California offers a vast array of active-adult communities, large and small, lavish and budget-minded. And although comparing sports offerings and swimming pools can be fun, experts say that a robust analysis of the benefits and potential problems ought to weigh into the decision.

John Brady, the creator of active-adult community directory TopRetirements.com, told Fox Business that prospective buyers should conduct thorough due diligence on the financial health of a community. This can include looking at the financial documents, asking about the number of homes in foreclosure, reading the minutes from the Homeowners Association meetings and talking to current residents. For even more peace of mind, Brady says, ask an accountant or an attorney to help review financial and legal documents. Excellent due diligence up front can help eliminate significant and costly surprises later on.

Ann Brenoff at the Huffington Post suggests that retirees with grandchildren check the community’s policy on and attitude toward children. According to Brenoff, some communities limit the number of nights that children can spend the night — which may put a cramp in some people’s’ grandparenting style.

Finally, most experts agree that potential buyers should give the community a trial run before buying. Adults can rent one of the homes for a month or two or arrange an extended stay. This can give future buyers the confidence of knowing that the community and its residents are a great fit.

Pioneers of Elder Law – For over 30 years, Gilfix & La Poll Associates LLP has innovated creative legal solutions to help you manage and plan the future of your estate.
To contact an estate planning attorney visit http://www.gilfix.com/ or call 800.244.9424.

A recent report by the Associated Press sheds light on the fact that a stronger commitment to caring for our women veterans is needed.

And just as more and more veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, more and more of them are women. Even the head of the VA’s office of women’s health acknowledges that persistent shortcomings remain in caring for the 390,000 female veterans seen last year at VA Medical Centers and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) — despite an investment of more than $1.3 billion since 2008.

Despite this investment, problems abound, which are listed below in more detail. The bottom-line is that the VA is falling behind on care for all of our veterans. And for women in particular, VA Medical Centers and CBOCs have yet to keep pace with the rising numbers.

With more than $1.3 billion spent in the past six years on women’s health, the problem is delivery and execution. The same is true for the veterans enduring egregiously long wait-times. So while the VA is ironing out its other problems, this is also an opportune time to re-evaluate the processes related to how care is delivered to our women veterans.

Among the shortcomings for women’s care:

• Nearly 25% of VA Medical Centers do not have a full-time gynecologist on staff. And 140 of the 920 CBOCs serving rural areas do not have a designated women’s health provider.
• When a CBOC refers veterans to a university or other private medical facility to be screened for breast cancer, more than half the time their mammogram results are not provided to patients within two weeks, as required under VA policy.
• Female veterans are placed on the VA’s Electronic Wait List at a higher rate than male veterans, meaning their wait times are often over 90 days.
• And according to a VA presentation last year, female veterans of child-bearing age were far more likely to be given medications that can cause birth defects than were women being treated through a private HMO.

With their numbers increasing, there is no choice but to put more focus on women veterans and confront these issues head on. Indeed, we need to elevate the level of care for all our veterans, and ensure the men and women who served our country get what they deserve.

Read more on this issue on the AP Report published online in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/22/veterans-affairs-womens-health_n_5519796.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Brigadier General Carol Ann Fausone (ret.)

General Fausone served her country for 36 years in the US Air Force and Michigan National Guard as a nurse and medical officer. Carol Ann continues serving by “Taking Care of Our American Heroes and their Families” to obtain the benefits they deserve.

If you need help with your VA benefits claim, contact Legal Help For Veterans, PLLC and learn more at www.LegalHelpForVeterans.com.

Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC fights for veterans rights. We fight to make sure you get the benefits you deserve from the Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn more or contact an attorney about your PTSD, TBI, Mental Health, Sexual Assault, Hearing Loss and Tinnitus, TDIU, Medical Malpractice, or Aid and Attendance claim, visit http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com/ or call 800.693.4800

“Every worker should be able to feel that their safety and the safety of their coworkers is a priority,” stated Waxahachie personal injury attorney John Hale. “But unfortunately, workplace safety continues to be a major concern in Texas.”
April 28, 2013 was Worker’s Memorial Day, during which a vigil was held for 56 workers fatally injured in 2012 in Houston workplace accidents and other Texas workers who had been killed. The spokesperson for United Support & Memorial for Workplace Fatalities, Katherine Rodriguez, stated that the ceremony was particularly meaningful in light of the deadly explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas earlier this year.

According to the latest statistics, working in Texas is not without its risks. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor reported 4,693 fatal work injuries. Texas was at the top of the list of dangerous states in which to work, with 433 fatalities.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Shaw stated that the high number of fatalities in the workplace can be traced directly to substandard safety standards in the construction industry and the widespread use of undocumented immigrant workers who are not often afforded the same benefits as workers who are legal citizens.

Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston also attended Worker’s Memorial Day and told the assembled crowd that she would push for better workplace safety regulations for Texas.
Huffington Post ran a poll in the wake of the explosion which killed 15 people and injured more than 160 people in Texas in April. The poll asked readers to share how they felt about workplace safety.

Forty-four percent of poll respondents said that current U.S. workplace safety regulations were not strict enough. Only 26 percent responded that workplace safety regulations are about right, while 7 percent responded that they are too strict.

When asked what they thought would help prevent another accident similar to the one in West, Texas, 52 percent responded that stricter enforcement of existing safety regulations would be effective enough. Eighteen percent responded that stricter safety measures were needed.

At The Hale Law Firm, we have helped thousands of clients successfully prosecute their personal injury claims including auto accidents, wrongful death, dangerous products, brain injuries, burn injuries, and defective medical devices. Clients depend on their personal injury lawyers for guidance and legal advice across a broad range of personal injury accidents. To learn more, visit http://www.hale911.com/ or call 972.351.0000.

“Overall, diagnostic errors have been underappreciated and under-recognized because they’re difficult to measure and keep track of owing to the frequent gap between the time the error occurs and when it’s detected,” study researcher Dr. David Newman-Toker, an associate professor of neurology at the university’s medical school, said in a statement, according to Huffington Post.

While not as obvious as a surgical error, which ranks as the third most common malpractice claim, diagnostic mistakes have caused the death of or injury to as many as 80,000 to 160,000 Americans in the 24-year time span studied.

“This is a major health problem,” said Newman-Toker. “You can’t get the treatment right if you don’t get the diagnosis right.”