“What is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ New AHEAD Model?,” by Alice Burns, KFF “In September 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new opportunity for states to leverage federal funding on health care: the Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) model. With this model, CMS–under the auspices of the CMS Innovation Center, also known as CMMI–aims to reduce the rate of growth in health care spending, improve people’s health, and reduce disparities in health outcomes. To achieve those broad aims, state demonstration programs will involve multiple programs and strategies, but the
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“Investors predict senior living rent increases of 3 to 7 percent,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “Sixty-six percent of respondents to a newly released survey said they expect rental rate increases of 3% to 7% over the next 12 months for active adult, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities. No respondents said they anticipate rent decreases for any long-term care asset class. … The full report is available here.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: As higher interest rates and inflation ramify through the LTC economy, consumers will have to pony up.
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“Bold Changes Are in Store for Medi-Cal in 2024, but Will Patients Benefit?,” by Bernard J. Wolfson, KFF Health News “California’s safety-net health program, Medi-Cal, is on the cusp of major changes that could rectify long-standing problems and improve health care for the state’s low-income population. … Beginning next year, over 700,000 immigrants without permanent legal residency will become eligible for full Medi-Cal coverage. … Another big change for Medi-Cal is the elimination of the so-called asset limit test for a certain subset of enrollees, including people who are aged, blind, disabled, in long-term care, or on Medicare. In addition
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“Negative Wealth Shock and Cognitive Decline and Dementia in Middle-Aged and Older US Adults,” by Liulu Pan, Bin Gao, Junpeng Zhu, et al., JAMA “Question  Is an experience of negative wealth shock—a loss of 75% or more in total wealth over a 2-year period—associated with cognitive decline and dementia risks among middle-aged and older US adults? Findings  In this cohort study of 8082 participants, those with negative wealth shock had faster decline in cognition and elevated risks of dementia when compared with those who had positive wealth without shock. Meaning  These findings suggest that negative wealth shock is a risk factor for cognitive
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“Americans Over 70 Hold More Than 30% of the Country’s Wealth,” by Alex Tanzi, Yahoo!Finance “Most don’t work anymore, but Americans age 70 and older have seen their share of collective wealth surge during the pandemic. As a group, these older baby boomers have accumulated more than $14 trillion in additional net worth since the end 2019, based on Federal Reserve data. Their share of the country’s wealth has jumped to a record 30% last quarter, even though they account for 11% of the population.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Our new report
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“Aging Into Uncertainty: How will we navigate the looming long-term care crisis?,” by Melissa Bova, Advisor Magazine “The impact of the long-term care issue extends beyond individual households, affecting communities and placing strain on public resources. As a nation, acknowledging the urgency of this problem is the first step toward fostering a society that values the well-being of its aging citizens and ensures access to the necessary care and support. As individuals, older populations are struggling with the costs of long-term care, and the younger generation is grappling with how to support aging parents and, therefore, considering what will happen
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