“Seniors are stuck home alone as health aides flee for higher-paying jobs,” by Christopher Rowland, Washington Post Quote: “Amid a national shortage of home-care workers that deepened during the covid-19 pandemic, the couple spent much of this year on a private agency list waiting to be assigned a professional home-care aide. But over four months, from April to August, no aides were available, leaving Acey to carry the load on her own. Many nights — after an hour-long bedtime routine that included giving Tom his pills and pulling on his Depends before tucking him into his recliner — she lay
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“What Are Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts?, ElderLawAnswers Quote: “Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts offer several benefits to individuals planning to apply for Medicaid: MAPTs preserve generational wealth, safeguarding assets for family members. After you pass away, the state cannot take your assets from your beneficiaries to reimburse them for your long-term care, as MAPTs avoid probate. Since nursing home fees can be exorbitant, MAPTs can save your family money, as they let you qualify for Medicaid once the lookback period has ended. The drawbacks of MAPTs include the following: Once you establish a MAPT, you forfeit the control and use of
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“Information campaign on aging and long-term care is wise; taking more earnings from workers isn’t,” by Elizabeth Hovde, Washington Policy Center Quote: “An information campaign — one that could point to private long-term-care insurance (LTCI) for workers who LTCI makes sense for — should be coupled with removing taxes on insurance products and better protecting Medicaid. That’d be a better route for the state when it comes to looking out for Medicaid’s LTC spending woes. Cost-shifting to workers saves the state relatively little and costs workers a lot. Creating a new entitlement program for people in need and people not in need isn’t wise. See
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“Industry Leaders Split on Whether Skilled Nursing’s Future Should Include Separate Short, Long-Term Care,” by Amy Stulick, Skilled Nursing News Quote: “There has been an increasing call to separate long-term and short-term care in the nursing home sector as acuity rises and facilities take on more specialties, all while facing a staffing shortage. Academics, finance leaders and some operators agree such a separation would be a positive for residents — and maybe even help the staffing crisis — but the big question is where long-term Medicaid beneficiaries would go if they’re not occupying beds in a nursing home. Some believe
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U.S. Retirement Income Imbalance by Donald Weaver, The Conversation Quote: “According to the Schroders 2022 U.S. Retirement Survey, 86% of non-retired Americans 45 and older are aware they could receive higher Social Security payments by delaying the start of their benefits, yet just 11% of respondents plan to wait to age 70 – the age at which an individual reaches their maximum monthly benefit – to begin taking their Social Security benefits. Almost one-third (32%) said they would take benefits before 70 because they are concerned Social Security may run out of money/stop making payments, and 31% said they expected they
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“Alzheimer’s might not be primarily a brain disease. A new theory suggests it’s an autoimmune condition,” by Donald Weaver, The Conversation Quote: “My laboratory at the Krembil Brain Institute, part of the University Health Network in Toronto, is devising a new theory of Alzheimer’s disease. Based on our past 30 years of research, we no longer think of Alzheimer’s as primarily a disease of the brain. Rather, we believe that Alzheimer’s is principally a disorder of the immune system within the brain.”     LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: It is definitely high time for fresh
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“America’s age tipping point is approaching — we’re totally unprepared,” by Joseph Chamie, The Hill Quote: “America faces mounting old age challenges as growing numbers of individuals find themselves ill-prepared in terms of financial resources, personal health and social support for their remaining years of life. The number of Americans aged 65 and older has increased to approximately 56 million, or 17 percent of the population, nearly double the 1960 level of 9 percent.  The majority, about 55 percent, are women, and among those 85 years and older, nearly two-thirds are women. In 2030, America will experience a demographic turning point when all baby boomers will be older than 65.
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“A Review of 62 Studies Finds Few Big Differences Between Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage on a Variety of Measures,” by Chris Lee, Kaiser Family Foundation Newsroom Quote: “A Review of 62 Studies Finds Few Big Differences Between Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage on a Variety of Measures,” by Chris Lee, Kaiser Family Foundation Newsroom Quote: “A new KFF review of 62 studies published since 2016 that compares Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare on measures of beneficiary experience, affordability, utilization, and quality finds few differences that are supported by strong evidence or have been replicated across multiple studies. For example, beneficiaries in
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“4 tips for selling long-term-care insurance,” by Ayo Mseka, InsuranceNewsNet Quote: “Agents selling long-term-care insurance (LTCI) have witnessed several important developments recently, including, in some cases, a reduction in new business premiums for the first time in many years. An understanding of these trends will help them develop sales and marketing strategies designed to increase sales.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Click through for more from LTCI Partners’ Tom Riekse and Newman Long-Term Care’s Craig Roers.       Subscribe to GoldenCare News  
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“10 Things About Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS),” by Priya Chidambaram and Alice Burns, Kaiser Family Foundation Quote: “As the population ages and as advances in medicine and technology enable people with serious disabilities to live longer, the number of people in need of LTSS is expected to grow. Looking forward, there will likely be continued interest among policymakers in expanding the availability of LTSS and improving their quality, though identifying the resources to do so will be challenging.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Another recounting of long-term care’s problems without first asking
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