“Diet Study Suggests It’s Carbs, Not Fats, That Are Bad for You”

“Diet Study Suggests It’s Carbs, Not Fats, That Are Bad for You,” by Dennis Thompson, HealthDay “A large, 18-country study may turn current nutritional thinking on its head. The new research suggests that it’s not the fat in your diet that’s raising your risk of premature death, it’s too many carbohydrates — especially the refined, processed kinds of carbs — that may be the real killer. The research also found that eating fruits, vegetables and legumes can lower your risk of dying prematurely. But three or four servings a day seemed to be plenty. Any additional servings didn’t appear to
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“How Well Do We Age in the U.S.? Check Our Scores”

“How Well Do We Age in the U.S.? Check Our Scores,” by Judith Graham, Next Avenue “The U.S. has a long way to go in becoming a truly age-friendly society, according to a new international scorecard — the most comprehensive assessment to date of how nations across the world are responding to their aging populations. Results were released last month at the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics’ World Congress in San Francisco. The United States performed well, overall. With a score of 59.8 (out of a possible 100), it came in third of 18 countries for which composite scores
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Home Health Care: Shouldn’t It Be Work Worth Doing?”

“Home Health Care: Shouldn’t It Be Work Worth Doing?,” by Eduardo Porter, New York Times “How to provide long-term care for a fast-aging population poses one of the more convoluted challenges of the American labor market. Care providers — home health aides, personal care attendants and certified nursing assistants, in the government’s classification — are expected to be among the nation’s fastest-growing occupations. The Department of Labor’s economists expect about a million more will be added from 2014 to 2024. And yet despite their critical importance to the well-being of tens of millions of aging Americans, one-fourth of these aides
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Study: Drinking four cups of coffee daily lowers risk of death”

“Study: Drinking four cups of coffee daily lowers risk of death,” by Brett Molina, USA Today “Feel free to pour that second, third, or even fourth cup of coffee this morning. Higher consumption of coffee is connected to a lower risk of death, says a study presented by Spanish researchers during the European Society of Cardiology Congress held in Barcelona. . . . The study found participants who drank at least four cups of coffee a day had a 64% lower risk of death than those who never or almost never drank coffee.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President,
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Complete Your Pre-Retirement Checklist”

“Complete Your Pre-Retirement Checklist,” by Wendy Connick, The Motley Fool “Before you finally and officially retire, it’s important to make sure you’re ready for such a huge shift in your lifestyle and your finances. Much like a pilot will complete the tasks on a pre-flight checklist before the plane ever leaves the ground, you should read through and complete the tasks on your retirement checklist before deciding to leave the workforce forever. “Look into long-term care insurance (10-15 years before retirement) If you’re going to buy long-term care insurance, the best time to do so is in your 50s, not
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Americans’ likelihood of requiring SNF care ‘substantially’ higher than thought, study finds”

“Americans’ likelihood of requiring SNF care ‘substantially’ higher than thought, study finds,” by Emily Mongan, McKnight’s LTC News “The average American’s risk of needing skilled nursing care at some point in their life is 60% greater than previous studies have shown, according to new research. . . . The researchers’ increased estimate may be due to a recent shift toward shorter nursing home stays, as hospitals seek to reign in their costs by discharging patients to nursing facilities sooner, researchers noted. The study found that short nursing home stays of 21 nights or fewer increased by six percentage points from
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Long-term care insurance becomes more expensive, even as the cost of aging skyrockets”

“Long-term care insurance becomes more expensive, even as the cost of aging skyrockets,” by Mary Katherine Wildeman, Post and Courier “Barbara Franklin has slowly watched over the years as companies offering long-term care insurance have dropped out and premiums have become difficult to afford. As a long-term care specialist and the owner of Franklin & Associates, she said she guides her clients through the decisions they’re faced with as they approach retirement. Often the choices are impossible. While long-term insurance costs rise, so, too, do the debilitating costs of long-term care. An annual cost estimate from Fidelity Investments found last
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

Medicare Supplement News – Sentinel Security Life

Medicare Supplement Rate Adjustments in Many States – Effective 10/1/2017 It’s the time when Medicare Supplement Rate Adjustments are happening in multiple states. The following grid lists all of the current states experiencing rate adjustments. Arizona Iowa Nevada South Dakota Colorado Kansas New Mexico Texas Idaho Louisiana North Dakota Washington Illinois Nebraska Oklahoma Wyoming   Letters to existing policy holders regarding the rate adjustments will be mailed according to the required state notification period. Please view the state notifications within the announcement for more details.   Medicare Supplement Rate Adjustments   #goldencareagent #sentinel
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Categories: Medicare Supp./Adv. and Sentinel Security Life.

Sentinel Independence Day Holiday Office Hours

Holiday Office Hours Our administrative offices will be closed all day on Monday, September 4, 2017 in observance of Labor Day. We will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, September 5, 2017. Commission that would have been paid on September 4th will be paid on September 5th per our regular schedule.   Change is Coming! We are updating our Agent Portal to provide better services for you! Soon you will be able to access your client files, commission statements, illustration software, electronic applications and product forms all from one website using one login. Stay tuned for more information. #goldencareagent #sentinel
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Categories: Industry News, Life Insurance, Medicare Supp./Adv., and Sentinel Security Life.

“This Is How Much Your Kids Are Worth”

“This Is How Much Your Kids Are Worth,” by Suzanne Woolley, Bloomberg   “Michael Hurd doesn’t have a long-term-care insurance policy, but he does have something likely to prove valuable in his old age, however—two daughters. Few Americans assign a dollar amount to the worth of their children—they are without price. But as lead author of a new study looking at nursing home cost and use, Hurd can quantify the value that daughters, and children in general, bring to parents facing one of life’s most dreaded prospects: a stay in a nursing home.” LTC Comment (from Damon V. Moses, Administrative Coordinator, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): If
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.