20 years ago I did finally allow my kids now in their 40s to have a land line in each of their rooms and would not have allowed a cell phone. These days I am happy my teenage grandchildren have their own cell phones. The world has become a very dangerous place in the last 25 years and everyone should have the ability to call for help.
I do not agree that free phones should be top of the line models, there is no need for other than a basic phone to be able to receive messages from work, Drs apts and similar. One of our local pharmacies delivers meds and some foods locally and use of the phone for that to me is very acceptable.
Of course there is abuse in the welfare system, people by nature will try and get something for nothing. Not everyone of course but the temptation is there all the same.
I don't agree that everything should be free but I also don't agree that the military should be permitted to order a 4 thousand dollar toilet or relief aid be skimmed off the top by people who don't deserve it.
One of our local charities used to give low income people anything they wanted for free such as furniture and clothing which were all donated now they have turned their operation into a kind of thrift shop so people have to pay at least a small sum for items.
Have you ever wondered what happens to things you donate to the major charities that operate thrift stores all over the country? No they don't all go into their stores, They are bundled up and sold through a third party in bales and shipped to a third world country. There they are sold at auction and locals stock their own stores with them. That is why you often see on TV news stories local people wearing Western clothes rather than their traditional costume.
Anyway back to the phones in nursing homes. If someone is able to use a phone they should be given one if they don't have a relative able to provide one. Cell hones are convenient to use but they have to be charged and often the patient can't reach the plug or have mislaid the cord. My own experience in a NH for rehab for 4 days was that a landline was provided free with a corded hand set. As long as it was left within reach which it often wasn't and I was not permitted to leave my bed or chair without supervision, it was easier than keeping track of a cell phone. I put it to good use on a couple of ocassions when my call bell was ignored for a couple of hours.
Anyone out there with a loved one in a facility who waits hours for a bell to be answered to call the front desk or the nurses station. If all else fails pull the cord to the call bell out of the wall. That sets off an alarm and you quickly get service. Well I have had my say on free phones for nursing home residents.
I agree with Cuddles....if they can not afford it maybe a relative can help with the cost...most seniors are not able to get out and this is their only way to communicate.
Every preteen in this world has one...why not our seniors? Why does a preteen need one..they do not have a job...so why can they have one?
dear staaaaar, who wrote "...I would think you would be less concerned about a nursing home patient getting a free cell phone than you would be about corporate welfare or bloated military spending." It is so very easy to write the words "corporate welfare" and "bloated military." It is far more difficult to get Congress to actually balance the US Federal Budget. Currently the US is about 20 Trillion in debt, but when you add in "unfunded liabilities" which includes things like future Medicaid, and free cell phones, it is closer to 100 Trillion in debt. Eliminating free cell phones for seniors wouldn't put much of a dent in either of those figures. Interestingly, neither would eliminating "corporate welfare" which only comes to about 100 billion per year. "Bloated military" is open to interpretation---do we really want the bad guys to rule the world? I don't advocate US interventionism, however, when there are terrorists roaming the world, we need the good guys roaming the world too. Maybe if everyone were more responsible, including living within their means for their entire lives, and not depending on government, AND if there were no evil terrorists in the world, AND if Congress would pass a law eliminating lobbyists, we wouldn't have to be so worried about little extras for seniors in nursing homes. As it is, we the taxpayers have to do whatever we can to try and get Congress to reduce spending---which means everyone has to cut back.
Please educate yourself on where your tax dollars actually go. You might be surprised to learn you aren't kicking in so much for your fellow man.
RichRetired... there are many reasons why someone "failed to prepare for their retirement years" that have nothing to do with an uneducated lifestyle. Many people (including many on this site) quit their jobs to take care of their sick elderly family members and then have nothing to retire on themselves.
If you truly disdain waste and abuse, I would think you would be less concerned about a nursing home patient getting a free cell phone than you would be about corporate welfare or bloated military spending.
Please educate yourself on where your tax dollars actually go. You might be surprised to learn you aren't kicking in so much for your fellow man.
