Search Results for: nursing homes

Reality Setting in: Nursing Homes Start to Shutter

October 31, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

In an article titled, “Long-term care patients face move as hospital ends service,”Manuel Coppola of the Nogales International (268 W. View Point Dr. Nogales, AZ 85621) states that “Over the next three months, 26 long-term-care patients at Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital (HCH) will have to find somewhere else to go after a decision was made this week to discontinue the residential service effective Feb. 3, 2012.”

The article tragically reports that $500 million in statewide cuts to Arizona Medicaid make reopening the facility highly unlikely.

According to Dina Sanchez, HCH assistant administrator, “For several years, Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital was already subsidizing residential care at this long-term care facility to the tune of about $1 million per year.”

The article continues, “With $1.6 million in AHCCCS (Arizona Medicaid) cuts to Holy Cross compounding the fiscal stress, something had to give.”

I believe this is the tip of the iceberg and that scenarios like this are going to begin playing out across the country. If you don’t already own long-term care insurance, it’s time to face up to the fact that the government won’t be able to pay for your long-term care.

Nursing Homes Under Assault

August 24, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

An August 12, 2011, Healthcare Finance News article titled “Long-Term Care Group Urges Super Committee to Preserve Federal Funding” describes that the healthcare industry, including nursing homes and community caregivers, are preparing for the worst (MedTech Media 71 Pineland Drive, Suite 203 New Gloucester, ME 04260).

The Congressional Super Committee is charged with finding $1.5 trillion in budget cuts. Declarations from Congressional leaders indicating that everything will be on the table for the Super Committee have raised major concerns, and healthcare organizations representing community care givers and nursing homes and long-term care insurance providers are stepping up to urge lawmakers to preserve funding for these vital health services.

This is further indication that it is imprudent for anyone, except perhaps the most crippled and indigent, to expect the government to be capable of providing decent long-term care.

Health Care Reform Could Hit Nursing Homes Hard

May 31, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

In his May 16, 2011 article titled, Nursing Homes Seek Exemptions from Health Law“, New York Times reporter Robert Pear draws attention to the bleak outlook for Medicaid-paid long-term care (LTC).

Currently, Medicaid covers about two-thirds of nursing home residents. Since many Boomers will soon need long-term care services in a giant bulge, the result will be a “Silver Tsunami.” Unfortunately, very few Boomers have planned for this eventuality.

States set Medicaid rates, and many states, facing severe budget problems, have already reduced payments for nursing homes, which are also facing severe budget problems.

And now a further threat for this beleaguered system. Starting in 2014, health-care reform will require employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer affordable coverage or risk paying a penalty. For a mid-size nursing home, that penalty could easily exceed $200,000 a year. Faced with increasing budget shortfalls, nursing home executives are urging Congress and the Obama administration to spare them from the penalties.

25% of nursing home workers do not own health insurance. These employees are often on the lowest end of the wage scale.

The future is not looking too rosy for nursing homes and the frail, defenseless people they serve.

With minor exceptions, Medicaid pays for long-term care only in certain nursing homes. I believe many seniors who are currently receiving LTC in these nursing homes could experience a higher quality of life in assisted living facilities, but they simply cannot afford this type of care. Why? Because they failed to have a conversation about LTC planning while they were insurable and able to buy affordable LTCi. So they face the bleak reality of spending their final years in Medicaid-paid nursing homes.

Since the vast majority of Boomers have not planned for their LTC, what quality of care will be available to them when the Silver Tsumani overwhelms the available, underfunded nursing homes? Will Medicaid funding be adequate to provide the increased demand for LTC?

In view of this bleak future they are facing, the most baffling question is: why do Boomers continue to avoid having a conversation about responsible LTC planning?

Nursing Homes Look Younger

February 28, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

“Nursing Homes Look Younger” by Renee Lee was published in the February 21, 2011 Houston Chronicle.

From the article: “People ages 31 to 64 have entered nursing homes at a higher rate than those 65 and older in the past eight years, according to data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The age group has climbed to 14 percent of the nursing home population.”

This statistic ties in with my most recent blog about a friend in his mid-50s who had an accident about three months ago that bruised his spinal cord and temporarily rendered him a quadriplegic. He is slipping through the cracks of our medical system. His medical insurance carrier doesn’t want to pay for the extended nursing home care he needs. They claim that he is not recuperating quickly enough, despite the fact that according to his physical therapist, he is making good progress. So they want to send him home, where his wife is ill equipped to care for him. Sadly, the couple does not own long-term care insurance (LTCi). If they did, it would most likely defray enough of the cost of his care to make a big difference in their lives.

I do not know how our friends will finance the cost of long-term care. In the Houston Chronicle article referenced above, it appears that Tim Lowe, the patient described, is on Medicaid. Under current regulations in the US, he was required to spend his wealth down to poverty level before qualifying for Medicaid assistance, and he can receive long-term care only in a facility that accepts Medicaid.

One in Five Nursing Home Residents Report Abuse

June 20, 2016 by Honey Leave a Comment

A new study reports one in five – or about 20% of nursing home residents – have experienced at least one resident-to-resident abusive event.

This is a conundrum brought about by abysmally low pay to nursing home caregivers, and by Medicaid reimbursement rates so low it is difficult for nursing homes to stay in the black. The majority of nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid.

Here’s a blog I wrote showing nursing home workers are quitting to work at McDonald’s, where they get paid more and don’t have to mess with bedpans or possible back injuries.

The article mentions the double homicide at a nursing home not far from here. Here is a series of blogs I did about this event.

If you want to greatly increase the odds you will not wind up in a nursing home, you need to own long-term care insurance (LTCi). Most LTCi policyholders are able to remain at home or move to an assisted living facility, instead of a nursing home. The evidence is in a recent AHIP study sited here; ask and I will email the complete study to you.

Request a Free, No-Obligation LTCi Quote

Search Results for: nursing homes

Reality Setting in: Nursing Homes Start to Shutter

Nursing Homes Under Assault

Health Care Reform Could Hit Nursing Homes Hard

Nursing Homes Look Younger

One in Five Nursing Home Residents Report Abuse

From My Blog

Podcast Illuminates LTC Need

LTCI is Magical at Time of Need!

Testimonials