The PACE program (Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) is noted. PACE combines medical, social, and long-term care services for frail people. Some PACE programs may also provide Medicare prescription drug. There are also programs for poor people who live in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.

Read Medicare & You (Publication No. CMS-10050)—This general guide is mailed to people after they enroll in Medicare and an updated version is mailed each year after that.
Choosing a Medigap Policy: A Guide To Health Insurance For People With Medicare (Publication No. CMS-02110)—This guide describes how other health insurance plans supplement Medicare and offers some shopping hints for people looking at those plans.

All of these documents have to be examined carefully. Some are longwinded and of course most are detailed. Some seem more exceptions than rules in their effort to cover everything. As the numbers of options goes up, the amount of work needed to decipher the instructions rises considerably. Fifty versions for 50 states exemplifies making things difficult.

The accompanying epidemiologic transition is marked by an Asian shift away from food deficiency and infectious diseases toward chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease and cancer.

The wise application of GDPs and correlated variables for pensions and health plans lies in the future.