“American Seniors Feeling the Inflation Heat,” by Lynn Brackpool Giles, 401K Specialist   Quote: “Add senior citizens to the list of Americans who are starting to experience the impact of rising inflation in retirement. The uptick in the cost of living and other economic factors is taking its toll on seniors, adding to their concern about making retirement dollars last, according to a new report from American Advisors Group (AAG), a reverse mortgage lending service. Economic inflation is the top worry with 66% of seniors worrying that it will have a negative impact on their retirement. And widowed or divorced senior women answered at the highest rate with 72% expressing concern.
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“Nearly all high-touch surfaces in LTC are contaminated, study finds,” by Amy Novotney, McKnight’s LTC News   Quote: “More than 90% of ‘high-touch’ surfaces in long-term care facilities, including handrails and equipment controls, are contaminated with fecal matter and other potential sources of infectious disease spread, according to a study released Thursday. … The researchers also found that surfaces touched by patients and visitors were twice as likely to have high levels of ATP [adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a bioluminescent chemical reaction that indicates the presence of organic material; norovirus] compared to those touched primarily by nursing and janitorial staff or by patients
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“Millions of People Could Lose Medicaid Coverage When the Pandemic Is Declared Over,” ElderLawAnswers   Quote: “While declining COVID-19 cases are good news, the end of the pandemic could mean millions of Medicaid recipients will lose their coverage. Federal law has prevented states from terminating Medicaid benefits while the coronavirus health emergency is in place.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: I suppose if you’re in the business of finding legal ways to qualify your affluent clients for a welfare program never intended to serve them, you’d be fine with the same program supporting
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“Assisted living rate increase grows 4.65 percent — more than skilled nursing but less than home care,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living   Quote: “The annual median rate in assisted living increased nationally by 4.65% in 2021, according to the results of Genworth’s 18th annual Cost of Care Survey, released Wednesday. … The change seen for assisted living is less than the increase seen for home care and more than the increase seen for skilled nursing, according to Genworth. The rate for a home health aide for activities of daily living help increased 12.5% in 2021 to an annual
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“Gap between patient costs, reimbursements hits $11 daily,” by Danielle Brown, McKnight’s LTC News   Quote: “Federal reimbursements for care during the public health emergency haven’t been enough to cover skilled nursing providers actual costs, according to a new analysis by Marcum LLP’s Healthcare Services Group. The New York-based advisory firm on Tuesday released its annual nursing home benchmarking study, which this year used more than 38,000 Medicare cost reports between 2018-2020. The analysis showed PHE [public health emergency] reimbursements averaged $24.98 per patient day in 2020, while the year-over-year change in total cost from 2019 to 2020 averaged $35.98 per
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