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Archives for July 2012

Dr. Marion and www.3in4needmore.com are in Houston!

July 21, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

The www.3in4needmore.com bus with Dr. Marion and her crew pulled up in front of the Oak Branch Public Library this afternoon. The vehicle, a very large and impressive sight that you can’t miss, averages 5-6 mpg, weighs 25,000 pounds, and is a converted 1967 Greyhound bus. It is decorated with sponsor logos all over.

The bus is home base for Dr. Marion and her crew. They are on a 12 week, cross-country trip to promote the www.3in4needmore.com campaign. They stop, meet the public, and do press interviews to inform the public about the need for responsible long-term care planning all along their journey.

One reason for the bus’s visit to Houston was to kick off a very exciting pilot program between  www.3in4needmore.com,  the TX Long-Term Care Partnership (TX LTCP), and the TX Department of Health and Human Services (TX HHS).

The www.3in4needmore.com campaign mission is to educate the public about the need for responsible long-term care planning. These goals are shared by the TX LTCP Partnership and TX HHS. What a great partnership!

Four special pilot seminars have been scheduled for July 20-21, 2012, in Houston. Similar seminars have been planned in other major TX cities.  www.3in4needmore.com members like myself, who have been carefully vetted and trained, will teach the seminars on behalf of the TX LTCP and TX HHS.

Long-term care insurance specialists like myself are qualified, available, and highly capable of teaching why responsible long-term care planning is urgently and vitally important. No selling, pressure or bias takes place during these educational seminars.

I am (obviously) very honored and proud to have been chosen to participate in this important project.

We are hoping this special www.3in4needmore.com, TX LTCP, TX HHS collaboration will go so well that it will be replicated over and over, not only in Texas, but in other states.

Dr. Marion taught today’s seminar. Three seminars will take place tomorrow. I will teach two of them, and my colleague, Kevin Cain, will teach the third. All seminars will take place at the Oak Branch Public Library, 1439 West 43rd Street, Houston, TX 77018. You may register to attend at http://www.3in4needmore.com/texas-ltc-seminars/

Click here to see a brief video of me and Dr. Marion.

Click here to see a story describing this exciting, collaborative pilot program between www.3in4needmore.com, TX LTCP and TX HHS.

Filed Under: 3 in 4 Need More, Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: Dr. Marion, Honey Leveen, LifeHealthpro.com, Marion Somers, ownyourownfuturetexas.org, TX Department of Health and Human Services, TX Long-Term Care Partnership, www.3in4needmore.com, www.honeyleveen.com

Fun article I hope will encourage your friends to call

July 21, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

This brief and entertaining article from the July 18, 2012 edition of www.lifehealthpro.com describes how I run my practice and my life.

If you have a friend you care about who has not yet planned responsibly for long-term care, if your friend is pressed for time, if your friend may think all insurance agents are pushy, self-serving, uninformed and without wisdom, reading this brief articlemay help them.

Many thanks to my friend and colleague, Marilee Driscoll, for writing such a fun—and true—story on me.

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: LifeHealthpro.com, LTC Insurance, LTCi, Marilee Driscoll

Another avoidable, tragic situation caused by failure to plan for LTC

July 9, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

Today’s Dear Abby column again advises about grief caused by failure to plan for long-term care. I have pasted it beneath my blog.

The son states he built a new house to accommodate his mother. When his mother became fearful of his wife, she was moved to an assisted living facility. I have two thoughts about this: how traumatic it must have been for the mother to move at that point, and what a saint the wife is for attempting to be the mother’s primary caregiver!

We can only guess how long the son and his wife provided in-home care for his mother there before placing her in assisted living, where she remained for 10 years. The son states his mothers 10+ years of long-term care need left him financially, as well as emotionally drained, so we have evidence the mother had little income and wealth and that her son and daughter-in-law subsidized the cost of her assisted living.

The son states his mother died in 2007 and five years later he  is still guilt-ridden because he had to place her in an assisted living facility.

