From The Director

October—December 2014
Volume 2, Issue 4
First Tennessee Area Agency on Aging & Disability
QUARTERLY NEWS
From The Director
Church Hill Senior Center
Golden Nuggets
(L-R) Eugene Harris, Evelyn
Shrout, Garrett White, Vera
Spradlin (Alternate)
After the success of
last year’s Senior Brain
Games, the Tennessee
Commission on Aging
and Disability (TCAD)
held its Second Annual
Senior Brain Games in
September. The games
are designed to
encourage older adults
across Tennessee to
exercise their brain
through trivia
competitions. Local
competitions were held
at the Clinchfield Senior
Adult Center,
Elizabethton Senior
Citizens Center, and
Church Hill Senior
Center. These teams,
along with a team
representing the
Kingsport Senior
Center, Johnson City
Seniors’ Center, and
Rogersville Senior
Citizens Center
competed in the District
Brain Games on August
12 at the Kingsport
Senior Center. The
Church Hill Senior
Center Golden Nuggets
won the competition
and represented the
First District in the
Regional Competition
held on August 28 at
the O’Conner Senior
Center in Knoxville.
The Senior Gamers
team from the
Morristown/Hamblen
County Senior Center
won the Regional
competition and went
on to win the state
competition held on
September 20 in
Nashville.
The FTAAAD would
like to thank Ken Kisiel
(pictured below with
Kathy Whitaker) for his
representation of our
district on the TCAD.
Mr. Kisiel, Upper East
Tennessee
Representative, was
appointed as a board
member by the
Governor in 2008. The
full Commission
approved his
appointment to
Commission Chair from
October 1, 2010
through September 30,
2014. During his
tenure, Mr. Kisiel served
on various committees
including the Planning
Committee; Strategic
Planning Committee;
and the Executive
Committee. Mr. Kisiel
is currently the chief
executive officer for
Appalachian Orthopedic
Associates and has
worked in the
healthcare field since
1971. He has also
served as an Alderman
for the Town of Unicoi;
a member of the Town
of Unicoi Board of
Zoning Appeals; ViceChairman of the Town
of Unicoi Planning
Commission and board
member of the Unicoi
Ruritan Club. He
volunteers at various
fundraising events at the
Clinchfield Senior Adult
Center. Thanks, Mr.
Kisiel, for your service
and support of the First
District.
Inside this issue:
Medicare Open Enrollment 2
Tennessee for a Lifetime
2
TennCare’s Managed Care 3
Organizations
Chronic Disease and
3
Diabetes Self-Management
Programs
Senior Center Spotlight
4
Fraud and Financial
Exploitation Awareness
4
Upcoming Events
4
The First Tennessee
Human Resource
Agency (FTHRA)
Nutrition Program was
selected for the 2014
Gordon Acuff Award of
Excellence awarded by
the Tennessee
Association of Human
Resource Agencies.
Additionally, the
program received
national recognition for
this achievement in the
National Association of
Nutrition and Aging
Services Programs
(NANASP) Washington
Bulletin. Congratulations
FTHRA!
~ Kathy Whitaker
FTAAAD Quarterly News
Page 2
Medicare Open Enrollment
The Medicare Part D Annual Enrollment Period
is October 15th—December 7th. This is the
period each year when Medicare beneficiaries
can join, switch or drop their Medicare Part D
and Medicare Advantage coverage. Medicare
Par D and Medicare Advantage plans change
their coverage and costs every year, so it is
important to review your plan and compare it
to others on the market every fall. The First
Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and
Disability’s Tennessee State Health Insurance
Assistance Program (TN SHIP) and ETSU’s
Gatton School of Pharmacology are partnering
to provide free and objective assistance in
comparing Part D and Medicare Advantage
plans at enrollment events held at several local
community organizations and senior centers.
Included is a list of events planned for the area.
Trained Medicare counselors will be available
to assist Medicare beneficiaries and their
families in comparing their Part D and Medicare
Advantage plans for 2015. Appointments are
preferred for these events.
