“I Spent 30 Years Advising Families On Senior Care — And I Still Wasn’t Ready To Take Care Of My Mom,” by Jody Gastfriend, Forbes “For over 30 years, I’ve worked in the field of senior care, much of it supporting family caregivers — the unsung heroes of our nation’s system of long-term care. … I lead a team of social workers who provide personalized guidance and support to employees facing family care challenges. I wrote a book about the burdens and benefits of caregiving called My Parent’s Keeper: The Guilt, Grief, Guesswork and Unexpected Gifts of Caregiving. I’ve also experienced caregiving firsthand
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“Many Americans Will Need Long-Term Care. Most Won’t be Able to Afford It,” by Paula Span, New York Times “A recent analysis in Health Affairs, pointedly titled ‘The Forgotten Middle,’ investigated how many middle-income seniors will be caught in that bind. The numbers were grim. … Policy types instead suggest more incremental changes by both government and industry. Perhaps Medicaid could cover seniors with slightly higher incomes, or modify its regulations to include housing costs along with health care.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Yeah, just what we need: Easier access to Medicaid for
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“Almost Half of Americans Take Prescription Drugs: CDC,” by Shelly Hagan, ThinkAdvisor “About 46% of the U.S. population used one or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days, according to a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). … Older adults, aged 60 and above, had the highest share of drug use at 85%. Nearly half of the older population used prescription drugs to combat high cholesterol, while more than one in five use anti-diabetic drugs.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): How scary is that? No wonder we have a
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“Older Americans are relying too much on Social Security as a main source of income,” by Paul Davidson, USA Today “Many older Americans view Social Security as a financial workhorse for their golden years. Yet the program provides far less income than they think, partly because they tap the entitlement before reaching retirement age, a new survey shows. … Despite their reliance on Social Security, two-thirds of future retirees worry the program will run out of funding in their lifetime, the survey shows. That’s another big reason they tap benefits early, Ambrozy says.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President,
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“States approving bigger rate increases for long-term care policies,” by Greg Iacurci, InvestmentNews “While insurance companies have increased premiums with regularity over the past several years — often leaving policyholders to choose between paying the higher bill, lapsing their policies or receiving reduced benefits — it appears insurers have recently been getting approval for much larger rate increases than in the past.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Good news. Now if the government “social insurance” programs were preparing to meet their unfunded liabilities, we could cheer that too. But don’t hold your breath.
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