“Trump’s new rule will give businesses and workers better health care options,” by Brian Blase, CNN Business “Starting on January 1, 2020, employers will be able to offer their workers HRAs to buy individual market coverage for themselves and their families. The administration’s new rule addresses a major inequity by, in effect, providing the same tax advantage that traditional employer-sponsored group plans receive — exclusion of premiums from federal income or payroll taxes — to coverage that workers in the individual market purchase from an HRA.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Very important
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“Medicaid Financial Eligibility for Seniors and People with Disabilities: Findings from a 50-State Survey,” by MaryBeth Musumeci, Priya Chidambaram, and Molly O’Malley Watts, Kaiser Family Foundation “Medicaid is an essential source of coverage for medical and long-term services and supports (LTSS) for many seniors and nonelderly adults and children with disabilities. Aside from the core group of SSI beneficiaries, pathways to full Medicaid eligibility based on old age or disability are provided at state option. This issue brief presents the latest state-level data on Medicaid financial eligibility criteria and adoption of key age and disability-related pathways (Figure 1). It also analyzes
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“Social Security Is Staring at Its First Real Shortfall in Decades,” by Jeff Sommer, New York Times “A slow-moving crisis is approaching for Social Security, threatening to undermine a central pillar in the retirement of tens of millions of Americans. Next year, for the first time since 1982, the program must start drawing down its assets in order to pay retirees all of the benefits they have been promised, according to the latest government projections. Unless a political solution is reached, Social Security’s so-called trust funds are expected to be depleted within about 15 years. Then, something that has been unimaginable for
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“Caring for a Family Member Can Take a Toll on One’s Career,” Advisor Magazine “According to LIMRA research, there are 43 million Americans currently acting as an unpaid caregiver for a family member. Advances in medicine and better lifestyle choices have helped more Americans live longer but many of these older Americans often need caregiving help – and oftentimes it falls on the family to provide it. LIMRA wanted to learn how caregiving for a family member impacted their family’s finances. Aside from the out-of-pocket costs associated with caring for a loved one, which AARP estimates is almost $7000 annually, there
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“Early-Onset AD Linked With LDL Cholesterol,” by Vicki Brower, MedPage Today “Elevated LDL cholesterol levels were tied to a higher probability of early-onset AD, a case series showed. Early-onset Alzheimer’s patients had higher levels of LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B (Apo B) levels, even after adjusting for the apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE E4) allele — a genetic risk factor known to raise circulating cholesterol, reported Thomas Wingo, MD, of Emory University in Atlanta, and colleagues.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Factors that can increase your risk of LDL cholesterol include poor
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