“‘Beyond amyloid’: A look at what’s next in Alzheimer’s research,” by Damian Garde, STAT “t’s neuroscience’s oldest and most acrimonious debate. On one side, scientists who aver that blasting away toxic plaques called amyloid is the best path toward treating Alzheimer’s disease. On the other, frustrated skeptics ready to ditch the amyloid hypothesis once and for all. But a parade of failed clinical trials has seeded a growing middle ground of agnostics and stoked a bevy of new research efforts, as “the field in general — and our pharma colleagues — are recognizing that they need to think beyond amyloid,”
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“Where prospects carry the most student loan debt,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “Student loan debt is increasing among older adults, according to data released Friday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, suggesting that more prospective senior living community residents may face a big impediment to making a move.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Newest way to qualify for Medicaid: don’t pay off your student loan debt. Where prospects carry the most student loan debt #goldencareagent #studentloan  
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“LifePlansTCG Agrees to Acquire,” LTCG, Inc. press release “LTCG, the recognized leader in business processing outsourcing for long term care insurance, just announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire LifePlans, Inc., a national provider of innovative risk management solutions for insurers and its Canadian division LifePlans LTC Services, Inc. The agreement covers the purchase of LifePlans’ long term care and related risk management services and assets from Munich American Reassurance Company (Munich Re, U.S. (Life)). Munich Re, U.S. (Life) will retain LifePlans’ healthcare services business and operate under the name LP Health Services, LLC.” LTC Comment (from Stephen
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“LTCG to Acquire Munich Re’s Long-Term Care Insurance Arm,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Long Term Care Group Inc. reported today that it has agreed to buy the LTCI-related operations at LifePlans Inc. from LifePlans’ parent, Munich Re.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): More coming after we speak with LTCG CEO Peter Goldstein. LTCG to Acquire Munich Re’s Long-Term Care Insurance Arm #goldencareagent #ltcg  
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“Caregiving Needs Double as End of Life Nears,” by Maureen Salamon, HealthDay “Reliance on caregivers doubles as people near death, and half of those caregivers — typically unpaid family members — report having no time for themselves, a new study indicates. . . . Nearly nine in 10 caregivers are unpaid, according to the study. For end-of-life caregivers who were spouses, nearly two-thirds reported receiving no help from family or friends. . . . The study was published recently in the journal Health Affairs.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): This research screams “plan
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“How Long Will $1 Million Stretch In Retirement?,” Advisor Magazine “Mississippi is the state where your dollar will last the longest amount of time in retirement, while Hawaii is the state where your dollar will last the shortest, a new study found. It’s a common refrain that retirees should save at least $1 million for retirement, but how much does where they live affect their saving needs?” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): I just moved from one of the best (Texas) to one of worst (New Mexico). Oops. How Long Will $1 Million
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“’Granny pods’ become a solution for retirees with limited budgets,” by Katie Young, CNBC “The 67-year-old retiree was living alone in Wyoming, and had grown tired of cold winters. She wanted to be closer to her family in Oakland, California. Not ready to give up her independence entirely by sharing a roof with family — but also unable to purchase another property thanks in part to the Bay Area’s notoriously high cost of housing — Baldwin decided to look no further than the backyard. Her answer was to build a 400-square-foot ‘granny pod.’” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President,
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“The Language of Long-Term Care: Navigating the care maze can be overwhelming; understanding the lingo can help,” by Christine Benz, Morningstar “As I reflect on my parents’ final years, a period that included multiple hospital stays, trips to rehab, and the hiring of in-home caregivers, I realize that my siblings and I were often a step behind with our responses. We initially hired in-home caregivers to help for 10 to 20 hours a week when, in hindsight, we should have had them there every day. We made the difficult decision to move my dad to a long-term care facility with
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“The role of advisors in longevity planning,” by Kimberly Foss, Financial Planning “Similarly, boomers don’t really want stocks, bonds, mutual funds or insurance; they want the means to live their desired lifestyle when they are no longer actively employed. They want to solve the problems that come with longevity, and those problems, more and more, go beyond simply funding their retirement accounts. . . . In order to position themselves to adequately respond to the longevity needs of an aging clientele, advisors will increasingly be called upon to provide not just transaction-based assistance, but also to serve as facilitators of
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“7 Peeks Into Long-Term Care Insurance Issuers’ Thinking,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Here are seven glimpses of the state of the U.S. LTCI market drawn from earnings reports, and insurers’ quarterly earnings conference calls with securities analysts.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Random insights. The last one in the final paragraph caught my eye: “Lu Zhiqiang, the chairman of China Oceanwide, said . . . that he wants to complete the Genworth acquisition as soon as possible . . . as we expand our long term care insurance capabilities and work together to
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