“CMS Officials Confirm End of PHE Nursing Home Waivers, Barring Congressional Action,” by Amy Stulick, Skilled Nursing News  “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday outlined the biggest waivers tied to the public health emergency – including those linked to the three-day inpatient stay requirement and temporary nurse aides – would indeed be ending on May 11. Any sort of permanent implementation of these waivers, would need to be carried out through Congress, officials said during a nursing home stakeholder call, one of many prior to the end of the PHE in three months.” LTC Comment, Stephen
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“7.7% Increase in Long-Term Care Benefits Payouts,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor  “U.S. insurers paid $13.25 billion in claims for holders of standalone long-term care insurance policies in 2022, up 7.7% from the total for 2021, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Association. The number of claimants increased 2.7%, to 345,000, and the average amount of benefits per claimant increased 4.9%, to about $38,400. That compares with a 2.6% increase in the average amount of benefits per claimant in 2021.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Good news for policyholders and LTC providers who receive
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“Brian Blase and Frederick Isasi on Medicare and Medicaid,” C-Span Washington Journal “Brian Blase and Frederick Isasi talked about Medicare and Medicaid spending as part of the overall federal budget.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Watch this 57-minute video for an excellent overview of the financial challenges facing Medicare and Medicaid. Brian Blase heads the Paragon Health Institute, the organization that published my paper titled “Long-Term Care: The Problem.” Frederick Isasi leads Families USA an advocacy organization for ObamaCare and socialized medicine in general. Here’s how I characterized the two presentations: “Blaze’s clarity, brevity and objectivity trumped
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“Older adults fearful they could outlive savings: survey,” by Kathleen Steele Galvin, McKnight’s Senior Living  “‘A runaway majority of seniors think the United States is in a retirement savings crisis,’ according to the results of the Retirement Savings Crisis Survey from American Advisors Group. … By the numbers: 89% affirmed their believe that a retirement savings crisis exists; 43% rated the condition of their retirement savings as fair or poor; 47% said that they are finding it difficult to save for retirement; 44% said that they believe that they have not saved enough to retire comfortably; 57% said that they are only
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“Are Payments To Medicare Advantage Plans Inflated?,” by Kenneth E. Thorpe, Health Affairs  “The most recent March 2022 MedPAC report (chapter 12) concludes that Medicare pays 4 percent more for the same patient in Medicare Advantage compared to traditional Medicare. This conclusion is reached by comparing the level and growth in risk scores (CMS-HCC) between the two programs. MedPAC reports higher growth in risk scores in the Medicare Advantage program than found in traditional Medicare. This framework, however, ignores the fundamentally different approaches Medicare takes in paying for fee-for-service encounters on the one hand and making payments to Medicare Advantage
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“More than 1 in 6 Americans now 65 or older as U.S. continues graying,” by Linda Searing, Washington Post “Some 17 percent of people living in the United States, or more than 1 in 6, were 65 or older in 2020, according to a report from the Administration on Aging. That represents 55.7 million people, an increase of 15.2 million (38 percent) of people 65 and above since 2010, compared with just 2 percent growth in the under-65 population. It also reflects a consistent increase in the nation’s older population since 1900, when there were 3.1 million Americans 65 and older
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“Bridging the Gap: A Discussion of Short-Term and Long-Term Care,” by Jamie Samo,  NAIFA’s Limited & Extended Care Planning Center “Having coverage for a short-term stay can be just as important as coverage for a long-term stay. Especially when LTC insurance is not available due to an individual’s health, age, or finances. But there is a solution — purchasing a Short Term Care insurance plan (STC).”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: And that’s the long and the short of it.   Subscribe to GoldenCare News  
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“Is Applying for Medicaid for Do-It-Yourselfers?,” by Tammy Weber, Marshall, Parker and Weber, LLC  “Yes, there is a cost to hiring a certified elder law attorney, but that cost is typically offset by accelerated eligibility for Medicaid and peace of mind that the applicant’s children will not be held liable for the care costs of their parent.  No, applying for Medicaid is not for do-it-yourselfers.  You need an experienced Certified Elder Law Attorney to get the best result.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Compare that pitch to the sales challenge facing LTC insurance
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“Researchers ID 8 social factors that lead to early death in seniors,” by John Roszkowski, McKnight’s LTC News “The researchers studied 8,250 older adults ages 65 and older over a four-year period. At the end of the four-year study period, 22% of those individuals had died. Based on 183 possible predictors, the researchers developed a Social Frailty Index including age, gender and eight social factors that contributed to early death: poor neighborhood cleanliness, low perceived control over financial situation, meeting with children less than yearly, not working for pay, not active with children, not volunteering, feeling isolated, and being treated
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“Death, Finances and How Many of Us Get Our Money Needs Wrong,” by Josh Zumbrun, Wall Street Journal “The good news is that many Americans live a lot longer than they expect. The bad news is that this often leads to financial regret as they realize, sometimes too late, they might have claimed Social Security too early, passed up the opportunity to buy annuities or long-term-care insurance, or simply undersaved for all those added years of retirement. Demographers and actuaries make the following distinction between life expectancy and longevity: Life expectancy refers to the average number of years someone will
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