EL SEGUNDO HERALD July 13, 2017 Page 9 Seniors Finance Need Care Today? Here Are 4 Choices To Try Before The Emergency Room (BPT) - A health concern rarely strikes when it’s convenient for you, and in most cases it occurs at the worst possible time. When you need care and don’t have time to schedule an appointment, what do you do? You head to the emergency room, of course. You wait in the long ER lines and pay the hefty bill that concludes your visit, all for a non-emergency situation that required immediate treatment. It’s hardly the most efficient solution, and while your health is certainly your most important concern, there are ways to receive the same quality care without the long wait and extravagant expense of an emergency room visit. Considering the three C’s Years ago the emergency room was your only option when you needed immediate care, but today’s health care market is home to a number of flourishing alternative options. To find the right solution for your situation, consider the three C’s: care, convenience and cost. • Care: Evaluate the severity of your symptoms and identify what services you need. An emergency issue should always be treated at the ER, but if the problem is not life- or limb-threatening, it can be treated somewhere else. • Convenience: It’s a good idea to know what health care facilities are near you, as well as their hours of operation. • Cost: Not every provider will be covered by your insurance, so it’s important to understand your coverage area as well as your pre-authorization requirements. If you face a serious health issue, you should head to the emergency room immediately. However, if the issue merits immediate care but is not life- or limb-threatening, the Urgent Care Association of America offers this quick guide to your on-demand health care options. Urgent care centers are equipped to handle illnesses and injuries that require X-rays, intravenous fluids and/or on-site lab tests. With an emphasis on convenience, urgent care offers short wait times - often 30 minutes or less compared to four hours in the emergency room - and affordable care, made even more so because it is covered by most insurance providers. Otherwise known as walk-in clinics, retail clinics are commonly found in supermarkets or pharmacies and specialize in treating less serious conditions than urgent care centers or emergency rooms. A product of the digital age, telemedicine connects patients with providers via virtual visits, resulting in lower costs and decreased travel time. Telemedicine services are an attractive option if you live in a rural community or for times when the treatment you require does not extend beyond a consultation. Finally, you may consider an on-site clinic. This option is now offered by many employers as a way of providing increased health care access to their employees. Similar to retail clinics, an on-site clinic specializes in offering wellness and preventative services - though the specific services offered by each clinic may vary. You’ve read all the care options above and you have a pretty good idea of the best solution for any care need. Match that need with the right treatment option above and you’ll receive the same quality care without the long wait and hefty bill of that emergency room visit. To find an urgent care center near you, visit www.whereisurgentcare.com. • 5 Tips To Find The Financial Advisor To Match Your Retirement Goals (BPT) - The idea of retirement may start out as a distant dream. You have hopes and plans for that special time that seems so far away. Sooner or later that time will be here and hopefully you’ll be ready. However, recent research shows many people are not prepared to enjoy a financially stable retirement. A study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute states: • Only 18 percent of people are very confident they will have the savings they need for a comfortable retirement; • One-third of people aren’t confident they will be able to cover basic living expenses in retirement; • 45 percent of Americans aren’t confident they will be able to cover their medical expenses once they’re retired; • 3 in 10 workers report that preparing for retirement causes them to feel mentally or emotionally stressed. “Many people recognize the value of saving for a comfortable retirement. They just don’t know how to manage their money effectively to maximize their savings and realize their dreams,” says Geoffrey Brown, CEO of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. Financial planners provide support and advice on a wide array of financial topics, including budgeting, estate planning, investments, education funding, insurance and risk management, healthcare planning, and, of course, retirement planning and senior issues. Financial planners who are members of NAPFA are all fee-only and compensated solely through fees from their clients, rather than by transaction-based commissions. Most commissions-based advisors are salespeople rather than comprehensive financial planners. All NAPFA members also sign a fiduciary oath, meaning they must disclose any conflict, or potential conflict, to their clients prior to and throughout the advisory engagement. To find the right financial planner for you and your needs, follow these tips from NAPFA: • Finalize your own initial strategy. Before looking for a financial planner, think about the goals you want to attain. • Select several advisors. Don’t narrow your focus when looking for the right financial