“42% of older adults have a disability: CDC,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “Approximately 42% (41.7%) of noninstitutionalized U.S. adults aged 65 or more years have a disability, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. … Mobility issues, defined as serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs, by far were the most prevalent disability, affecting 26.9% of the 162,724 older adults covered by the data. The next most prevalent disability was serious difficulty hearing, affecting 14.9% of those 65 or older. Other disabilities studied were related to independent living — difficulty doing errands
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“Elder Care: Frequently asked questions regarding Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts,” by Jessica Greene, The Sentinel “Here are some frequently asked questions about Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts:” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): This article is a good example of advice anyone with enough wealth to warrant purchasing long-term care insurance receives as an alternative to LTCI. This is the kind of universally available information that analysts ignore who promote mandatory social insurance. Elder Care: Frequently asked questions regarding Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts #medicaid #goldencareagent
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“Could Your Long-Term Care Premiums Be Hiding in Plain Sight?,” by Christine Benz, Morningstar “Last week I wrote about the role that health savings accounts can play in paying for long-term care; HSA owners can use their accounts to pay the premiums or to cover eventual costs out of pocket. (There are pros and cons to either strategy.) There’s another potential avenue, too, albeit a more complicated one. People with existing annuities or whole-life insurance policies can take advantage of what’s called a 1035 exchange to swap into long-term care insurance–either a standalone long-term care insurance policy or a hybrid
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“Mutual of Omaha Adds Medicare Drug Plans and an LTC Rider,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Mutual of Omaha is introducing two products of interests to financial professionals who work with retirees and near retirees. One of the products is a long-term care rider that can be sold with the company’s Income Advantage and Life Protection Advantage Indexed Universal Life policy. … The rider gives purchasers of United of Omaha IUL policies the ability to use a portion of the policy death benefit early to pay long-term care (LTC) expenses. A holder can use the rider to pay for nursing home
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“Genworth and China Oceanwide Push Back Deal Deadline,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “The Chinese company trying to acquire Genworth Financial Inc. has agreed to extend the deal completion deadline and update the deal terms, Genworth said today. Genworth and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd. have agreed to extend the deadline to Dec. 1, from the previous deadline of Aug. 15. The deadline extension is the sixth the companies have negotiated since they first announced the $2.7 billion deal, in October 2016. China Oceanwide has also agreed to acquire Genworth with the understanding that a life and annuity-issuing unit will
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“Life expectancy decreasing, CDC says,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “Life expectancy in the United States decreased in both 2015 and 2016, marking the only decreases in the past 20 years and the first consecutive two-year decline since 1964, according to a newly released National Vital Statistics Report from the Centers for Disease and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. … The decrease in overall life expectancy at birth, according to the government, primarily was due to increases in mortality from Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, unintentional injuries, homicide and suicide.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center
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“Slideshow: 15 employee benefits on the rise,” Kathryn Mayer, Employee Benefit News Quote: “Critical illness insurance One in four employers now offer critical illness insurance to their employees, according to SHRM. That’s an 8% increase from 2017 and a 10% increase from 2014. As healthcare costs continue to mount for both employers and employees, voluntary benefits offer workers some additional protections for financial emergencies at a low cost, benefit experts say.” 8/13/2018, “Slideshow: 15 employee benefits on the decline,” by Kathryn Mayer, Employee Benefit News Quote: “Childcare and eldercare referral services Both childcare (17% in 2017 to 9% in 2018) and eldercare
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“Humana completes sale of long-term care insurance policy business KMG, at a loss of $790 million,” by Susan Morse, Healthcare Finance “Humana has completed the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary KMG America Corporation, in a transaction first announced in November 2017. Humana has owned KMG since 2007. KMG subsidiary, Kanawha Insurance Company, offers commercial, long-term care insurance policies and currently serves an estimated 29,300 policyholders. Humana sold its shares in KMG for a reported $2.4 billion to HC2 Holdings, which includes Continental General Insurance Company, based in Texas. In its second quarter earnings statement, Humana reported a $790 million loss
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“Dimensions, Demographics And The March Of Generations,” Advisor Magazine “By 2019, Millennials will number 73 million, and will have taken over Baby Boomers as America’s largest living generation. Meanwhile, in 2016 Millennials became the largest generation in the U.S. Labor Force and will soon surpass Baby Boomers as comprising the majority of the U.S. electorate (Fry, 2018). In short, Millennials are about to take over the world. Yet, even as Millennials surpass Boomers in their sheer numbers (not to mention contributions to the economy), they continue to be treated by many industries and institutions as a niche market, whose values, beliefs and behaviors are at best inscrutable
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“Planning challenge: Aging clients, no kids, assisted living required,” by Ann Marsh, Financial Planning “Choosing an assisted living facility can be frightening prospect for anyone, but the fear can be greater for people with no kids to help them through the process. … While most elderly people receive some care from family members, the number of those able to help ‘is unlikely to keep pace with future demand’ as people live longer, the study found. … Nicklas, Thakor and other planners offer the following advice:” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Double whammy. More
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