“LTCI Policyholders Should Try to Put Up With Rate Hikes: Jesse Slome,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Long-term care insurance (LTCI) policyholders who can afford to pay higher premiums should probably take a deep breath when the premiums go up and keep their current LTCI coverage in place. LTCI policyholders who can’t afford to pay the increased premiums should try to keep as much of the coverage in place as possible, by accepting one of the premium increase alternatives the issuer offers, or by calling up and ask if the insurer will consider allowing some other arrangement. Jesse Slome, the director
Read More

“Medicaid’s Dark Secret,” by Rachel Corbett, The Atlantic “‘It’s Medicaid, a low-income program, that has by default turned into our long-term-care system, and that is absolutely unsustainable,’ Matt Salo, the executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, told me. Defenders of estate recovery see it both as a way to control the high costs of long-term care and as a necessary check on those who could pay for such care but would rather the government foot the bill. (Nursing homes cost $89,000 a year, on average, for a semiprivate room.) Medicaid, Salo told me, is already struggling to
Read More

“Industry will need to get creative to address middle market needs, groups suggest at NIC meeting,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “Creating tax incentives, separating services from housing, repurposing existing facilities such as malls, partnering with health systems or other third parties, opening up residency to other groups, emphasizing wellness in programming. Those were some of the ideas that five ‘hackathon’ teams of industry experts came up with during a session at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care Fall Conference to help the industry serve middle-income older adults in the coming years.” LTC Comment (from
Read More

“Brief bursts of intense exercise normalizes blood pressure in older adults,” by Alicia Lasek, McKnight’s LTC News “Brief bursts of high-intensity exercise on a stationary bike has been found to bring blood pressure back to normal in older adults. Researchers say it may be time to rethink standard exercise advice for this age group. Participants in their 60s with diagnosed hypertension underwent sprint interval training twice a week: six-seconds of high-intensity cycling, broken by short periods of rest, for up to 12 minutes in duration.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): What doesn’t kill
Read More

“Medicare reform can no longer be ignored: Warnings from the 2019 Medicare trustees report,” by Joseph Antos and Robert E. Moffit, AEI Economic Perspectives “The latest annual Medicare trustees report highlights the program’s growing fiscal challenge and reflects policymakers’ ongoing failure to prepare Medicare for the future. Program spending on a per-beneficiary basis rose sharply in 2018 and is anticipated to accelerate with the influx of baby boomers turning age 65 and rising health care costs. Medicare’s Hospital Insurance (or Part A) trust fund becomes insolvent in 2026, but the program is already in trouble from a budget perspective. More
Read More

“Artificial Intelligence Models Identify Alzheimer’s Cognitive Decline,” by Jessica Kent, Health IT Analytics “A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed artificial intelligence tools to determine whether patients at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease will experience cognitive decline. The algorithm was able to predict patient cognition test scores up to two years in the future.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Algorithms make better diagnoses than medical doctors. Why shouldn’t they predict Alzheimer’s?      
Read More

“Scientists rethink Alzheimer’s, diversifying the drug search,” by Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press “For years researchers have been guided by one leading theory — that getting rid of a buildup of a sticky protein called amyloid would ease the mind-robbing disease. Yet drug after drug has failed. They might clear out the gunk, but they’re not stopping Alzheimer’s inevitable worsening. The new mantra: diversify. With more money — the government had a record $2.4 billion to spend on Alzheimer’s research this year — the focus has shifted to exploring multiple novel ways of attacking a disease now considered too complex for
Read More

“AHIP Backs Four Options for Long Term Care Reform,” by Kelsey Waddill, Health Payer Intelligence “America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) published its letter to the Federal Interagency Task Force on Long-Term Care Insurance (Task Force) agreeing with their decision to address long-term care insurance (LTCI) and offering suggestions on federal policy options related to LTCI. … AHIP lauded the Task Force’s mission in a letter responding to request for public comment. The payer organization then laid out four LTCI reforms from the 2017 federal policy options that the organization believes the Task Force should pursue.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President,
Read More

“How to mitigate risk when a resident needs a higher level of care,” by Brian McGovern, McKnight’s Senior Living “One of the primary reasons an older adult chooses to move to a life plan community (also known as a continuing care retirement community) is the security of knowing one can access a higher level of care — be it assisted living, memory care or skilled nursing — on the same campus should care needs become more pronounced during the remainder of his or her life. … Over that same time frame, however, the resident often will become attached to the
Read More

“Phishers Are Using the NAIC Logo to Hook Producers,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Cyber criminals have come up with a new strategy for getting insurance agents and brokers to click on dangerous links: They convey the idea that they’re insurance industry insiders by referring both to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and to the NAIC’s Center for Insurance Policy and Research (CIPR). The NAIC has posted an alert about the NAIC-based phishing strategy at the top of its start page, LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Don’t get hooked.      
Read More