“How Much Do Medicare Beneficiaries Spend Out of Pocket on Health Care?,” by Juliette Cubanski  Wyatt Koma, Anthony Damico, and Tricia Neuman, KFF Issue Brief     Quote: “The oldest beneficiaries in traditional Medicare, people ages 85 and older, spent more than twice as much out of pocket as beneficiaries between the ages of 65 and 74 ($10,307 versus $5,021). This difference was primarily due to significantly higher spending on long-term care facility services among beneficiaries in the oldest age group. … In 2016, people with traditional Medicare spent an average of $5,460 out of pocket for health care expenses, including premiums, cost
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“The Health Care Promises We Cannot Keep,” by Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News     Quote: “For family caregivers, this is a common, anxiety-provoking dilemma. They’ll promise Mom or Dad that they can stay at home through the end of their lives and never go to assisted living or a nursing home. Or they’ll commit to taking care of a spouse’s needs and not bringing paid help into the home. Or they’ll vow to pursue every possible medical intervention in a medical crisis. Eventually, though, the unforeseen will arise ― after a devastating stroke or a heart attack, for instance,
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“7 Rules For Wealth: #3 Long-Term Care End Run,” by William Baldwin, Forbes     Quote: “People of limited means shouldn’t put money into LTC policies; they can reasonably expect that Medicaid will cover their stay. Prosperous people shouldn’t, either; they can fund a nursing home out of what would have been a legacy. … Plan on using home equity to cover the nursing bill. That means the mortgage should be paid off before you retire. If it isn’t, you were living beyond your means. Keep working until you own the house. If the house is paid for, then if
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“New York slashing Medicaid payments by 1% as state faces massive $6 billion budget deficit,” by Dennis Slattery, New York Post   Quote: “The state Health Department is cutting Medicaid payments by 1% starting Wednesday as the Cuomo administration seeks ways to reduce a ballooning budget gap projected to exceed $6 billion. A notice in the New York State Register published Tuesday said the move will reduce gross Medicaid payments, including federal matching aid, by $124 million in the final quarter of the current fiscal year and $496 million in following years. … The cut applies to the majority of
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“The 2020s Will Be A Tipping Point For Elder Care In The US,” by Howard Gleckman, Forbes   Quote: “As 2020 dawns, the US is about to reach a critical, historic tipping point in its need to care for frail older adults. And we are tragically unprepared. In just five years, the first of the 77-million strong Baby Boom generation will reach age 80—the time when people’s frailty increases dramatically and they begin to need high levels of long-term supports and services. And by the end of the new decade, millions of those early Boomers will reach 85, when their
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“Opinion: Numbers that older workers and retirees need to know in 2020,” by Paul Brandus, MarketWatch   Quote: “A new year and a new decade begin next week. Whether you’re retired or still working, many changes are coming that could affect you—for better and/or worse. Here’s our breakdown of what you need to know in 2020:”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): This article has key numbers for Medicare and Social Security to add to those we reported recently on Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. By the way, the link we gave for “2020
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“2020 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services   Quote: “Maximum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance: $3,216.00 … Community Spouse Resources [Allowance]: Minimum Resource Standard: $25,728.00 … Maximum Resource Standard $128,640.00 … Home Equity Limits: Minimum: $595,000.00 …  Maximum: $893,000.00.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): CMS finally published the 2020 key Medicaid numbers for determining long-term care financial eligibility. We these numbers to our historical record in The Zone soon. There you can see how they have increased with inflation every year since 1991. Some background: The Medicare Catastrophic
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“Medicaid financing scheme endangers federal-state partnership,” by Red Jahncke, The Hill   Quote: “The Medicaid program was established as a federal-state partnership, but it has become a partnership in name only as the result of a complicated maneuver in which states impose taxes on health care providers to extract tens of billions of dollars yearly from the U.S. Treasury via an arcane Medicaid financing maneuver. The scheme renders Medicaid almost entirely a federally financed — or over-financed — program. Almost every state employs this tax maneuver to trigger the annual release of matching funds over and above the money the
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“Genworth and Oceanwide Extend Merger Agreement,” Cision PRNewswire   Quote: “Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd (Oceanwide) today announced they have agreed to a 13th waiver and agreement of each party’s right to terminate the previously announced merger agreement. The 13th waiver and agreement extends the previous deadline of December 31, 2019 to no later than March 31, 2020.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Wishing Genworth Happy Holidays and a quick close.
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“MedPAC Commissioner: Underfunding Turns Medicaid-Heavy SNFs into ‘7th Circle of Hell’,” by Maggie Flynn, Skilled Nursing News   Quote: “The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) once again advised that Medicare’s payments for skilled nursing facilities are too high — but also acknowledged the challenges for providers caused by low Medicaid reimbursement. A presentation by Dr. Carol Carter delivered to MedPAC on December 5 examined Medicare margins for SNFs amid the larger contexts of beneficiary access to care, quality-of-care indicators, access to capital markets, and changes in Medicare costs and payments. While Medicare margins for SNFs remain high, with an aggregate margin of
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