“National Health Expenditure Report Shows We Have Not Solved the Cost Problem,” by Joseph Antos and James Capretta, Health Affairs Blog “Medicaid spending in real terms grew at an average annual rate of 4.4 percent over the period 2010 to 2016. On a per-capita basis, real Medicaid spending actually fell at an average annual rate of 0.3 percent over that period. . . . Per-person spending on Medicaid is heavily influenced by the characteristics of new enrollees into the program. In recent years, the program has enrolled millions of new beneficiaries who are not disabled or elderly, and thus have
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“National long-term care spending hits all-time high at $163 billion,” by Emily Mongan, McKnight’s LTC News “Americans spent nearly $163 billion on nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities in 2016, according to a new federal report. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ National Health Care Spending report for 2016, published Wednesday in Health Affairs, found that total healthcare spending in the United States increased 4.3% in 2016, reaching $3.3 trillion. When it comes to long-term care, $162.7 billion was spent last calendar year. That marks the highest point in total nursing care and CCRC spending to date,
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“What You Could Learn About a Successful Retirement From Current Retirees,” by Walter Updegrave, Money “Despite all the talk of a retirement crisis — and fears of people running through their savings too quickly — a new study has found something interesting: Older Americans who’ve spent nearly two decades in retirement have not only been able to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living, but have managed to do so while keeping their nest egg largely intact. But before today’s retirement savers get too giddy, the same study warns that future retirees may find it much more difficult to achieve anything
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“Tools added to insurance portfolio,” McKnight’s Long-Term Care News “Genworth Financial has launched an eSuite of new business tools, designed to simplify and expedite new long-term care insurance applications and increase producer efficiency. The electronic process reduces time from application signature to policy in-force date by almost three weeks, the company said.” LTC Comment (from Damon Moses, Administrative Coordinator, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Innovation that helps make long-term care insurance more accessible is a good thing. Tools added to insurance portfolio #insurance #portfolio #goldencareagent
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“Debunking Five Common Myths About Long-Term Care Planning,” by Kara Gansmann, WilmingtonBiz Insights “These misconceptions are worth revisiting to debunk them once and for all. . . . Myth 2: I have to spend all my assets to be eligible for Medicaid. Families may choose to spend all their assets on care.  Elder law attorneys determine the best approach for each family by considering the needs of any at-home spouse, the amount of time available to plan, the family’s goals, and the types of assets. By using tools like trusts and annuities, families can preserve assets and still qualify for
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“Healthcare prices hard to find online,” by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters   “Consumers who search online for prices of common medical procedures may be disappointed by what they find, a U.S. study suggests. . . . They did a simple search, such as ‘cost of hip replacement in Los Angeles,’ swapping in different medical services and cities each time, to see how often the results would lead consumers to a price. Of 1,346 websites in the search results that weren’t advertisements, only 234, or 17 percent, provided geographically relevant price information, the study found.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President,
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We are truly grateful for the many relationships we’ve built, over the years, with the hard-working agents we serve everyday. Wishing you a season of joy and looking forward to our continued success in 2018. The Management and Staff of United Security Assurance A Holiday Message As I look back on 2017, I am thankful for the many positive developments our company achieved. This year, we paid close attention to your requests and developed tools and plans to make it easier for you to do business with us. This was accomplished most successfully with a menu of on-line tools, such
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