If someone has a tracheostomy and a speaking valve doesn't work, they can only send text messages to contacts outside the nursing home. But you may be right to rub their poverty into their faces over not planning well for retirement. Stereotyping people and getting their messages deleted is childish RichRetired. And I was responding to your hubris and not your condescension.
Mymamalovesme, you are correct. I simply was unable to resist responding. Everyone's situation is unique. Many residents have no family support and are forced to rely on other avenues. And if someone failed to prepare for their retirement years, perhaps that isn't their fault either as they may simply be the products of an uneducated lifestyle. I am personally torn between compassion for my fellow man and my own financial self-interests. I don't mind contributing where it is necessary, but disdain waste and abuse that isn't necessary and could be controlled with greater effort.
Veronica91, good point. An old cell phone has many uses. 911 calls, a camera to document accidents, an MP3 player, ebook reading, wifi surfing in public hotspots, or even as an introductory device for children to learn with.
One of the cell companies that specializes in the senior community charges $10 a month for the basic service although you have to pay for each message. For a total just over $19 you get a number of free messages and texts. It is also important to remember that any charged cell phone can dial 911 for free. This means an elder with a donated cell phone always has the security of getting help free. You can find old phones in thrift stores and garage sales for about $1
Wow interesting. RichRetired, while you may not lower yourself to childish name calling, it does, however, seem that you feel it your privilege to name who is and is not worthy of assistance and what that assistance should include. It is in the tone of your last reply, which I will not argue for or against, because it is merely your opinion.
Moreover, the issue at hand, as you pointed out was lost after Grace's comment, which to all but you, seemed to be shaming. While a cell phone may not qualify as a necessity, to either you or Grace, perhaps the issue of charity–whose worthy, and how it directly, impacts your personal prosperity, would best be addressed with your state's representative, rather than in response to a daughter, obviously, concerned about her mother's welfare. Did you, like Grace, both seemingly, assume the request for a cell phone was a frivolous one? Cell phones, after all act as GPS locators. Need I say more? I suppose one could argue that if someone were not a hard enough working citizen during the course of their lifetime or seemingly, intelligent enough to budget and plan on the advent of a cell phone, they do not, bloody, deserve to have one. Especially, given the lazy welfare mom's out there right now making babies on your dime. Babies who will grow up to someday, exploit the same social system with new lazy finesse.
This is not a political forum, but there are many sites dedicated to the sole purpose of airing grievances and debating what would make America great again.
It was Grace's total lack of sensitivity to the plight of an obviously, concerned daughter's desire to provide her mother with a cell phone, she herself, likely, cannot presently, afford to provide that was offensive, indeed.
Your choice of words, "...prevalent justification for "free" telephones as required by the Federal Government..." says it all. Your writing belies a well educated chap, and yet you blame charity at home, instead of greed, as ostensibly, a problem so egregious it warrants firing off at a daughter concerned about her mother. It says more about you, than you likely will ever grasp. Primarily, because it is always about the argument and winning, and who has the last word with chaps like you. As evidence of this fact, I am willing to bet you will not be able to resist a reply.
Perhaps I can let you off the hook. At the end of the day, no one really disagrees with you, per say, and maybe there is a bit of Grace in us all. What is so objectionable is shaming someone on AgingCare.com
Titlepage, except for the first couple of posts, this entire thread has been condemnation of Grace's comment and has added nothing to the original question and answers...and even your post continues the argument rather than focus on the initial subject. Moron eh? I choose to not lower myself to childish name calling.
To the subject at hand, the two most prevalent justification for "free" telephones as required by the Federal Government are eligibilty based on income, or being a state recipient of Medicaid. 96% of all nursing home residents fall into these categories. This qualifies them for the "free" phone, regardless as to whether the home provides a landline or not. Many long term care facilities only provide a single phone for two roomates or a centralized group phone.
I'm afraid as far as telephones go, I'm with Grace. Why in the world does everyone think the Federal Government owes them everything from food stamps, to child care, to free dental and medical, to telephones. Billions wasted each year in fraud. Social benefits came about during FDR's term, and what started out as programs for the needy became the standard for the lazy. Not all perhaps, but far too many. But fear not, socialism continues to gain popularity that is directly proportional with the decline of the working ethic and the principals that made America great.
