10.
   
• the divorce rate for those 50 to 64 increased from 6.9 divorces per 1,000 marriages in 1990 to 12.6 in 2009. At the same time, the overall divorce rate in the United States dropped from 18.95 to 17.92.

According to an Orlando Sentinel article, "retired couples often face difficulties in adjusting to a life together that doesn't include work. Spouses who once defined themselves by what they did at work can experience an identity crisis once they stop working. Meanwhile, spouses accustomed to being alone most of the day must adjust to having somebody else around, disrupting their routines. Good marriages survive that retirement transition. Bad marriages can be made worse."

If one or both of the spouses experienced divorce in the past, they are more at risk to divorce later in life, Brown said. The divorce rate for aging boomers is twice as high for those who were previously divorced.

"If, historically, most older adults have been married and have a spouse to provide care, increasingly that is not going to be the case," Brown said. "If we don't have that spouse present, then it becomes a challenge for society."