“Let’s Go Washington turns in over 2.6 million signatures for all six landmark initiatives,” by Mario Lotmore, Lynnwood Times “The Let’s Go Washington citizen action group turned in 424,890 signatures on Thursday to provide Washington residents the choice to opt of the state-operated Washington Cares Fund assessment – aka Long-term Care Tax (LTC). ‘The huge lies that are being told that this somehow takes away long-term care health…this is a complete and total falsehood; all this does is give people a choice,’ Brian Heywood said at a press conference in front of the Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday as he delivered
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“California is robbing America’s poor to fund Medicaid for its rich,” by Anthony Digiorgio and Anil Makam, Whittier Daily News “Beginning in January, the nation’s most populous state will put to the test the idea that Medicaid is reserved for the needy, as determined by income and asset thresholds reflecting our earnings and wealth. It may create a burden that robs America’s poor to pay rich Californians. … California legislation signed back in 2021 will soon take effect, eliminating all asset eligibilities for certain populations, particularly those needing long-term care the most. This opens the program for individuals with hundreds
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“What is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ New AHEAD Model?,” by Alice Burns, KFF “In September 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new opportunity for states to leverage federal funding on health care: the Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) model. With this model, CMS–under the auspices of the CMS Innovation Center, also known as CMMI–aims to reduce the rate of growth in health care spending, improve people’s health, and reduce disparities in health outcomes. To achieve those broad aims, state demonstration programs will involve multiple programs and strategies, but the
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“Investors predict senior living rent increases of 3 to 7 percent,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “Sixty-six percent of respondents to a newly released survey said they expect rental rate increases of 3% to 7% over the next 12 months for active adult, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities. No respondents said they anticipate rent decreases for any long-term care asset class. … The full report is available here.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: As higher interest rates and inflation ramify through the LTC economy, consumers will have to pony up.
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“Bold Changes Are in Store for Medi-Cal in 2024, but Will Patients Benefit?,” by Bernard J. Wolfson, KFF Health News “California’s safety-net health program, Medi-Cal, is on the cusp of major changes that could rectify long-standing problems and improve health care for the state’s low-income population. … Beginning next year, over 700,000 immigrants without permanent legal residency will become eligible for full Medi-Cal coverage. … Another big change for Medi-Cal is the elimination of the so-called asset limit test for a certain subset of enrollees, including people who are aged, blind, disabled, in long-term care, or on Medicare. In addition
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“Negative Wealth Shock and Cognitive Decline and Dementia in Middle-Aged and Older US Adults,” by Liulu Pan, Bin Gao, Junpeng Zhu, et al., JAMA “Question  Is an experience of negative wealth shock—a loss of 75% or more in total wealth over a 2-year period—associated with cognitive decline and dementia risks among middle-aged and older US adults? Findings  In this cohort study of 8082 participants, those with negative wealth shock had faster decline in cognition and elevated risks of dementia when compared with those who had positive wealth without shock. Meaning  These findings suggest that negative wealth shock is a risk factor for cognitive
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“Americans Over 70 Hold More Than 30% of the Country’s Wealth,” by Alex Tanzi, Yahoo!Finance “Most don’t work anymore, but Americans age 70 and older have seen their share of collective wealth surge during the pandemic. As a group, these older baby boomers have accumulated more than $14 trillion in additional net worth since the end 2019, based on Federal Reserve data. Their share of the country’s wealth has jumped to a record 30% last quarter, even though they account for 11% of the population.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Our new report
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“Aging Into Uncertainty: How will we navigate the looming long-term care crisis?,” by Melissa Bova, Advisor Magazine “The impact of the long-term care issue extends beyond individual households, affecting communities and placing strain on public resources. As a nation, acknowledging the urgency of this problem is the first step toward fostering a society that values the well-being of its aging citizens and ensures access to the necessary care and support. As individuals, older populations are struggling with the costs of long-term care, and the younger generation is grappling with how to support aging parents and, therefore, considering what will happen
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“U.S. Long-Term Care Insurance Users Average $1.4M in Household Wealth: Study,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “For long-term care insurance users ages 85 and older, the median level of household wealth was $504,000 and the average level of wealth was $881,000. The wealth figures included the value of the insureds’ homes. Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economist, and Kathleen McGarry, a Stony Brook University economist, put those long-term care insurance facts and more, based on data from the RAND-HRS and Health Retirement Study, in a new working paper about how the United States pays for long-term care for older Americans.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President,
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“The Own Your Future LTSS Funding and Services Initiative: Options to Increase Access to Long-Term Care Financing, Services, and Supports in Minnesota,” prepared by FTI Consulting, Inc, Actuarial Research Corporation, and the Altarum Institute, for the Minnesota Department of Human Services Aging and Disability Services Administration “In partnership with Own Your Future, a DHS Adult and Aging Services Division (AASD) initiative, FTI Consulting, Altarum Institute, and Actuarial Research Corporation, facilitated a stakeholder engagement process to solicit recommendations to transform LTSS access and identify funding options. … The recommendations developed through the stakeholder process include the following: 1. Care Navigation &
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