“When Family Members Care for Aging Parents,” by Sandeep Jauhar, New York Times “Insurers should also set aside funds to support these caregivers. Family members are often the people most invested in the care of their loved ones. Supporting them will only benefit our most vulnerable citizens. It won’t be cheap, of course. Because of the size of this unpaid family work force, even providing minimum wage to the most taxed caregivers could cost up to $100 billion annually.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): What will the doubling of the demented population mean
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“Number of people with Alzheimer’s to double by 2060, CDC predicts,” by Lois Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “The number of people in the United States with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias is expected to double by 2060, according to a study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014, there were 5 million people, or 1.6% of the U.S. population, who had dementia. By 2060, according to the research, 13.9 million people, or almost 3.3% of the population, will have the disease. Of those with dementia, 51% will be aged 85 or more years, 35% will
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“Low Medicaid Rates Cause Skilled Nursing Crisis in Washington State,” by Maggie Flynn, Skilled Nursing News “It’s unlikely that the state of Washington intended to put its skilled nursing facilities on the brink of disaster when it overhauled its Medicaid system in 2016, but leaders of both LeadingAge Washington and the Washington Health Care Association (WHCA) said that’s exactly what has occurred as providers across the state try to keep their doors open. … Though there are different estimates of how big the gap is between that rate and the cost of providing care to a Medicaid resident, providers agree
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“Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible care models provide highly coordinated healthcare services to help beneficiaries navigate their healthcare options,” by Thomas Beaton, HealthPayerIntelligence “An AHIP report outlines three types of care models that it says offer coordinated care and address the unique needs of beneficiaries who are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans, Medicare Advantage plans that normally offer both Medicare and Medicaid benefits, are poised to offer greater integration; Medicare-Medicaid Plans, which cover individualized care for each enrollee, are the newest and most integrated option; and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly are designed to help elderly
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“To Manage Dementia Well, Start With The Caregivers,” by Lauren Gravitz, NPR “Researchers have shown that the majority of people with dementia are cared for at home by members of their family. And that those family members, in turn, have higher incidence of stress and depression, as well as lower overall quality of life. ‘The trick seems to be in training family caregivers to spot triggers of behavior and problem-solve around those triggers, to look for underlying causes and then creatively develop strategies,’ Kales says. But such approaches are rarely employed because there’s no systematic way to teach people how
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“Buyers Of New Long-Term Care Insurance Policies Face Little Risk Of Future Rate Increase,” by Jesse Slome, ExpertClick “Individuals who purchase a new long-term care insurance policy face little if any chance of a future rate increase according to a study of pricing experts released by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): It’s about time this news got out backed up by actuaries’ opinions. Buyers Of New Long-Term Care Insurance Policies Face Little Risk Of Future Rate Increase #goldencareagent #rate
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“Sex Doesn’t Stop with Dementia,” by Judy George, MedPage Today “Most people with dementia who lived at home and had a partner were sexually active, a national study of older adults found. Of partnered people, 59% of men and 51% of women who screened positive for dementia were sexually active, including 41% who were 80 to 91 years old, reported Stacy Tessler Lindau, MD, of the University of Chicago, and co-authors in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. This is the first study to establish nationally representative evidence about sexuality and cognitive function of older adults at home, Lindau
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“States try to beat back rate increases on long-term-care policies,” by Greg Lacurci, InvestmentNews “States have taken steps to limit the drastic rate increases plaguing the long-term-care insurance market, leading some experts to suggest that these insurance policies are worth a second look for financial advisers and consumers. … Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, said that new policies priced today have ‘almost zero chance of having a rate increase,’ but added that that hasn’t done much to sway public opinion about the products.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term
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“Anne Tumlinson: Transforming Long-Term Care for Older Adults,” by Emily Gurnon, Next Avenue “Next Avenue 2018 Influencer in Aging Anne Tumlinson is a nationally recognized expert in the economics of an aging society. She is the founder of Daughterhood, an organization dedicated to building community around the experience of caring for aging parents. Daughterhood informs and supports the work Tumlinson and her team of researchers and analysts do through her firm, Anne Tumlinson Innovations, to help providers, payers and policymakers transform the financing and delivery of health and long-term care to older adults. (She wrote about some of these challenges
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“How a son’s viral videos give hope to families dealing with dementia,” by Marisa Dellatto, New York Post “When Simon McDermott’s father, Ted, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2013, everything changed. ‘It was a wake-up call,’ Simon, 42, tells The Post. It made him realize that ‘Dad’s not going to be around forever.’ It was also the beginning of a dark time for the family. As Ted’s condition worsened, he became aggressive — a common side-effect of the degenerative brain disease. … Amazingly, Ted could still remember the words to … old songs. Simon noticed he even seemed happy when
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