“HHS Office of Inspector General plans assisted living report,” by Lois A. Bowers, ThinkAdvisor “Assisted living providers who serve Medicaid beneficiaries will be the focus of a report released by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2020, the office said Thursday in releasing updates to its work plan.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): As high as 19% of assisted living residents are on Medicaid nowadays. This IG report is one to watch. We’ll keep an eye on it and let you
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“GE shares tank more than 13% after Madoff whistleblower calls it a ‘bigger fraud than Enron’,” by John Melloy and Kate Rooney, CNBC “General Electric shares fell more than 13% Thursday after Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos targeted the conglomerate in a new report, accusing it of issuing fraudulent financial statements to hide the extent of its problems. … One area of Markopolos’ case focuses on GE’s long-term care insurance unit, for which the company had to boost reserves by $15 billion last year. By examining the filings of GE’s counterparties in this business, he alleges that GE is hiding massive losses
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“ObamaCare’s Medicaid Deception,” by Brian Blase and Aaron Yelowitz, Wall Street Journal “ObamaCare wasn’t supposed to give free health insurance to everybody. The Affordable Care Act’s authors expected the poor would enroll in Medicaid, while those with higher incomes would buy coverage through the new insurance exchanges, with subsidies that decrease as income rises. It isn’t working. A study published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that in several Medicaid-expansion states most people who gained coverage have enrolled in Medicaid regardless of their income. In practice, ObamaCare has turned Medicaid into an entitlement program for the middle class.
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“CalPERS faces ‘very serious risk’ in $1.2 billion long-term care case, judge warns,” by Wes Venteicher, The State Worker “A judge is urging CalPERS to settle a major lawsuit over price increases for its long-term care insurance policies, suggesting the system could have to pay a lot of money if the lawsuit goes to a jury trial in October. … Superior Court Judge William Highberger issued a tentative ruling last month saying he was inclined to decide CalPERS raised rates for an impermissible reason for a group of about 85,000 policyholders with a unique plan benefit.”   LTC Comment (from
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“Genworth Finds Buyer for Canadian Mortgage Insurance Unit,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “A big asset manager has agreed to pay about $1.8 billion for Genworth Financial Inc.’s 56.9% stake in the Genworth MI Canada Inc. mortgage insurance business, Genworth announced today. The would-be buyer, Brookfield Business Partners L.P., hopes to close on the deal by Dec. 31, Genworth said. … Selling Genworth MI Canada could help Genworth move ahead with the China Oceanwide deal, Genworth said.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Slow but steady progress.  
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“Alzheimer’s and dementia leading cause of death in England and Wales,” by Amelia Hill, The Guardian “With the numbers of people living with dementia in the UK expected to rise to 1 million by 2021, campaigners are urging the government to fulfill its pledges on adult social care, including publishing its long-awaited green paper. In his first speech as prime minister, Boris Johnson vowed to solve the UK’s social care crisis ‘once and for all,’ asserting that he would protect the elderly from the fear of having to sell their home to pay for the cost of care.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen
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“5 Cheapest Countries for Retirement (Some of Which May Surprise You),” by Marlene Satter, ThinkAdvisor “Some think of retirement as a last chance to do something nobody would expect, something different. But if there’s little retirement money saved, is it even possible? Well, be of good cheer, because GoBankingRates has looked into the matter to find places to spend retirement abroad. Using Numbeo, an online pricing database, to identify 50 countries that are the cheapest in the world to live during retirement, GoBankingRates ranked those countries by four key affordability metrics—and then measured each metric against what you would find in New York City.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen
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“Class-Action Lawsuit Seeks To Let Medicare Patients Appeal Gap in Nursing Home Coverage,” by Susan Jaffe, Kaiser Health News “If they win, people with traditional Medicare who received observation care services for three days or longer since Jan. 1, 2009, could file appeals seeking reimbursement for bills Medicare would have paid had they been admitted to the hospital. More than 1.3 million observation claims meet these criteria for the 10-year period through 2017, according to the most recently available government data.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): The “observation stay” rule never seemed
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“To Save Money, American Patients And Surgeons Meet In Cancun,” by Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News “Medical tourism has been around for decades but has become more common in the past 20 years as more countries and hospitals around the world market themselves to foreigners. There are, of course, risks to going outside the country, including the headache of travel and the possibility that the standards of care may be lower than at home. If something goes wrong, patients will be far from family and friends who can help — and it might be more difficult to sue providers in
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“How Assisted Living Improves Quality of Life,” by Ruben Castaneda, U.S. News & World Report “From arranging social events to helping residents manage their medication, staff members at assisted living facilities can boost the living standards of seniors in ways large and small. … Here are seven ways assisted living can improve residents’ quality of life:”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Click through for the slide deck.  
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