Planning for Long-Term Care in America

Home Health firms part of Medicare fraud

Recently, Health and Human Services has annouced some big Medicare fraud busts.  This one involved a doctor and 78 home health care agencies in Texas, costing Medicare 2.3 million per month.

Data mining of claims helps Medicare (and private LTC insurers) limit the amount of fraud. The doctor accused of the fraud faces a possible maximum sentence of 100 years in jail, which should make current scamsters a little more hesitant to pick the pockets of the Feds.

Here's the article:

Federal officials crack $375 million home healthcare fraud scheme - McKnight's Long Term Care News.

Alzheimer's remains the single greatest health-related fear of aging

According to a recent study by The Blackstone Group and published by the Center for a Secure Retirement, Alzheimer's continues to be the health condition American's fear most - with 31% of respondents concerned.

Other interesting findings from the study show that the Medicare benefit for long-term care is least understood Medicare benefit. 66% of respondants either don't know what Medicare pays for long-term care or overestimated coverage for LTC.

Finally, 87% of Americans aged 47 or older are concerned about the future of Medicare.

Those planning for LTC and concerned about the impact of Alzheimers should first study the Medicare long-term care benefit to see how it pays (or doesn't) for LTC services.

You can download the complete study below:

http://www.centerforasecureretirement.com/media/150259/retirement-healthcare-report.pdf

 

 

 

 

'Doc fix' might hurt a little - McKnight's Long Term Care News

Bad news for providers of skilled nursing care - the recent budget standoff means there is going to be less money (21 billion less) from Washington to support their facilities. 

Expect a trend away from situations where both public and private pay patients share facilities to a two-tier system - one for purely private pay and one for those needing public assistance.

As this editorial suggests, the lobbying strength of the American Medical Society is much stronger than that of associations representing nursing homes, which may have contributed to where the cuts occured.

'Doc fix' might hurt a little - McKnight's Long Term Care News.

New care coordination programs work with or without LTC insurance

One of the many benefits of owning long-term care care insurance is the built in care coordination functionality - that helps families find, coordinate and manage care.  Now, these programs are becoming more robust with online capabilities.

Here is an article from the the WSJ about new services from organizations like the Genworth and the AARP.

Here is the service offered by Prudential and Univita . 

Genworth caregiving site and demo

New 2 minute Mutual of Omaha Video on a Customer's Long-Term Care Story

 

The Future. LTCI Product Design. Discuss. | LifeHealthPro

Discussion with head of Prudential LTC and the head of the AALTCI on the future of long-term care insurance product designs.

The Future. LTCI Product Design. Discuss. | LifeHealthPro.

Male caregivers on rise

This article from the Chicago tribune on Valentine's day discusses the role men play in caregiving.  It also features a lovely video on a couple who has been married 63 years.

male caregivers on rise - chicagotribune.com.

Voluntary LTCI Market Keeps Moving | LifeHealthPro

What's the future for Voluntary LTCI plans - opinions differ in this article from Life Health Pro.

Voluntary LTCI Market Keeps Moving | LifeHealthPro.

House votes to repeal CLASS plan - unlikely Senate or President will follow

Yesterday in the the house, all 239 voting republicans along with 28 democrats voted to repeal the CLASS act long-term care provisions from health care reform.

Although HHS never implement CLASS due to actuarial concerns, it is still on the books.  The White House and Senate are unlikely to repeal CLASS because they want to revisit the legislation with an effort to make it work.  In the meantime, in remains as law but un-implimented.  Read more here:

House dismisses CLASS | BenefitsPro.

LTCI Partners Monthly Poll - February 2012

BACKGROUND: In a recent Life Health Pro article, "No More Rose-Colored Lenses: LTCi Carriers Converge on a Thorough Approach to Underwriting," Tom Riekse, Jr., LTCI Partners managing principal, provides key insight to why many LTCi carriers have reassessed the market and re-priced compound inflation riders.