I'm afraid as far as telephones go, I'm with Grace. Why in the world does everyone think the Federal Government owes them everything from food stamps, to child care, to free dental and medical, to telephones. Billions wasted each year in fraud. Social benefits came about during FDR's term, and what started out as programs for the needy became the standard for the lazy. Not all perhaps, but far too many. But fear not, socialism continues to gain popularity, directly proportional with the decline of the working ethic and the principals that made America great.
As of December 1, 2016 as per the FCC, the maximum talk/text time will be increased to 500 minutes per month. Any other services added to the cellphone the person would need to pay for said services.
In 2017 the number of minutes will be raised to 750, and eventually the number will go up and stand at 1000 minutes per month.
The government gas relaxed the limitations, and will soon provide free unlimited minutes for calls, text and internet! Check out this site for information and updates: FreeGovernmentCellPhones
There are limitations with the "free phone", such as a maximum of minutes used for talking and doing texts, example 350 minutes which is 6 hours per month. These phones are intended for emergencies only.
President Reagan put the "free phones" into law for landlines, and eventually through the years it now cellphones.
Grace I have a tracheostomy and can only send text messages to my relatives. And yes the taxpayers should pay for it. The taxpayers didn't have any problems with me breathing in all those industrial chemicals when I was working 60 hours a week on job sites all over the NY Metro area. You might live in one of the structures that helped me get here. And I hope this never happens to you Grace - it's no laughing party.
Oh wow, I never even read GraceH comment until now. there are absolutely NO landlines available for these nursing home residents, most of them have no income except for the $30 /mo the nursing home gives. There should be some alternative so they can receive phone calls and make calls when they see fit (such as a cell phone for those able to use them).
GraceH: Are you serious? My mother is 72 and has worked her whole life since she was 16. He and my father often worked 2 or 3 job each to make sure their 5 kids and ailing parent were taken care of. This was back before the days of getting refunds on your taxes and earned income credits that make tax paying now days a joke. These elders worked hard their whole life with a lot less breaks than our over pampered, spoiled generations get now. You included. My parents worked hard to put into the system and didn't get it back in BS tax breaks at the end of the year and government programs that take the responsibility off the person. They clawed, scraped and sweated for every penny you now think they are given for no reason. People like you make me sick. You - a caregiver? Obviously you are in the wrong field of work if you feel like that. I feel sorry for anyone receiving your care. Instead of saying things like that about elderly people who worked far harder than you do without any real help why don't you find a website about healthy, young people who are bilking the system for millions every month for disability because they have an attitude problem, lazy and don't want to work!
Unfortunately there is no land line available at that nursing home. :( but we are moving soon and the new home for my mom will have one so no cell phone needed anymore! :)
In my opinion, elders in nursing homes and cellphones do not mix. Old fashioned landlines are the easiest for them to use as such landlines have been ingrained in their minds for the past 80 some years.
My Dad's mind is pretty sharp for someone in his 90's, and is a former electrical engineer but he is all thumbs when it comes to using a regular remote control for a TV, I cannot imagine him using a cellphone, especially having bad eyesight. In fact, I had him use a portable landline phone couple years ago and that was a mess.... he would forget how to answer it, how to turn it off, and would forget to place it back in the cradle to recharge. To him, that isn't how telephones should work. The landline has never been a problem for him :)
My Mom's phone in an assisted living facility was disconnected during a renovation. Now they want a reconnection fee. My sister is local but I am not. Mom has no phone service and I couldn't call her on her 86th birthday. I'm far away, yesterday was her birthday and I wanted to wish her a Happy One..my sister's who's local is wrapped up in her own life and said, you can talk to Mom when I visit her. That doesn't get it! I need to find an expensive way for incoming calls because Mom's about to forget me too!
With T-Mobile they have a plan where you can add a simple cell phone for only $5/month, this is what my mom used. Of course there's taxes on that. Maybe the whole family could chip in a buck a month and get grandma a cellphone, someone must have an working flip phone around. No need for a smartphone or 4G.
