It’s Now Harder for Veterans to Qualify for Long-Term Care Benefits,” ElderLawAnswers “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has finalized new rules that make it more difficult to qualify for long-term care benefits. The rules establish an asset limit, a look-back period, and asset transfer penalties for claimants applying for VA pension benefits that require a showing of financial need. The principal such benefit for those needing long-term care is Aid and Attendance.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Aid and Attendance is now welfare for long-term care, like Medicaid. Yet another reason veterans
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“Universal Life Insurance, a 1980s Sensation, Has Backfired,” by Leslie Scism, Wall Street Journal “Universal life was a sensation when it premiered, and for some years it worked as advertised. It included both insurance and a savings account that earns income to help pay future costs and keep the premium the same. That was when interest rates were in the high single digits or above. Today, rates are completing a decade at historically low levels, crimping the savings accounts. Meanwhile, the aging of the earliest customers into their 70s, 80s and even 90s has driven the yearly cost of insuring their
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“When Family Members Care for Aging Parents,” by Sandeep Jauhar, New York Times “Insurers should also set aside funds to support these caregivers. Family members are often the people most invested in the care of their loved ones. Supporting them will only benefit our most vulnerable citizens. It won’t be cheap, of course. Because of the size of this unpaid family work force, even providing minimum wage to the most taxed caregivers could cost up to $100 billion annually.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): What will the doubling of the demented population mean
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“Number of people with Alzheimer’s to double by 2060, CDC predicts,” by Lois Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “The number of people in the United States with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias is expected to double by 2060, according to a study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014, there were 5 million people, or 1.6% of the U.S. population, who had dementia. By 2060, according to the research, 13.9 million people, or almost 3.3% of the population, will have the disease. Of those with dementia, 51% will be aged 85 or more years, 35% will
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“Low Medicaid Rates Cause Skilled Nursing Crisis in Washington State,” by Maggie Flynn, Skilled Nursing News “It’s unlikely that the state of Washington intended to put its skilled nursing facilities on the brink of disaster when it overhauled its Medicaid system in 2016, but leaders of both LeadingAge Washington and the Washington Health Care Association (WHCA) said that’s exactly what has occurred as providers across the state try to keep their doors open. … Though there are different estimates of how big the gap is between that rate and the cost of providing care to a Medicaid resident, providers agree
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“Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible care models provide highly coordinated healthcare services to help beneficiaries navigate their healthcare options,” by Thomas Beaton, HealthPayerIntelligence “An AHIP report outlines three types of care models that it says offer coordinated care and address the unique needs of beneficiaries who are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans, Medicare Advantage plans that normally offer both Medicare and Medicaid benefits, are poised to offer greater integration; Medicare-Medicaid Plans, which cover individualized care for each enrollee, are the newest and most integrated option; and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly are designed to help elderly
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“To Manage Dementia Well, Start With The Caregivers,” by Lauren Gravitz, NPR “Researchers have shown that the majority of people with dementia are cared for at home by members of their family. And that those family members, in turn, have higher incidence of stress and depression, as well as lower overall quality of life. ‘The trick seems to be in training family caregivers to spot triggers of behavior and problem-solve around those triggers, to look for underlying causes and then creatively develop strategies,’ Kales says. But such approaches are rarely employed because there’s no systematic way to teach people how
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