“Seniors are stuck home alone as health aides flee for higher-paying jobs,” by Christopher Rowland, Washington Post Quote: “Amid a national shortage of home-care workers that deepened during the covid-19 pandemic, the couple spent much of this year on a private agency list waiting to be assigned a professional home-care aide. But over four months, from April to August, no aides were available, leaving Acey to carry the load on her own. Many nights — after an hour-long bedtime routine that included giving Tom his pills and pulling on his Depends before tucking him into his recliner — she lay
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“What Are Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts?, ElderLawAnswers Quote: “Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts offer several benefits to individuals planning to apply for Medicaid: MAPTs preserve generational wealth, safeguarding assets for family members. After you pass away, the state cannot take your assets from your beneficiaries to reimburse them for your long-term care, as MAPTs avoid probate. Since nursing home fees can be exorbitant, MAPTs can save your family money, as they let you qualify for Medicaid once the lookback period has ended. The drawbacks of MAPTs include the following: Once you establish a MAPT, you forfeit the control and use of
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“Information campaign on aging and long-term care is wise; taking more earnings from workers isn’t,” by Elizabeth Hovde, Washington Policy Center Quote: “An information campaign — one that could point to private long-term-care insurance (LTCI) for workers who LTCI makes sense for — should be coupled with removing taxes on insurance products and better protecting Medicaid. That’d be a better route for the state when it comes to looking out for Medicaid’s LTC spending woes. Cost-shifting to workers saves the state relatively little and costs workers a lot. Creating a new entitlement program for people in need and people not in need isn’t wise. See
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“Industry Leaders Split on Whether Skilled Nursing’s Future Should Include Separate Short, Long-Term Care,” by Amy Stulick, Skilled Nursing News Quote: “There has been an increasing call to separate long-term and short-term care in the nursing home sector as acuity rises and facilities take on more specialties, all while facing a staffing shortage. Academics, finance leaders and some operators agree such a separation would be a positive for residents — and maybe even help the staffing crisis — but the big question is where long-term Medicaid beneficiaries would go if they’re not occupying beds in a nursing home. Some believe
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