I have looked and haven't found any. My brother and his wife added my mom to their plan. The NH my mom is at doesn't even have a landline phone in the room. It's either cell phone or nothing.
While not simply the category of seniors, there is something within the industry called TAP in most states in the US and probably something else in quite a few other countries.
TAP stands for telephone assistance program and while qualifications vary state by state, they hold in common a certain income level or other state aid programs as qualification.
This assistance will either subsidize or outright make free a cell phone with a certain number of minutes per month or it will subsidize the cost of a home phone via a land line.
One thing I had lots of patients doing was signing up for whats called a POTS (plain old telephone service) line through their local provider and have them hook it up into the room (often already wired for such).
This allowed the individual unlimited local calling for a set monthly price with the options for family to setup the service to block the access to long distance etc.
I don't know how useful this is in relation to your question but it came to mind and I thought I'd share.
Most NH used to have landline phone in their room, but there was always a charge for it. Now the NH don't automatically put a phone in room--because most come there with their own cell phone. So there is a charge to connect the landline, and anyhow the senior would have to provide their own physical phone. Everyone has to pay their own phone bill.
Our elderly loved ones deserve a phone. The nh takes most of their money. I can't afford my bills plus my moms. I bought her a great TV, and pay for her cable.
I do not agree that free phones should be top of the line models, there is no need for other
than a basic phone to be able to receive messages from work, Drs apts and similar.
One of our local pharmacies delivers meds and some foods locally and use of the phone for that to me is very acceptable.
Of course there is abuse in the welfare system, people by nature will try and get something for nothing. Not everyone of course but the temptation is there all the same.
I don't agree that everything should be free but I also don't agree that the military should be permitted to order a 4 thousand dollar toilet or relief aid be skimmed off the top by people who don't deserve it.
One of our local charities used to give low income people anything they wanted for free such as furniture and clothing which were all donated now they have turned their operation into a kind of thrift shop so people have to pay at least a small sum for items.
Have you ever wondered what happens to things you donate to the major charities that operate thrift stores all over the country? No they don't all go into their stores, They are bundled up and sold through a third party in bales and shipped to a third world country. There they are sold at auction and locals stock their own stores with them. That is why you often see on TV news stories local people wearing Western clothes rather than their traditional costume.
Anyway back to the phones in nursing homes. If someone is able to use a phone they should be given one if they don't have a relative able to provide one. Cell hones are convenient to use but they have to be charged and often the patient can't reach the plug or have mislaid the cord.
My own experience in a NH for rehab for 4 days was that a landline was provided free with a corded hand set. As long as it was left within reach which it often wasn't and I was not permitted to leave my bed or chair without supervision, it was easier than keeping track of a cell phone. I put it to good use on a couple of ocassions when my call bell was ignored for a couple of hours.
Anyone out there with a loved one in a facility who waits hours for a bell to be answered to call the front desk or the nurses station. If all else fails pull the cord to the call bell out of the wall. That sets off an alarm and you quickly get service.
Well I have had my say on free phones for nursing home residents.
Every preteen in this world has one...why not our seniors? Why does a preteen need one..they do not have a job...so why can they have one?
Cuddles...go girl!
It is so very easy to write the words "corporate welfare" and "bloated military."
It is far more difficult to get Congress to actually balance the US Federal Budget. Currently the US is about 20 Trillion in debt, but when you add in "unfunded liabilities" which includes things like future Medicaid, and free cell phones, it is closer to 100 Trillion in debt.
Eliminating free cell phones for seniors wouldn't put much of a dent in either of those figures.
Interestingly, neither would eliminating "corporate welfare" which only comes to about 100 billion per year. "Bloated military" is open to interpretation---do we really want the bad guys to rule the world? I don't advocate US interventionism, however, when there are terrorists roaming the world, we need the good guys roaming the world too.
Maybe if everyone were more responsible, including living within their means for their entire lives, and not depending on government, AND if there were no evil terrorists in the world, AND if Congress would pass a law eliminating lobbyists, we wouldn't have to be so worried about little extras for seniors in nursing homes.