Date/Time
10/16
9 a—12 p
10/21
9 a—12 p
10/23
9 a—12 p
10/28
9 a—12 p
10/30
9 a—12 p
11/4
9 a —11:30 p
11/6
9 a—12 p
11/13
9 a—12 p
11/18
9 a—12 p
11/20
9 a—12 p
Location
Appt Phone #
Red Legacy
423-722-5205
Elizabethton
YWCA of Bristol
423-968-9444
Bristol
Clinchfield Senior Ctr 423-743-5111
Erwin
Memorial Park
423-434-6237
Community Ctr, Johnson City
Jonesborough Sr Ctr 423-753-1075
Jonesborough
Church Hill Senior Ctr 423-722-5205
Church Hill
Clinchfield Senior Ctr 423-743-5111
Erwin
Kingsport Senior Ctr 423-392-8400
Kingsport
Kingsport Senior Ctr 423-392-8400
Kingsport
Greene County Skills 423-722-5205
Greeneville
For further information, please
contact TN SHIP at 1-877801-0044.
Tennessee for a Lifetime
A community education
initiative sponsored by the
State of Tennessee and the
Tennessee Commission on
Aging and Disability (TCAD)
will be held on Saturday,
October 18, 2014 from 8:00
a.m.—12:00 p.m. at Northeast
State Community College, 2425
Highway 75, Blountville. Topics
to be presented at the half day
event include: Aging in Place;
Medicare; Caregiving;
Alzheimer’s; End of Life;
Nursing Homes/Assisted Living;
Financial Planning and
Technology. Opening remarks
will be presented by
Community College, and
Tennessee Health Care
Association (THCA).
Lunch from Firehouse BBQ will
be provided immediately
following the program. After
lunch, many organizations will
be available to answer any
questions.
Information/Registration:
The event is free of charge but
everyone is encouraged to
register at
www.tn.gov/comaging or
www.tnlifetime.eventbrite.
com. For further questions,
contact TCAD at 615-741-2056
or email tn.aging@tn.gov.
Partners include ETSU,
FTAAAD, Tennessee Hospital
Association (THA), TN SHIP,
SMP, Northeast State
Whether you are
young or young at
heart, aging is for
everyone.
Congressman Phil Roe.
Volume 2, Issue 4
Page 3
TennCare’s Managed Care Organizations
Contracts to AmeriGroup,
UnitedHealthcare and
BlueCare Tennessee have
been awared by the Bureau of
Tenncare. “All three managed
care organizations (MCOs)
have proven their ability to
efficiently administer our
integrated benefit package of
physical, behavioral and longterm care services and have
shown each is willing to take
additional steps to further
improve quality and better
align incentives for members
and providers,” said Health
Care Finance and
Administration Deputy
Chairman, Darin Gordon.
Each MCO will accept full
financial risk to participate in
the TennCare program and
will be paid fixed monthly
payment to manage and
deliver care to members. The
new contracts will take effect
January 1, 2015 with full
statewide implementation
completed by the end of 2015.
“TennCare is currently
working with health plans to
ensure the transition will go as
smoothly as possible for our
members,” Gordon said.
“Continuity of care is the
utmost concern as we plan for
implementation in 2015.”
AmeriGroup currently serves
approximately 208 million
members in 12 states and is
dedicated to offering real
solutions to improve health
care access and quality for
members, while proactively
working to reduce the overall
cost of care to taxpayers.
BlueCare Tennessee and Blue
Care are independent
licensees of the BlueCross
BlueShield Association. The
Chattanooga-based company
focuses on managing care and
providing quality health care
products, services and
information for government
programs. UnitedHealthcare
is an operating division of
UnitedHealth Group, the
largest single health carrier in
the United States, delivering
innovative products and
services to approximately 70
million Americans. TennCare
is the state’s Medicaid program
that provides health care to
1.2 million Tennesseans.
Chronic Disease and Diabetes Self-Management Programs
The First Tennessee Area Agency
on Aging & Disability (FTAAAD)
provides Chronic Disease SelfManagement and Diabetes SelfManagement programs as part of
our evidence-based programming.
These are effective, evidencebased community workshops to
improve chronic condition selfmanagement skills. In Tennessee,
the workshops are referred to as
Living Well with Chronic
Conditions or Take Charge of
Your Diabetes. The workshops
are offered once a week for six
weeks. Each session is 2.5 hours
long and may be held in your
local hospital or library, or in
settings such as a church,
community center or senior
center.
From October 1, 2013 to
September 30, 2014, three Living
Well with Chronic Conditions
workshops have been conducted,
with a total of 47 enrolled
(attended at least one session)
and 34 completers (participated
in at least four of the six
sessions) for a 72% completion
rate. A Take Charge of Your
Diabetes workshop was also
held, with a total of 13 enrolled
(attended at least 1 session) and
seven completers (participated in
at least 4 of the 6 sessions) for a
54% completion rate.
