“12% of Medicare Advantage Plans Will Offer Expanded Supplemental Benefits in 2020,” by Robert Holly, Home Health Care News “The Medicare Advantage boom for home care is almost here. Ever since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) first expanded the scope of Medicare Advantage (MA) supplemental benefits in April 2018, at-home care providers have been trying to figure out they fit into a potentially new reimbursement puzzle. … Overall, at least 364 plans will take advantage of CMS’s more flexible MA policies in 2020, according to the Milliman study, which was commissioned by the Washington, D.C.-based Better Medicare Alliance.
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“How Much Do Medicare Beneficiaries Spend Out of Pocket on Health Care?,” by Juliette Cubanski, et al., Kaiser Family Foundation “In 2016, the average person with Medicare coverage spent $5,460 out of their own pocket for health care (Figure 1). This average includes spending by community residents and beneficiaries residing in long-term care facilities (5% of all beneficiaries in traditional Medicare). Among community residents alone, average out-of-pocket spending on premiums and health care services was $4,519 in 2016. But some groups of beneficiaries spent substantially more than others. Current Medicare-for-all proposals in Congress and from presidential candidates would largely eliminate out-of-pocket costs
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“Wearable activity trackers a reliable tool for predicting death risk in older adults,” MedicalXPress “A federally funded study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers shows that wearable accelerometers—mechanical sensors worn like a watch, belt or bracelet to track movement—are a more reliable measure of physical activity and better than patient surveys and other methods used by physicians at assessing five-year risk of death in older adults.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): No wonder Google bought Fitbit: more searchers longer.
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“What Retirement? People Over 65 Are Launching Encore Careers and Finding Fulfillment Like Never Before,” by Alix Langone, CNN Money “A growing number of older Americans are challenging the idea of traditional retirement, as more retirees decide they want to keep working or pursue passions after leaving the rat race behind: the number of Americans age 65 and over who continue to work has doubled since 1985, according to a study by United Income. Some people simply need to keep a paycheck coming in to cover the bills, but many want some combination of rewarding work on their own terms
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“CDC: U.S. life expectancy rises slightly, mortality rates fall compared to ’07,” by Alicia Lasek, McKnight’s LTC News “Long-Term Care Planning Is Still a Great Way to Connect With Clients: Kristi Rodriguez,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “United States life expectancy has increased slightly and mortality rates are down compared to 2007 numbers, while nursing homes are the third-most-used long-term care service, according to new data released this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Life expectancy rose to 78.6 years in 2017 – up 0.5 years from 2007, reported the agency’s National Center for Health Statistics. In
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