As it is, we the taxpayers have to do whatever we can to try and get Congress to reduce spending---which means everyone has to cut back.
Please educate yourself on where your tax dollars actually go. You might be surprised to learn you aren't kicking in so much for your fellow man.
If you truly disdain waste and abuse, I would think you would be less concerned about a nursing home patient getting a free cell phone than you would be about corporate welfare or bloated military spending.
Please educate yourself on where your tax dollars actually go. You might be surprised to learn you aren't kicking in so much for your fellow man.
Veronica91, good point. An old cell phone has many uses. 911 calls, a camera to document accidents, an MP3 player, ebook reading, wifi surfing in public hotspots, or even as an introductory device for children to learn with.
Moreover, the issue at hand, as you pointed out was lost after Grace's comment, which to all but you, seemed to be shaming. While a cell phone may not qualify as a necessity, to either you or Grace, perhaps the issue of charity–whose worthy, and how it directly, impacts your personal prosperity, would best be addressed with your state's representative, rather than in response to a daughter, obviously, concerned about her mother's welfare. Did you, like Grace, both seemingly, assume the request for a cell phone was a frivolous one? Cell phones, after all act as GPS locators. Need I say more? I suppose one could argue that if someone were not a hard enough working citizen during the course of their lifetime or seemingly, intelligent enough to budget and plan on the advent of a cell phone, they do not, bloody, deserve to have one. Especially, given the lazy welfare mom's out there right now making babies on your dime. Babies who will grow up to someday, exploit the same social system with new lazy finesse.
This is not a political forum, but there are many sites dedicated to the sole purpose of airing grievances and debating what would make America great again.
It was Grace's total lack of sensitivity to the plight of an obviously, concerned daughter's desire to provide her mother with a cell phone, she herself, likely, cannot presently, afford to provide that was offensive, indeed.
Your choice of words, "...prevalent justification for "free" telephones as required by the Federal Government..." says it all. Your writing belies a well educated chap, and yet you blame charity at home, instead of greed, as ostensibly, a problem so egregious it warrants firing off at a daughter concerned about her mother. It says more about you, than you likely will ever grasp. Primarily, because it is always about the argument and winning, and who has the last word with chaps like you. As evidence of this fact, I am willing to bet you will not be able to resist a reply.
Perhaps I can let you off the hook. At the end of the day, no one really disagrees with you, per say, and maybe there is a bit of Grace in us all. What is so objectionable is shaming someone on AgingCare.com
To the subject at hand, the two most prevalent justification for "free" telephones as required by the Federal Government are eligibilty based on income, or being a state recipient of Medicaid. 96% of all nursing home residents fall into these categories. This qualifies them for the "free" phone, regardless as to whether the home provides a landline or not. Many long term care facilities only provide a single phone for two roomates or a centralized group phone.
In 2017 the number of minutes will be raised to 750, and eventually the number will go up and stand at 1000 minutes per month.
President Reagan put the "free phones" into law for landlines, and eventually through the years it now cellphones.
My Dad's mind is pretty sharp for someone in his 90's, and is a former electrical engineer but he is all thumbs when it comes to using a regular remote control for a TV, I cannot imagine him using a cellphone, especially having bad eyesight. In fact, I had him use a portable landline phone couple years ago and that was a mess.... he would forget how to answer it, how to turn it off, and would forget to place it back in the cradle to recharge. To him, that isn't how telephones should work. The landline has never been a problem for him :)
TAP stands for telephone assistance program and while qualifications vary state by state, they hold in common a certain income level or other state aid programs as qualification.
This assistance will either subsidize or outright make free a cell phone with a certain number of minutes per month or it will subsidize the cost of a home phone via a land line.
One thing I had lots of patients doing was signing up for whats called a POTS (plain old telephone service) line through their local provider and have them hook it up into the room (often already wired for such).
This allowed the individual unlimited local calling for a set monthly price with the options for family to setup the service to block the access to long distance etc.
I don't know how useful this is in relation to your question but it came to mind and I thought I'd share.