If this family had addressed responsible long-term care planning while the mother was healthy, perhaps the mother would have purchased  reasonably priced long-term care insurance (LTCi). Her LTCi would have paid for appropriately trained home health care providers the mother would not be scared of. Mother probably could have remained at home in these circumstances. This probably would have averted the family discord described, plus much of the son’s guilt-ridden grief. It also would have averted the financial drain described.

Why people don’t want to have a conversation about responsible long-term care planning while they are healthy and premiums are reasonable is beyond me.

From Dear Abby’s July 9, 2012 column:

DEAR ABBY: My mother’s Alzheimer’s became apparent after she was in a car accident. I should have noticed the signs earlier, but I didn’t. Her body recovered, her mind did not.

I built a new house with a separate suite for her. My wife and I tried to care for her for a year, but I’m disabled and Mom was afraid of my wife. There was never a moment’s peace. Fearing for our collective health, I finally placed Mom into an assisted living facility. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life.

My children criticized me but offered no alternatives. I visited her as often as possible. Because I could no longer drive, I sent someone with gifts and treats for her. Mom died in 2007 after 10 years in the facility. The last few years she didn’t know me from a doorknob. Her disease left my wife and me drained emotionally and financially. I still feel guilty for not doing more. The look of fear on her face haunts me still. Is this normal for someone in my circumstances? — ONLY CHILD IN FLORIDA

Filed Under: Denial, Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: assisted living, Dear Abby, Honey Leveen, LTC Insurance, the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, www.honeyleveen.com

Personal stories about long-term care

July 8, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

I enjoyed my good friend and colleague Margie Barrie’s column in June’s Senior Market Advisor Magazine.

Long-term care insurance allows you to have choices, access and options not just now, while you are independent, but through the final days of your life.

The following actual testimonials are from Margie’s column. They are written by LTCi claimants and families. Thanks to colleagues Mark Goldberg and Matt McCann for sharing these.

Written by a claimant’s husband:

“We bought our policy when we were 60. My wife had a stroke when she was 64. The stroke left her partially paralyzed, and we were devastated. She required care to just cope with the stuff you have to do every day to live. If it wasn’t for this insurance, she would have gone into a nursing home permanently. But because she had this protection, we could bring help into the house. We didn’t have to change the way we lived. Without the policy, I would have been the one who provided the care and my daughter would have had to quit her job to help me.

“Because we had this policy, it prevented us from having to change our life, and that made all the difference in the world. As far as I am concerned the value of having the policy is priceless. It’s probably the best investment we have ever made.”

Written by claimant’s daughter and son:

“We didn’t even know that mom and dad had long-term care insurance until they both got sick. This policy made helping them find the best care for their circumstances so much easier.

“We had no idea how flexible their policies were. The fact they had the choice of going into an assisted-living facility instead of a nursing home has given us both great relief. We might not have that option if we didn’t know we would have the dollars the policy provides them for the care.

“My brother and I have both applied for coverage for ourselves as we have experienced firsthand what the impact of having these policies can have. My parents never wanted to be a burden, and I don’t want to be a burden to my kids.

“I am a mother of two teenage  children and if I had to be the one who had to coordinate and provide my parents’ care, it would make my life impossible. My brother is in a similar situation.”

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: Honey Leveen, Margie Barrie, Mark Goldberg, Matt McCann, Senior Market Advisor, www.honeyleveen.com

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Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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Open Quotation Mark"Honey - Whenever I need a clarification regarding our “LTC” you are “Johnny on the spot” responding in a very prompt manner, reassuring me, informing me in a concise way, patient with me as I massage the understanding in my own words. Your knowledge is current and expressed with confidence, offered in your conscientious and upbeat personality. Quotation Mark ClosedIt is a pleasure to work with you. Thank you for your expertise." ~ Nancy Damon, Houston, TX
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Honey Leveen, LUTCF, CLTC, LTCP
“The Queen, by Self-Proclamation, of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi)”
404 Royal Bonnet
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Phone: 713-988-4671
Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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