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Show The Sunday VIEW - Real Estate Section ... HR Protecting Our Environment TURNING TRASH INTO CASH The city of Seattle has discovered a newr incentive to encourage in recycling that hits the pocketbook, and uses technology to do it. Seattle, a city that adopted a leadership role in the drive to recycle, has a municipal pilot program using bar codes, hand-helbar code scanners, and portable data collection terminals to monitor non-recycle- rs AND MEDICARE Jm Help For Nursing Home Worries By Martha A. McSteen President $80-a-da- y The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Ten years ago, private insurance long-tercare was virtually unavailable. Now, more than 100 companies have sold more than 1.7 million policies. More than 550,000 individuals have purchased policies since January, 1989. Since Medicare covers only limited, skilled nurs- 1 1 t ing care, private in- surance is right now the only way to plan ,, on paying for nursing home care, long-terMcSteen or custodial care. of care Buyers private long-terinsurance are looking to protect their assets and avoid welfare. Unfortunately, current policies still cannot guarantee either goal. Most have some maximum or time limits. United Seniors Health Cooperative, a Washington, D.C. area consumer group, advises against insurance for individuals with an annual income of less than $15,000 and assets less than $50,000. Inflation protection and cash value should be important considerations, especially for younger buy for d ers. In 20 years, moderate inflation can reduce the value of an benefit by half. Cash value is important if a senior can no longer afford the premiums. If there is no cash value, a senior could have nothing to show for years of premiums. These policies are being improved so often that consumers who bought one just a few years ago should consider upgrading it. You can learn more about issues of special concern to older Americans, including Social Security and Medicare, by joining the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, an organization devoted to improving retirement income and health care. Free brochure about the organization and a copy of its newspaper are available by writing to: National Committee, 2000 K Street, N.W., Washington, m 1 m m D.C. 20006. Martha A. McSteen is President of the five million member National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. She spent 39 years with the Social Security Administration, rising from claims representative to acting Commissioner. As one of the ten original Regional Medicare Administrators, Mrs. McSteen has an understanding of Medicare unique in the nation. le trash collections. Though the nationwide trash is staggering (households pile-u- p sent 1.7 billion tons of trash to municipal dumps in 1989) Seattle recycles an impressive 37 percent of its solid waste. City officials hope to reach 60 percent by 1998. The pilot program works like this: Under the system residents are charged per pound of trash for garbage collections. A single route representing 1,500 people was selected for a test. Each trash container used for garbage is labeled with a bar code linked in a central computer to the name, address and phone number of the owner. Before the garbage vehicle operator empties the can into t he truck, he weighs the container on a digital scale attached to the back of the truck and scans the bar code label with a Symbol Technologies handheld scanner. The operator enters the weight into a portable data collection terminal attached to a console on the back of the truck. At the end ofthe day, all the information is sent to a computer. Every month, residents are charged for their non- le A new recycling program means lower garbage collection bills for residents and additional revenues for the city. recyclable trash, and the data is used by the city for research. Symbol Technologies hardware, a familiar sight at checkout counters nationwide, was selected especially for the task. The LS 8500 scanner is one of the toughest scanners on the market and reads bar code labels that may not stay in perfect shape. It is environmentally sealed, operates in harsh environments, including rainy, cold Seattle winters, and withstands a drop to concrete. With the new system, each resident can be assured that his or her monthly bill will reflect the actual quantity of trash removed. In an era when everything is bar coded, from soup cans to beers, it is timely that bar coding may provide the five-fo- ot answer to a growing national problem. |