“A VA Program Can Help War Veterans Pay For Long-Term Care, But Applying For It Can Be An Ordeal,” by Stephanie Colombini, Texas Public Radio   Quote: “The VA Aid and Attendance benefit can help some vets and spouses pay for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home health care. But the application process is often long and complicated. … The recipients must have a net worth less than $129,094, including most assets [home is exempt] and annual household income, minus medical expenses not covered by insurance. … Potential recipients need doctors to verify that they are physically or mentally incapable of
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“By 2060, a quarter of U.S. residents will be over age 65,” by Mike Schneider, Associated Press   Quote: “By 2060, almost a quarter of all U.S. residents will be over age 65, and life expectancy will reach an all-time high of 85 years, according to new reports the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): When life expectancy was 65, the government started Social Security and look what happened. The program is bankrupt just as the elderly population explodes. Now that life expectancy will be 85, the age at
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“Combining Life and Long-Term Care Insurance,” by Rebecca Lake, Yahoo! Finance   Quote: “The long-term care part of the policy pays out money to cover nursing care expenses if you need long-term care. You may need to be diagnosed with a chronic or terminal illness for the rider to kick in, but once it does, your policy would pay for covered long-term care costs up to the policy limits. There may be limits on both the dollar amount paid out and how long benefits are paid, i.e. two years, three years or a different time frame.” LTC Comment (from Stephen
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“Long-Term Care Annuities: Pros and Cons,” by Rebecca Lake, Yahoo! Finance   Quote: “A long-term care annuity is a deferred annuity that includes a long-term care rider. A rider is essentially an add-on you can include when purchasing an annuity that offers extra features or benefits. You purchase the annuity with the long-term care rider and when you eventually need long-term care, you can begin receiving payments to help with those expenses. Payments can be made to you monthly or as a lump sum. Your annuity company can give you the money to use as needed or reimburse you after the fact
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“Feds Probing How Personal Medicare Info Gets to Marketers,” by The Associated Press, New York Times   Quote: “A government watchdog is launching a nationwide probe into how marketers may be getting seniors’ personal Medicare information aided by apparent misuse of a government system, officials said Friday. … The watchdog agency’s decision comes amid a wave of relentlessly efficient telemarketing scams targeting Medicare recipients and involving everything from back braces to DNA cheek swabs.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): One more Medicare thing to worry about.    
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“Seniors on Medicare Advantage less likely to have issues paying medical bills: CDC study,” by Robert King, Fierce Healthcare   Quote: “Seniors on traditional Medicare were more likely to be a part of a family that has problems paying medical bills compared to beneficiaries on Medicare Advantage (MA), a new study found. But beneficiaries on MA were also more likely to struggle with medical bills compared to those on private insurance coverage. The study, (PDF) released Wednesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that overall the percentage of people in families that had a problem paying a
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“Pennsylvania Puts LTCI Issuer in Rehabilitation,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor   Quote: “Regulators in Pennsylvania have put a midsize long-term care insurance (LTCI) issuer, Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (SHIP), in rehabilitation. … The SHIP rehabilitation could be somewhat smaller than the Penn Treaty rehabilitation process.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Here we go again; Conseco this time.    
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“How to Deal With an Aging Advisor Force and Aging Clients,” by Bernice Napach, ThinkAdvisor   Quote: “More than one-third of financial advisors, or 111,500-plus, will be retiring this decade, along with many of their clients, creating a number of dramatic challenges for the industry. Firms will be faced with retaining the assets of retiring advisors, which account for almost 40% of all advisor assets, managing the shrinking or slower growing assets of existing, aging clients, and attracting newer, younger advisors to help run the business and draw in the heirs of current clients. Nearly $70 trillion in assets is expected
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“The Challenges Facing Japan’s Long-Term Care Services” by Yuki Yasuhiro, Nippon.com   Quote: “Long-term care has a negative image in Japan as a strenuous job that pays comparatively little. Worker turnover is high and care facilities are chronically short-handed. In today’s rapidly aging society, what can be done to improve conditions?” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Sound familiar? Evidently the radical new Japanese government program for long-term care that we profiled 15 years ago has not solved all the country’s LTC challenges. Check out LTC Bullet:  How Japan Escapes “LTC Hell,” November 18, 2005.
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“How the Longevity Project Is Reimagining Our Longer Lives,” by Holly Lawrence, Next Avenue   Quote: “As life expectancies are growing and the 100-year-life is becoming more common, how can Americans, the U.S. government and employers best prepare for the challenges and opportunities of longevity? Meet the Longevity Project, the new initiative designed to come up with some answers. The Longevity Project, developed in collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity (its lead content creator), is generating research and engaging in public conversation on the many impacts of longer lives. It just released a poll of 2,200 adults, conducted by Morning
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