“Medicare Advantage And The Future Of Value-Based Care,” by Bruce D. Broussard and William H. Shrank, Health Affairs Blog “The Medicare Advantage (MA) program, which allows Medicare beneficiaries to voluntarily enroll in a private plan that administers health benefits, was established by the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 as a vehicle to bring private-sector competition and innovation to Medicare beneficiaries. When the program was announced, the goal was to create greater competition on benefits, care management, and costs, and to offer greater choice and consumer-centricity to America’s seniors. At the time, value-based care, where providers are reimbursed for the health
Read More

“Americans Lose Trillions Claiming Social Security at the Wrong Time,” by Ben Steverman, ThinkAdvisor “Almost all American retirees claim Social Security at the wrong time, a new report estimates, which means they will miss out on a collective $3.4 trillion in benefits before they die. … Only 4% of U.S. retirees are waiting until age 70 to claim Social Security; some 57% should be doing so, the report calculated. Meanwhile, more than 70% start taking checks before turning 64, a time when—ideally—only 6.5% of retirees should be cashing checks. The lost income from these less-than-optimal decisions amounts to about $111,000 per household, the researchers estimate.”
Read More

“Caring for Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease or Related Dementias (ADRD),” Administration for Community Living “This profile examines the differences in caregiver demographics and the dynamics at play between those who are caring for an adult at home with ADRD (n=810) and those who are caring for an adult 60 years of age or older at home for another reason (n=756). The mean age of Non-ADRD caregivers was 64, while the mean age of ADRD caregivers was 67. Among all caregivers, the mean age was 65.9. More Non-ADRD caregivers were employed (33%) compared with ADRD caregivers (27%). About three-quarters of both
Read More

Bonnie Kraham: Avoiding the Medicaid asset spend down for nursing home costs,” by Bonnie Kraham, Times Herald-Record “The Medicaid asset ‘spend down’ refers to divesting yourself of assets so you can qualify for Medicaid to pay for nursing home costs. … The best way to avoid the Medicaid asset spend down is to buy long-term care insurance. If you do not have or cannot qualify for long-term care insurance, the next best plan is to create the Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT) that protects assets from nursing home costs after the assets have been in the trust for five years.
Read More

“Private Equity Firms Are Acquiring Long-Term Care Insurance Policies. What Will It Mean For Policyholders?,” by Howard Gleckman, Forbes “Some long-term care insurance companies are turning over their existing policies to private equity firms and other outside investors, a move that will wipe massive liabilities off their books but could put policyholders at risk. The problem: Unlike traditional insurance companies, private equity investors may be investing premiums in high-yielding but speculative securities such as junk corporate bonds. Such a step could boost their returns but, if the investments go bust, leave the firms short of assets to pay claims.”  
Read More

“Medigap changes coming next year for future 65-year-olds,” by Sarah O’Brien, CNBC “Two options, Plans C and F, will be off the table for anyone newly eligible for Medicare after this year. Plan G, which is similar to those two options, will continue to be available — the only difference is it does not cover your Part B deductible. Experts recommend giving thought to how often you use the health-care system when you’re considering whether to go with a lower-cost plan that offers less coverage.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Regulators continue
Read More

“Older Americans Seek Meaning and New Experiences in Retirement Years,” Advisor Magazine “In a new survey, nearly 70% of Americans ages 62 and older said physical health is most important to them as they age, followed in order by cognitive health (16%), social health (13%) and financial health (6%). While most are feeling good and being proactive to maintain or improve their health, nearly all are worried about ending up sick or hospitalized. To address this, most have made a change in recent years to make themselves feel healthier, with diet and exercise improvements being the top steps people are taking;
Read More

“Broad class of drug linked to 50% higher risk of dementia in older adults,” by Alicia Lasek, McKnight’s LTC News “A class of drug commonly prescribed to treat everything from depression to Parkinson’s disease may raise long-term risk of dementia by as much as 50%, according to researchers at the University of Nottingham. The drugs, anticholinergics, help to relax and contract muscles by blocking messages to the nervous system. They are known in some cases to have short-term side effects including confusion and memory loss, but the effects of long-term use have been unclear, wrote the researchers, led by Carol
Read More

“Many U.S. retirees outlive their savings by more than a decade, report says,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “Older adults in the United States have life expectancies of as many as 11 years past the number of years that their retirement savings could last, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum, ‘Investing In (and for) Our Future.’ … To close the savings gap, the new report says, individuals and policymakers must take steps to ensure that individual retirement investments can provide returns retirees won’t outlive.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term
Read More