Every part of the workshop is a
valuable experience. The
philosophy is that the participants
guide each other while improving
skills that will help them become
more effective self-managers.
Currently, the Clinchfield Senior
Adult Center In Erwin is hosting
a Living Well with Chronic
Conditions workshop. The next
Take Charge of Your Diabetes
workshop will be held on
Thursday’s from October 9 –
November 13 at the Johnson
City Seniors’ Center at Memorial
Park Community Center from
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. If you
would like to register for the
Take Charge of Your Diabetes
workshop or need additional
information, please contact Tracy
Buckles, Health Promotions
Specialist, at 423-722-5109 or
tbuckles@ftaaad.org.
First Tennessee Area
Agency on Aging & Disability
Fraud and Financial
Exploitation Awareness
Senior Center
Spotlight
3211 N. Roan Street
Johnson City, TN 37601
Phone: 1-866-836-6678 (toll free)
SHIP Phone: 1-877-801-0044
Fax: 423-926-8291
E-mail: request@ftaaad.org
Newsletter Editor—Teresa Sutphin
tsutphin@ftaaad.org
We’re on the web:
www.ftaaad.org
No person shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national
origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
The services of the FTAAAD are funded in part by Title III of
the Older Americans Act and State funds through grants from
the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability.
Contributions are encouraged to support all programs but no
one is refused service for inability to pay.
The FTAAAD is part of the First Tennessee Development
District.
The Kingsport Senior Center’s
Artisan Center received a
Positive Images in Aging award at
the recent Southeastern
Association of Area Agencies on
Aging (SE4A) annual conference
held at Amelia Island, Florida, on
September 23. The Positive
Images of Aging award was
established by the SE4A to
recognize groups, agencies or
businesses in the private and/or
public sector who have, through
their efforts, presented a positive
image of older adults or
individuals whose platform has
impacted a large market. Shirley
Buchanan, Kingsport Senior
Center Director, pictured above
with Kathy Whitaker was on
hand to receive the award.
CONTRATULATIONS to the
Kingsport Senior Center Artisan
Center.
Scan our QR code to go directly
to the FTAAAD website
Governor Bill Haslam has
proclaimed the month of October,
2014, as Fraud and Financial
Exploitation Awareness Month.
Fraud and identity theft are some
of the most costly crimes
Americans face. According to
2013 Federal Trade Commission
data, there were more than 1.4
million fraud and identity theft
complaints representing more than
$1.6 billion in reported losses in
the U.S., with 21,757 of those
complaints representing more than
$21 million in reported losses
occurring in Tennessee. The
Division of Consumer Affairs
within the Tennessee Department
of Commerce and Insurance
works tirelessly to address and
mediate consumer complaints of
unfair and deceptive practices and
fraud. The Tennessee
Commission on Aging & Disability,
nine local Area Agencies on Aging
& Disability, and the Adult
Protective Services Division within
the Tennessee Department of
Human Services, are responsible
for awareness, prevention,
investigation, and reporting of
fraud and financial abuse crimes
against elderly and disabled adults
in Tennessee. If you suspect abuse
or neglect, contact Adult
Protective Services (APS) at 1-888APS-TENN or (1-888-277-8366).
UPCOMING EVENTS!!!!!
October 11-22, 2014—First
District Senior Olympics
October 13, 2014—Columbus Day
October 15—December 7, 2014—
Medicare Part D Open Enrollment
(see page 2 for more details)
October 18, 2014—Tennessee for a
Lifetime, 8:00 am—12:00 pm (see
page 2 for more details)
October 31, 2014—Halloween
November 5, 2014— NO NETVAC meeting
November 6, 2014—Washington
County Seniors and Law
Enforcement Together (SALT)
Council meeting, 2:00 p.m.,
Johnson City Seniors’ Center at
Memorial Park Community Center
November 11, 2014—Veterans
Day
November 27, 2014—
Thanksgiving Day
December 1, 2014—Cyber
Monday
December 4, 2014—Washington
County SALT Council, 2:00 pm,
Johnson City Seniors’ Center at
Memorial Park Community Center
December 21, 2014—First Day of
Winter
December 24, 2014—Christmas Eve
December 25, 2014—Christmas
Day
December 31, 2014—New Year’s
Eve
Happy Holidays!!!!!!