It is a cruel paradox: As the cost of long-term care rises and the number of people needing it grows, traditional options for paying for these supports and services are narrowing. Traditional private long-term care insurance is largely disappearing from the marketplace. Reverse mortgages, already something of a niche product, are likely to become harder to get-- especially for those [...]
The Congressional long-term care commission will finally hold its first meeting in late June. However, the panel must conclude its meetings in the fall and commission members are increasingly pessimistic that they will reach agreement on any substantial reforms to the nation’s troubled system of supports and services for the frail elderly or younger people with disabilities. Last Friday, I [...]
Baby Boomers are in serious denial when it comes to their medical and long-term care costs in retirement. Yes, Medicare provides excellent health insurance (subsidized in large part by taxpayers). But it doesn’t come close to paying for a senior’s medical costs. And doesn’t pay for long-term supports and services at all. Those holes in the Medicare system mean a [...]
In the past few weeks, no fewer than three highly respected groups have proposed major health care reforms. They all promise greater use of patient-centered integrated care, but none include supports and services for frail elders or younger people with disabilities. It took four decades to incorporate a drug benefit into Medicare. Now we seem to be in the same place [...]
There is a widespread belief that seniors, in cahoots with shady lawyers and greedy children, hide their assets so they can receive Medicaid long-term care benefits. It turns out that this image—sort of the greedy geezer equivalent of Cadillac-driving welfare queens—is largely an urban myth. While some seniors undoubtedly find ways to transfer assets (everyone, it seems, knows someone who has—or [...]
California has taken the idea of managed care for low-income seniors and people with disabilities to a whole new level. Under an agreement with the Obama Administration announced last week, the state will begin shifting both medical care and long-term supports and services to managed care companies in just seven months. Watch this closely. You may be looking at the [...]
Long-Term Care insurance too expensive? How about short-term care insurance? In an attempt to make increasingly-costly coverage affordable for middle-class buyers, some insurers are selling policies that offer bare-bones personal care benefits—sometimes as little as $50-a-day for three months. These policies are more affordable, but are they worth the money? Bankers Life and Casualty Co. has been selling these low-cost, low-benefit [...]
Nearly two months ago, Congress created a commission to recommend reforms to the current long-term care system. So what has happened since? Not much. Leaders of Congress have appointed members to serve on the panel but President Obama—who has three of 15 picks-- has not yet made his choices. The commission can’t select a chairman, find a staff, or set an agenda [...]
A new insurance company survey of financial advisers reports that four-in-ten have clients who ask about giving away their assets so they can become eligible for Medicaid long-term care. Oddly, though not surprisingly, the same advisers report their clients say that a key goal of their long-term care planning is “maintaining control.” The online survey, by Nationwide Financial, questioned a [...]
Slowly but surely, more people who receive Medicaid benefits for long-term supports and services are getting their care at home rather than in nursing facilities. Still, only about 3.3 million seniors and younger people with disabilities who require long-term care get such help at home—about 1 million more than in 2000. Overall, the program now spends about $50 billion or [...]