“Growth in Medicare Advantage Spending Far Outpaces Traditional Medicare,” by Alex Spanko, Skilled Nursing News “The growth in overall spending on nursing homes in the United States slowed for the second consecutive year in 2017, according to the latest analysis from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) — while Medicare Advantage spending skyrocketed. All payers spent $166.3 billion at nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) last year, up from $163.0 billion in 2016. That works out to spending growth of 2.0%, down from last year’s gain of 3.1%. … The rise of Medicare Advantage has
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“U.S. healthcare spending growth slows for second year in a row,” Reuters “Healthcare spending growth in the United States slowed for the second year in a row in 2017, mainly due to slower spending growth for hospital care, physician and clinical services as well as retail prescription drugs, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): National health expenditure data for 2017 covering nursing facilities and home health care were just released. We’ll publish our annual LTC Bullet “So What if the Government
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“Paying for Long-Term Care: How It’s Changing,” by Amy Fontinelle, Investopedia “Insurance companies are trying to change that. ‘If I had to summarize a single technique being employed by all the major players, it’d be a convergence around smaller benefits,’ says Stephen D. Forman, CLTC, senior vice president of Long Term Care Associates, an insurance agency in Bellevue, Wash. Smaller policies are the way for insurers to reach the middle-market consumer, so insurers are offering policies with lower limits and more-flexible premium payment periods. Programs in the research and pilot stages include one that starts as a term life insurance
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“Boomers Create a Surge in Luxury Care Communities,” by Scott James, New York Times “Now, as the baby boom generation is about to enter its most senior years, billions of dollars are being invested in a building surge for high-end housing. The investments will test limits of consumer spending in an industry where regulations are inconsistent or lacking, and contracts are criticized for being confusing and complex. … The potential market is huge. By some industry estimates, 20 percent of baby boomers, or about 15 million people, have saved enough to afford private continuing care, with many expected to demand
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“Demand Grows, Challenges Increase for Senior Housing in Low-Density Markets,” by Chuck Sudo, Senior Housing News “The coming wave of aging baby boomers will present several challenges to a senior living industry already struggling to meet the demand of seniors who cannot afford market rate independent living, assisted living or memory care. In particular, the population of older adults is quickly growing in low-density areas where it’s especially difficult to build affordable senior living projects. The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University released a new report that indicates the leading edge of the silver tsunami is already
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“Medicare Players Team Up for 2020 Chronic Care Push,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Policymakers in Washington once tried to keep Medicare out of the chronic care and non-medical care markets, in part to give commercial insurers a chance to establish a private market for long-term care insurance (LTCI). Now, major carriers are showing less interest in offering private LTCI, and, in some cases, saying that they would prefer to participate in public-private LTC benefits hybrid programs. Earlier this year, managers of the Medicare Advantage program eased obstacles to carriers offering limited amounts of chronic care benefits through that program, by
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“Opinion: This isn’t your grandpa’s Social Security system,” by Martin Feldstein, MarketWatch “The current structure of pension systems in most developed countries cannot be sustained without cutting benefit levels substantially or introducing much higher taxes. A shift to a mixed system that combines the stability of the pay-as-you-go benefits with the higher return of market-based investments would permit countries to avoid that choice altogether.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): More sensible advice about Social Security.  
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“In GE Probe, Ex-Staffers Say Insurance Risks Were Ignored,” by Thomas Gryta and David Benoit, Wall Street Journal (gated) “Federal investigators are questioning former employees of General Electric Co. GE 2.58% about intricate details in a legacy insurance business that led to accounting problems at the conglomerate in the past year. The insurance business failed to internally acknowledge worsening results over the years, according to several former GE employees who said they have been interviewed by government lawyers. They described in interviews for this article examples of what they call lax managerial oversight and buried risks that ultimately kept the company from booking bigger reserves.
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“Paying for Long-Term Care: How It’s Changing,” by Amy Fontinelle, Investopedia “Insurance companies are trying to change that. ‘If I had to summarize a single technique being employed by all the major players, it’d be a convergence around smaller benefits,’ says Stephen D. Forman, CLTC, senior vice president of Long Term Care Associates, an insurance agency in Bellevue, Wash. Smaller policies are the way for insurers to reach the middle-market consumer, so insurers are offering policies with lower limits and more-flexible premium payment periods. Programs in the research and pilot stages include one that starts as a term life insurance
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“Generational Wealth Transfer to Hit $68 Trillion Over 25 Years: Cerulli,” by Marlene Satter, ThinkAdvisor “In 25 years, Generation X will replace baby boomers as the biggest wealth wielders. That’s according to a Cerulli report that predicts the transfer of a total of $68 trillion in wealth over the next quarter century by nearly 45 million households. According to the report, U.S. High-Net-Worth and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Markets 2018: Shifting Demographics of Private Wealth, boomers will account for close to 70% of those households, shifting approximately $48 trillion. … Cheses added, “Gen Xers stand to be the primary beneficiary of wealth transferred
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