“Medicare Advantage Healthcare Spending Exceeds Original Medicare: Policymakers may soon have to address inequities between Medicare Advantage healthcare spending and Medicare spending,” by Kelsey Waddill, Health Payer Intelligence   Quote: “Escalations in Medicare Advantage healthcare spending—along with higher traditional Medicare spending—could drive scarcity in the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund and could boost Medicare Part B premiums, Kaiser Family Foundation researchers found. Despite the savings that a value-based care model affords for beneficiaries, Medicare Advantage spending is higher than traditional Medicare. Furthermore, healthcare spending is growing at a faster rate in Medicare Advantage than fee-for-service Medicare. The researchers leveraged publicly
Read More

“5 Ways to Keep People With LTC Insurance Healthy,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor   Quote: “Assured Allies is now working with LTCG, a company that runs many insurers’ LTCI programs, to market the Age Assured elder wellness program to LTCI insureds. Assured Allies will work with LTCG to offer program participants case management services, fall prevention support, caregiver training and other support services.”     LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Prevention is the best medicine and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Why has it taken so long to incorporate
Read More

“Yogurt every day keeps Alzheimer’s away? Probiotics, strong gut health may be key to avoiding dementia,” Study Finds   Quote: “As of 2021, a whopping 6.2 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease and this number is projected to rise 22% by 2025. Globally, the number of people with dementia is predicted to triple to around 150 million by 2050 because of aging populations. While there’s no cure for the Alzheimer’s, new research indicates that the bacteria in our gut could stave off the disease.”     LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: It appears there are
Read More

“BREAKING: It’s official: Nursing homes must vaccinate employees or lose Medicaid, Medicare funding,” by Danielle Brown, McKnight’s LTC News     Quote: “President Joe Biden announced late Wednesday afternoon that U.S. nursing homes must use workers vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing vital Medicare and Medicaid funding. Overall nursing home staff vaccination rates have lagged around 60%, with many far below that, according to federal statistics. This, despite nursing homes being the deadliest places affiliated with COVID-19, accounting for approximately one-third of all coronavirus deaths in the U.S. …The administration edict carries powerful implications for providers. About 60% of all
Read More

“Is The WISH Act A Real Fix For Long-Term Care Costs?,” by Elizabeth Bauer, Forbes   Quote: “Regular readers know that one of my pet peeves are legislation names with too-clever acronyms, and the WISH Act is pure cringe, on this metric: it’s the Well-Being Insurance for Seniors to be at Home Act, introduced by Rep Tom Suozzi (D-NY) at the beginning of July. … Would Suozzi’s plan pass? It seems unlikely, given the absence of any co-sponsors, and our current political times in general. … Is this the right or the wrong approach? There is no perfect answer here, but a waiting
Read More

“Guest Opinion: Stop, rethink Washington state’s long term care law,” by Don C. Brunell, Sequim Gazette Quote: “Gov. Jay Inslee and Democrats who control the state legislature need to postpone implementing the sweeping ‘Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program’ to determine its future financial viability and find better alternatives for coverage.”     LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: True, but maybe it’s even better to let this boondoggle proceed and collapse of its own weight as a warning to other states that may be contemplating a similar experiment.           Subscribe
Read More

“Kaiser study finds severe workforce shortages challenging HCBS providers,” by Diane Eastabrook, McKnight’s Senior Living Quote: “In a survey of states that concluded in mid-July, Kaiser found many home-and-community-based services (HCBS) agencies that battled a worker shortage also reported enrollees and their families declined services due to fears of coronavirus exposure. To minimize service interruptions, some states reported using Medicaid emergency authorities to provide services through telehealth when possible.”     LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Who’s better off? Someone with LTC insurance who can pay market rates for private home care? Or someone
Read More

“Advisors, Take Fear Out of Long-Term Care Planning,” by Julie Pinkerton, U.S News & World Report Quote: “Long-term care conversations often follow a challenging path. Many financial advisors hesitate to bring up the topic because it involves discussing clients’ mortality, as well as potential physical and financial dependence. It is an emotional and often overwhelming subject. … Financial advisors miss an important opportunity to provide real value to clients when they fail to raise the topic of long-term care. A longevity map can help clients be better prepared to live gracefully and discover private moments with their family members that ease the
Read More

“Which long-term-care insurance plans qualify for a payroll tax exemption?,” by Elizabeth Hovde, Washington Policy Center Quote: “Many people are writing me wondering what kind of long-term care insurance plans qualify to receive an exemption from a state payroll tax starting in January. Here’s what the Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner said today in an advertisement of sorts for the state’s new long-term care program: ‘We cannot determine if a long-term care policy meets the exemption criteria for the WA Cares Fund. If you already have a long-term care policy and you want to find out if it
Read More

“Social Security COLA Estimate for 2022 Raised to 6.2%,” by Ginger Szala, ThinkAdvisor Quote: “Next year’s COLA is estimated at 6.2% based on latest CPI data, up from 6.1% last month, says The Senior Citizens League. The CPI increased 5.4% over past 12 months and 0.5% from previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”     LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Inflation keeps chasing the SSA COLA higher. How high can it go? How much free money can the Fed print? Party like it will never end. Until it does.    
Read More