planner. Instead, consult websites like NAPFA. org. Use the NAPFA Find an Advisor search platform to locate a financial planner who can help you get where you’re going. Word of mouth is fine for some pursuits, but your financial goals are specific to your life, and probably differ greatly from those of your friends. • Do your homework. When it comes to vetting a financial planner, a little research goes a long way. You can also search the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission site or BrokerCheck by FINRA to learn more about the planner’s disciplinary history. It’s important to review an advisor’s disciplinary records, their practice focus and their credentials - such as whether or not they are a Certified Financial Planner(TM) (CFP(R)) professional. • Meet them face-to-face. If you like everything you’ve found so far, then it’s time to meet your potential financial planner. Your financial planner will have a large role in your future success so it’s important that you feel comfortable with the relationship. • Review your results initially and annually. Once you’ve finished your interviews, take the time to review all the information you’ve gathered and pick the financial planner that best fits your needs. After that, plan to review the performance of your finances every year. To learn more about how you can find the right financial planner for you, visit NAPFA.org. • DNA Evidence from page 3 relationship. Kilpatrick defined that connection as a current or former spouse, live-in partner, dating partner, boyfriend or girlfriend. About one in four sexual assaults are committed by strangers, a National Women’s Study found. Even when the accused attacker’s identity is known, there is good reason to enter their DNA in the state’s sexual assault tracking system, according to Chiu. Forensic analysis often helps identify repeat offenders. That can only occur if city police and county sheriff departments input sexual assault evidence into the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Tracking system, or SAFE-T. Lawmakers created the database in 2015 without requiring police, sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies to log in every rape kit they collect. Chiu’s measure would make it mandatory, along with an explanation why investigators chose not to send off a kit to a public or private DNAtesting lab for analysis. The state collects and stores DNA data of people who are arrested on suspicion of committing crimes, under a voter-approved initiative from 2004. Prop. 69 expanded the collection and use of criminal offender DNA samples and palm print impressions. The state Department of Justice reported in May that 917 “hits” were made by investigators who were looking at suspects. A “hit” connects a suspect with prior offenses or crimes. Chiu’s bill would require law enforcement agencies to inform the California Department of Justice within 120 days of taking the DNA samples. There is an additional reporting duty on the DNA labs to explain why they haven’t tested a sample within 120 days of receiving it, and if the evidence goes unprocessed beyond that time. If approved by the Senate and signed into law, Chiu’s bill would not cover untested evidence taken before January 1, 2018. A spokeswoman with the state Department of Justice said that the DNA crime labs have reduced any backlogs using grant money from the New York District Attorney’s Office. The Department of Justice and its Bureau of Forensic Services examines approximately 2,000 sexual assault kits per year. DNA is being tested in less than 30 days, and the state is further improving testing with a program called Rapid DNA Service, or RAD. The state’s top law enforcement agency says that 46 California counties use the expedited testing service. Los Angeles County is not one of them, and along with large areas of Orange County and San Diego use other public DNA labs as part of their sexual assault investigations. The costs to expand testing and reporting aren’t specified, however, Chui’s bill says the state by law must reimburse local cities and counties for complying with the order. The current effort to identify and track sexual predators is being funded with a $1.6 million grant from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Initiative to eliminate backlogs of untested rape kits. Former Attorney General Kamala Harris, now a U.S. senator, announced the award in September 2015 to give law enforcement an assist in identifying and stopping serial offenders. “DNA testing results use a ‘smart on crime tool’ that we’ve used in cutting edge ways in California,” Harris said. “Evidence of sexual assault is too important to sit dormant for months while victims await justice. This grant will allow us to use our Rapid DNA Service Team’s technology to assist more of our law enforcement partners across California in eliminating their sexual assault kit backlogs.” California has touted its progress with rapid testing of DNA evidence at state labs, first announcing in 2012 that its RADS team had eliminated the backlog of untested kits at the state-run labs. Last week, a Department of Justice spokeswoman confirmed that 46 counties that participate in RADS also were caught up on their DNA rape case testing. RADS has caught the attention of the U.S. Justice Department, which presented then-Attorney General Kamala Harris and her staff with an award for innovation in victims’ services. •
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