“Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2019: Skyrocketing care costs may make the dream of aging at home more challenging,” Genworth “The fastest-rising long term care costs are no longer for the most skilled care – in a facility, they’re now for the least-complex care – at home, according to Genworth’s latest 2019 Cost of Care Survey results, announced today. To explore Cost of Care data by city, state or zip code, find trend charts and access lists of states ranked in order of care costs, visit www.genworth.com/costofcare.The cost of homemaker services, which includes assistance with ‘hands-off’ tasks such as cooking, cleaning
Read More

“Shopping For Medicare? What To Know About The New Plan Finder,” by Fred Ricarrdi, Forbes “The Fall Open Enrollment Period for Medicare is nearly here, running October 15 through December 7. It’s the time for people 65 and older to sign up for Medicare plans for 2020 to ensure they’ll have coverage meeting their needs. The Medicare site’s Medicare Plan Finder tool can help find plans in your area, but it was just updated significantly. So you’ll want to understand how to use the new version. Below is advice on how to use the Medicare Plan Finder and shop for Medicare during
Read More

“Measuring Quality in the Long-Term Care Setting,” by Zach Adams, Tavia Binger, and Ben Harder, U.S. News & World Report  “LAST YEAR, U.S. NEWS introduced a novel composite quality measure and corresponding Short-Term Rehabilitation rating that assesses the performance of skilled nursing facilities in post-acute care. Next week, we’ll update the Short-Term Rehabilitation rating — and debut a Long-Term Care rating to help people in need of daily assistance and their families decide where to go for residential care. These 2019-20 ratings for nearly 15,000 nursing homes, as well as descriptive information on a few hundred more, will be made public on October
Read More

“The Costs of Aging,” National Aging in Place Council “As part of this week’s National Aging in Place Week events, the National Aging in Place Council today published a new handbook titled The Costs of Aging that is available to the public for free on the ageinplace.org website. … The Costs of Aging Handbook presents descriptions of the needs of aging and data showing estimated costs of housing and home modification, healthcare and caregiving, personal finance and planning, transportation and social engagement. … To view The Costs of Aging Handbook, please visit ageinplace.org.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President,
Read More

“Social Security COLA Is 1.6% for 2020,” by Bernice Napach, ThinkAdvisor “The Social Security Administration announced a 1.6% cost-of-living adjustment in benefits beginning January 2020. The 2020 COLA is the smallest increase since 2017, when it was 0.3%. For the average Social Security recipient, collecting $1,461 a month, the increase amounts to about $23.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Wow, break out the champagne!
Read More

“With baby boomers aging, the cost of long-term care is set to triple in the next 30 years. What’s our plan for dealing with this?,” by Bonnie-Jeanne Macdonald and Michael Wolfson, The Globe and Mail “Long-term care in Canada is facing major sustainability challenges – and it’s an issue that we cannot afford to ignore. Research released Tuesday by the National Institute on Ageing at Ryerson University shows that if Canada continues on its current track, the cost of publicly funded long-term care for seniors – including nursing homes and home care – is expected to more than triple in 30 years, rising from
Read More

“CMS to label cited nursing homes with ‘Do not proceed’ icon on Nursing Home Compare website,” by Danielle Brown, McKnight’s LTC News “CMS unveiled the labeling plans as part of an unfolding five-pillar plan that includes improving transparency for consumers. Starting Oct. 23, the ‘Do not proceed’ symbol will be placed next to facilities that have been cited for abuse, neglect or exploitation. Authorities call the open-palm display in a red circle ‘a consumer alert icon.’” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Let’s see. First pay nursing homes less than the cost of the
Read More

“Managing care of residents with dementia? There’s an app for that,” by Alicia Lasek, McKnight’s LTC News “A dementia care app for residents and long-term care community managers has won top prize in a technology competition sponsored by the National Institute on Aging. MapHabit is mobile software that visually guides people with dementia and their caregivers through activities of daily living. Using visual cues, it prompts users to follow simple commands to perform daily tasks, such as taking pills or brushing teeth.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): A benign use for our electronic
Read More

“EDITORIAL: Financing long-term care sustainably,” Taipei Times “Regardless of whether tax-based or insurance-based financing is used, there is no way that the government can bear the responsibility of financing long-term care alone. Instead, the government should emphasize its management role and properly use the limited funds to serve the needs of those who require long-term care. Before attempting to reach a consensus on how to fund the long-term care program, the government should try its hardest to make appropriate use of profit-making institutions, non-profit social welfare groups, local communities and even family caregivers.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President,
Read More

“Why Hospitals Are Getting Into The Housing Business,” by Markian Hawryluk, Kaiser Health News “Legally and morally, hospitals cannot discharge patients if they have no safe place to go. So patients who are homeless, frail or live alone, or have unstable housing, can occupy hospital beds for weeks or months — long after their acute medical problem is resolved. For hospitals, it means losing money because a patient lingering in a bed without medical problems doesn’t generate much, if any, income. Meanwhile, acutely ill patients may wait days in the ER to be moved to a floor because a hospital’s
Read More