Identity theft hits home

Who would have thought my parents would become the victims of identity theft?

Not long ago, my parents received a letter from the FBI informing them their Medicare Advantage Plan insurance company had been hacked, and names, Social Security numbers and other personal information had been compromised.

I was so skeptical of this letter that I asked Judy Christman Yates, criminologist and coordinator of the Ventura County Financial Abuse Specialist Team, to see if it was authentic.

She said it appeared to be.

According to the letter, while the FBI did not know which members’ information had been affected, they suggested everyone who received the letter perform a credit check.

My parents sailed along for a few months with no issues. Their credit report looked normal.

Then one day last week my mother received a call from Schwab

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Unlocking a new kind of care

A few weeks ago my dad landed in the hospital.

Mom drove him to the emergency room because his blood pressure was fluctuating wildly. To be accurate, this blood pressure condition has been going on for some time now. A year ago it was this same condition that took my father from hospital to rehab to in-home medical care.

All that care, but no cure. My father’s blood pressure fluctuations will not change; they’re a side effect of his worsening Parkinson’s.

This time, after three nights in the hospital, the discharge planner came to talk to my mom and dad. Her “plan” was to place my dad in rehab, so that the medical staff there could monitor his blood pressure.

When we asked how long, she replied, “A week to 10 days.”

My mom, dad, sisters and I wondered what monitoring would do if there was no treatment or cure

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