“Medicaid’s safety net for pregnant women,” by Bob Herman, Axios   Quote: “Fewer women are uninsured (10.5%) nationally than men (13.4%), due in large part to Medicaid providing pregnancy coverage for low-income women. By the numbers: 16.1% of women are on Medicaid, compared with 12.7% of men, according to census data analyzed by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Yes, but: Large swaths of the South still have restrictive Medicaid coverage or didn’t expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, leaving 1 in 5 women without insurance in states like Oklahoma and Texas. And while Medicaid pays for 43% of all births, that coverage can be short-lived
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“Tallying the Cost of Growing Older,” by Paula Span, New York Times   Quote: “Their results: Seventeen percent of 65-year-olds will need no long-term care. Almost one-quarter will develop severe needs, requiring many hours of help for more than three years. Most older people will fall between those poles, with 22 percent having only minimal needs. The largest group, 38 percent, can expect moderate needs — like support while they recover from a heart attack, after which they can again function independently. … The researchers calculated how much care retirees would need, how much they could receive from family and
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“10 Fastest-Rising Costs for Older Americans Since 2000,” by Ginger Szala, ThinkAdvisor Quote: “Since 2000, Social Security benefits have lost 32% of their buying power despite yearly inflation adjustments, the group found in a new study. While COLAs have increased Social Security benefits 55% in that time, the typical older adult’s expenses have increased by 104.8%, according to the study.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Will Social Security always pay benefits? Yes. But you may not be able to afford anything with what it pays. This is how government entitlement programs wind down.        
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“Social Security Debt up $6.8T,” by John C. Goodman, Goodman Institute Quote: “The Social Security Trustees just released their annual report on the system’s finances. The news is awful. Most people know that the system’s future benefit promises are greater than its future payroll tax (FICA) revenues. But how big is the difference — its fiscal gap, also called its unfunded liability? The answer – a terrifying $59.8 trillion – is buried deep in Appendix table VIF1. That’s over 2.5 times the size of the U.S. economy. Even more disturbing is the change since last year’s report. The system’s debt grew by $6.8 trillion.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses,
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“Long-term care’s problems are bad and getting worse — but fixable,” by Stephen A. Moses, McKnight’s LTC News Quote: “The long-term care business is hurting: labor shortages, wage pressures, vax mandates, too much Medicaid, too little private pay, value-based reimbursement, MedPAC vs. Medicare and so on and on. What should be done? Every analyst, politician and bureaucrat has a favorite solution, but none has taken hold. The problems remain, and they’re getting worse. Let’s analyze the situation. What do all of long-term care’s economic woes have in common? Answer: they persist in a market dominated by government financing and regulation.”
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“The Risk of Coverage Loss for Medicaid Beneficiaries as the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends,” Commonwealth Fund Quote: “States are required to keep people enrolled in Medicaid throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) as a condition of receiving a temporary increase in the federal share of Medicaid costs. When the PHE ends — currently slated for December 2021, but could be extended — the enhanced federal funding will end and states will resume administering renewals for Medicaid eligibility, some of which have been pending for more than 16 months. Nearly all 80 million people enrolled in Medicaid will have their eligibility redetermined, triggering a
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“Medicare Advantage premiums to decline slightly in 2022, Part D to rise by nearly 5%,” by Robert King, Fierce Healthcare Quote: “Average Medicare Advantage plan premiums are expected to hit $19 per month next year, a slight decline from the $21.22 in 2021. But Medicare Part D plan premiums will continue to increase by nearly 5% to $33 next year compared to the current premium of $31.47, new federal data show. The premium data, released Wednesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), also come with a projection that MA enrollment will reach 29.5 million next year, compared
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“AP-NORC poll: Virus fears linger for vaccinated older adults,” by Matt Sedensky, Associated Press Quote: “As the virus’ delta variant has fueled new waves of infection, the poll of people age 50 or older found 36% are very or extremely worried that they or a family member will be infected, roughly doubled since June. The increase is fueled by the vaccinated, who are especially likely to be highly worried. Just 25% of vaccinated Americans, but 61% of unvaccinated Americans, say they are not worried.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Go figure.          
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“Long-Term Care Planning: What Advisors Should Know,” by Ginger Szala, ThinkAdvisor Quote: “Long-term care planning should start as soon as someone is diagnosed with dementia. … Therefore, the family needs to plan for a minimum of two years of care, at a cost $100,000 a year or more, and ‘they should have a cushion at the end of $500,000.’ Further, Medicaid has a five-year lookback, so ‘as soon as someone is diagnosed with dementia, that’s when you need to start the planning.’ Regarding long-term care insurance, McClanahan noted that policies today have had ‘devastating premium increases,’ but the general premise
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“Long-Term Care Planning: What Advisors Should Know,” by Ginger Szala, ThinkAdvisor Quote: “The financial situation of the long-term care insurance fund is apparently precarious due to the additional costs caused by the Corona pandemic. According to a media report, the providers of long-term care insurance are facing a gap of billions of euros. The ‘Bild’ newspaper reports that the nursing care insurance fund urgently needs a financial injection from the Federal Ministry of Finance.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: We anticipated this problem in “LTC Bullet–LTCI in Germany,” August 15, 2002: “[A]fter only seven
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