“What to know about Washington Cares payroll tax as premiums are set to resume,” by Amanda Zhou, Seattle Times “After a two-year delay, premiums for Washington’s fledgling long-term care insurance program will resume in July, likely setting off another round of debate over the payroll tax.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: The latest on the impending imposition of a new, compulsory, payroll-funded, state-based social insurance entitlement. If you like Social Security and Medicare insolvency, you’ll love WA Cares.   Subscribe to GoldenCare News  
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“Western Diet Identified as Risk Factor For Alzheimer’s Disease, Scientists Warn,” by David Nield, ScienceAlert “A new review of 38 previous studies from the last five years identifies the Western diet pattern as a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s in mild-to-moderate cases of the disease. On the other hand, the Mediterranean diet, the ketogenic diet, and diet supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids and probiotics appear to protect against the disease, but only in those mild-to-moderate cases. … Based on the research, the way that dietary choices affect inflammation could be key here: Western diets high in saturated fat, sugar, and salt
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“Don’t let caregiving sabotage retirement planning,” by Alyssa Place, Employee Benefit News “Caregivers are often stuck dealing with the immediate needs of a loved one. But that can have a long-term impact on their own well-being in their later years. … And there’s no end in sight: Larry Nisenson, chief growth officer at Assured Allies, an aging innovation company, says this impact will continue to be felt from generation-to-generation, as employees have less opportunity to save for their own care, and will eventually need the support of their children down the line.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Larry
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“The Hidden Costs Home Health Providers Face When Taking On More MA Patients,” by Patrick Filbin, HomeHealthCareNews “As Medicare Advantage (MA) penetration continues, home health agencies are coming to grips with the additional — and sometimes hidden — costs that are associated with transitioning to a payer mix more dominated by MA. Whether those costs come from operational changes or otherwise, the financial impact of MA’s market penetration can’t be ignored.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Adapting to Medicare Advantage payers may be as challenging and problematical for home care providers as it is
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“Genworth Creates Discounted LTC Provider Network,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Genworth hopes to provide discounts of more than 10% on home care services. Company negotiators can give providers access to 1.1 million with LTCI coverage. The insurer reported positive net income, in spite of the effects of new accounting rules. … The new CareScout program will offer employer-sponsored benefit plans, other long-term care insurance providers and Genworth’s own LTCI policyholders access to care providers who have signed a provider network agreement.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Developments in keeping with LTCI’s new spirit of
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“‘Big Trouble’: Medicare Advantage Rates Strain SNF Margins, Deepen Sector’s Pain,” by Amy Stulick, Skilled Nursing News   “As Medicare Advantage continues to penetrate the nursing home market, leaders say that MA plans are depressing margins amid higher costs to run operations. This might lead some operators to contemplate closing, while others will be wiser to hire staff in designated roles to help them negotiate better rates – and exclusions – for managed care contracts. … Traditional Medicare amounts to nearly $600 per resident day in revenue, while managed Medicare is paying out only $468 per day, NIC data shows.”
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“Regular internet use may be linked to lower dementia risk in older adults, study says,” by Jen Christensen, CNNHealth   “A study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggested that older people who regularly used the internet were less likely to develop dementia. … People who used the internet at the start of the study had about half the risk of dementia as people who were not regular users.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: I like the sound of that as I’m online all day. Even if the causality is the other way
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 “A Clever Strategy to Get Your Long-Term Care Costs Covered by Medicaid,” by Eric Reed, Yahoo!Finance   “A qualified income trust (or QIT) is a special form of trust designed to help people receive long-term care benefits under Medicaid. It is intended for people who make too much money to receive long-term or residential-care benefits under the program, yet too little money to pay for this kind of care on their own. Through a QIT patients can carve out a portion of their income each month into a dedicated account. They lose direct access to this money, but it also does not
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“ChatGPT’s blind spots can compromise caregiving, authors warn,” by John O’Connor, McKnight’s Senior Living “Writing in the journal Health Affairs, Authors Wura Jacobs and Omolola E. Adepoju note that ChatGPT’s responses can indeed improve care and reduce mortality. But many of the texts, books, articles and websites that chatbots parrot can contain inappropriate and potentially harmful information. That’s especially true for inquiries that involve areas such as the age, race/ethnicity, sex and educational levels of residents.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: In tomorrow’s LTC Bullet, we’ll ask an artificial intelligence chatbot questions about long-term care
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“Life Insurance Is Profitable Again, but Too Late for Many Insurers,” by Leslie Scism, Wall Street Journal “The past 15 years has been a lousy time to sell life insurance. Higher interest rates driven by the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting campaign have given the industry a new chance to profit. … One result is fewer people have life insurance. Today just over half—52%—of American adults own life insurance, down from 63% in 2011, according to industry-funded research firm Limra. … It is no small matter because life insurers earn a substantial portion of their profits by investing premiums until the money is needed to pay claims. Low
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