Friday, 23 October, 2026
The capture of accused laboratory owner Emylee Thai in Vietnam has attracted considerable attention in Orange County’s Vietnamese American community. Thai allegedly lived in both Orange County, California, and Harris County, Texas. She owned or controlled ApolloMDx, later renamed Artemis DNA TX, and an affiliated laboratory based in Orange County. […]
The Orange County–connected laboratory owner was wanted for nearly four years, but federal authorities have not yet confirmed her extradition to the United States The FBI announced on September 14, 2026, that Emylee Thai, an Orange County and Houston laboratory owner accused of participating in a massive Medicare genetic-testing and […]
Original Medicare pays a large portion of approved medical expenses—but not everything. Beneficiaries may still be responsible for hospital deductibles, copayments and generally 20% of Medicare-approved outpatient costs. Original Medicare also has no annual out-of-pocket limit. Medicare Supplement Insurance, commonly called “Medigap,” helps pay some of these remaining expenses. What […]
Initial Enrollment Period, 2026 costs, plan choices, and the rules that are easy to confuse The short answer: Your Initial Enrollment Period usually lasts seven months: the three months before the month you turn 65, your birthday month, and the three months after. Enroll before your birthday month when possible […]
When one spouse requires nursing-home care, the couple may discover that they own too many countable assets for Medicaid—but cannot afford to pay privately for many years. A Medicaid-compliant annuity may help in certain cases. It is especially useful when one spouse enters a nursing home while the other continues […]
Passing Medicaid’s income test is only the beginning. Applicants must also satisfy an asset test. A retiree could receive less than the $2,982 monthly income benchmark but still be ineligible because of savings, investments or other countable property. Conversely, someone with little savings but income exceeding $2,982 may need an […]
Many retirees believe Medicare will pay for nursing-home care because they have paid Medicare taxes throughout their working years. Unfortunately, Medicare generally does not cover extended custodial nursing-home care. Medicaid may provide this coverage, but eligibility depends on medical need, income, assets and state-specific requirements. Medicare and Medicaid are not […]
Who Pays—And What You Must Understand Throughout this series, we explored three deeply connected questions that many families eventually face—but few are fully prepared to answer: What kind of medical care would you want if you could no longer speak for yourself? Who would make decisions on your behalf? And […]
Who Will Speak for You When You No Longer Can? If a Living Will answers the question, “What do you want?” then a Medical Power of Attorney answers another equally important question: “Who will speak for you?” In reality, many medical decisions cannot be predicted in advance or fully written […]
At some point in life—especially after entering our mid-50s, 60s, and beyond—we begin facing difficult questions: If one day we are no longer mentally capable of expressing our wishes, who will make decisions on our behalf? And what will those decisions be based on? Many older adults in the United […]