“Reverse Mortgage Pioneer Talks Past, Present, Future of Equity Conversion,” by Jessica Guerin, Reverse Mortgage Daily “Rather than using proceeds of a reverse mortgage to pay for long-term care costs, I have suggested using reverse mortgage proceeds to pay for the premiums of a private long-term care insurance policy, and then the insurance policy can pay for the costs of long-term care when needed.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Great idea that I’ve also advocated for a couple decades. This article is an interview with Yung-Ping “Bing” Chen, a long-time friend and fellow
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“Who Will Care for Us?: Long-Term Care and the Long-Term Workforce,” by Paul Osterman, new book from Russell Sage Foundation “The number of elderly and disabled adults who require assistance with day-to-day activities is expected to double over the next twenty-five years. As a result, direct care workers such as home care aides and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) will become essential to many more families. Yet these workers tend to be low-paid, poorly trained, and receive little respect. Is such a workforce capable of addressing the needs of our aging population? In Who Will Care for Us? economist Paul Osterman
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“Oregon removes nearly 55,000 people from Medicaid after they failed eligibility checks,” by Hillary Borrud, The Oregonian “Oregon has kicked nearly 55,000 people off its Medicaid program, after the state found they no longer qualified or failed to respond to an eligibility check. . . . Historically, around 28 percent of Oregonians on Medicaid were found to no longer qualify at annual eligibility reviews. But when the state finished working through its backlog of 115,000 Medicaid enrollees, it took the free insurance away from nearly 48 percent of them.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care
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“Warning comes with sharp rise in hospitals holding ownership links to post-acute care,” by Emily Mongan, McKnight’s LTC News “The percentage of hospitals with shared ownership or investor links to a post-acute care provider jumped from 25% in 2005 to nearly 50% in 2015, a new Health Affairs study shows. That sharp increase could have policy- and care-related implications, according to the study’s authors. . . . Their findings, published Tuesday, showed that hospitals with investor links to skilled nursing facilities increased from 10.7% in 2005 to 17.5% in 2015. The study’s results also found 61.8% of skilled nursing facilities
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“Retiring This Year? Here’s What You’ll Pay for Health Care,” by Michael S. Fischer, ThinkAdvisor “Fidelity Investments reported Thursday that a 65-year-old couple retiring this year can expect an estimated $275,000 in health care and medical expenses throughout retirement. Fidelity’s annual analysis of retirees’ health care costs represented a 6% increase over last year’s estimate but a whopping 70% increase since its initial retiree health care cost estimate in 2002. . . . It assumes enrollment in Medicare health coverage, but does not include the added expenses of nursing home or long-term care.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President,
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“Respite Care: How to Ease the Stress of Caregiving,” by Kelly Burch, Parade “Your respite care might look like this: In-home caregivers can offer temporary services—from cooking, cleaning and companionship to medical assistance. Costs vary depending on where you live and the type of care. Medicare and long-term care insurance may cover the costs of more professional services. Adult daycare centers provide social activities with trained staff, and often include meals and transportation. Many offer services on sliding payment scales, based on income. Medicaid and long-term care insurance may cover costs. Ask about extra fees for field trips or other
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