Age related brain loss Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

Falling to Your Death

July 8, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Falls are the #1 cause of long term care need. They are typically a result of decreased body strength, balance issues, vision problems, home hazards or foot pain. Usually it’s a combination of two or more of these factors.

As we age, falls become more complicated to bounce back from. While most falls don’t lead to permanent injury, one out of five do result in serious injury, like broken bones which don’t heal as well or brain trauma.

Falling By the Numbers

In 2017, unintentional falls led to over 36,000 deaths in the US.
The National Council on Aging reports, “Every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall; every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall.”
One in three adults over 50 years of age dies within 12 months of suffering a hip fracture.
For older adults, the risk of a hip fracture leading to death is 5 – 8 times higher. Death can occur as quickly as 3 months after suffering the fracture.

What’s Behind the Falls?

The National Council on Aging explains how preventable most of these accidental deaths are. So if we have the means to avoid the injuries, why are they continuing to happen more frequently?

In my experience, many fall-related deaths are caused because people fail to accept the fact that they need to slow down and/or need help in their simple, daily tasks. They shrug off stumbles or occasional falls as “part of getting old”. As their needs rise, they continue to deny their declining capacity. As if this denial of reality will postpone the worsening of their situation!

I see this in my new community at Shell Point Retirement Community and, I must admit, I expected my neighbors to be more in touch with the reality of their true needs. We live in an environment where the full spectrum of care is available and paid for. And that level of care is above average.

I have a neighbor who resists using her walker even though she admits to having great difficulty with her arthritis. She admits to her difficulties with opening jars and dressing herself because of her arthritis. And there are many similar examples of this “head in the sand” avoidance.

The simplest way to reduce falls is to be brutally honest about your actual need and circumstances, and then taking the appropriate action. People evidently have huge difficulty doing this.

Denial of the facts is something I’ve written about extensively. I understand that resisting the truth of our declining health is part of our survival instinct (or maybe just our ego?). It’s just a shame that so many intelligent people are unable to override this instinct more often.

In doing so, they may suffer the ultimate consequence.

Take the first step to proactively plan for your future care and well being. Click here to receive your free, no-obligation quote for long term care insurance.

Brain Decline + Failure to Communicate = Failure Formula

July 1, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

If you are a regular reader of my weekly blog posts, you’ll notice the recurring theme of Brain Loss. While the condition isn’t avoidable, many of the resulting consequences can be prevented. It just takes a little planning and some open conversations. Otherwise, you are building a path to failure.

Here’s an email I recently received from a concerned service provider:

“Hi Honey,

You have been so helpful in the past and I always think of you when a question about LTC comes up!

We have a former patient who just moved to New York to be closer to her daughter. She is 91 years old and has dementia. She has had a LTC policy, but without her daughter knowing, she let her policy lapse. The LTC insurance company is asking for documentation of her mental status. Our doctor only saw her for general medical ailments and never formally evaluated her memory, so we have no test scores to provide. He wrote a letter of incapacity but the insurance company is not accepting that.

This woman stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars of coverage. Do you have any suggestions for them?”

I receive emails and distressed phone calls like this too often and they are heartbreaking. The families reaching out to me are in a state of emergency and dealing with unbelievable levels of stress. A lot of this stress is a result of failure to plan properly.

I’m assuming that the mother’s health has seriously declined, since the family had her moved at 91 years old to a new state. She like has, at minimum, mid-stage dementia. This means her dementia is at a point where it’s obvious and she needs lots of supervision.

Avoiding the Preventable Failure

Fortunately, most long term care insurance (LTCi) policies now include language allowing policyholders to reinstate their coverage and get their claim paid within 6 months of policy lapse. If she’s lucky, the mother qualifies for reinstatement and her claims can be paid.

The mother will need to have neurological testing to prove her dementia. Once proven, her choice to cancel her coverage could be reversed, as she was not mentally capable of making this serious decision.

Some Reasonable Questions

Does the daughter have a copy of her mother’s LTCi policy? When monitoring the health and care of our parents, it is critical to have the documentation and be familiar with the terms. Understand what options are available before you need to use them
If the policy lapsed from nonpayment, does the insurance company know to automatically notify the daughter? This is a standard part of every LTCi application. Pay attention and remember to complete it. There is good news: this appointment can be added or changed at any time, as long as the policy is in good standing.
Did the family ever have the conversation with their mother about what kind of care she wanted to receive once she was unable to make these decisions on her own?

This tragedy occurred because of the family’s failure to explore and document their mother’s wishes and desires ahead of time, in a frank manner.

Take a moment to explore how you can plan for an easier future for yourself or someone you love. Click here to receive your free, no-obligation quote for long term care insurance.

Actress, Director Penny Marshall Also A Victim of Brain Loss

June 24, 2019 by Honey Leveen 1 Comment

I’ve been writing a lot lately on the devastating (and often silent) effects of Brain Loss that often strike in our later years. The Journals of Gerontology published the results of a study on age-related brain changes and how these changes can leave the subject vulnerable to financial exploitation. According to their findings, “Approximately 1 in 20 adults can be expected to experience some form of financial exploitation past the age of 60, an incidence rate eclipsing many age-related diseases.” This financial exploitation is a result of impaired financial judgment. Which brings us to the final years of the life of Penny Marshall.

Penny Marshall Was Unprotected

Beloved actress and director, Penny Marshall, died in 2018, from complications from diabetes. It is also known that she had a bout with lung cancer which ultimately metastasized in her brain. Fortunately, both the lung and brain cancer went into remission after 2 years of treatment.

In a recent interview, Anjelica Huston shared about her friendship with Marshall, describing the peculiar way the director spent her nights. “Her rooms were freezing. Like air-conditioned, way up. She stayed up all night, followed QVC for beanbag dolls and stuff. She had this collection of sports memorabilia. She had a sort of museum in her basement full of signed baseballs and Lakers shirts. I just couldn’t relate. And also, frankly, she took a lot of coke.”

It became too much for Huston and she stopped visiting her friend.

Who Will Watch Out For You?

Penny Marshall’s final years contains some indications of erratic spending habits and other unusual behavior. There were no controls in place to protect her from herself or to ensure that she was receiving the best possible medical care to properly manage her diabetes.

I will continue to beat the drum, reminding you how important it is to have a clear plan in place that provides for your care and protects your interests. It may be difficult to acknowledge your future need for assistance, but denying the liklihood doesn’t improve your odds. In fact, it actually increases your risk.

The time to make these plans is NOW, while you are still thinking clearly. Penny Marshall failed to plan and, by default, planned to fail.

Click here to receive your free no-obligation quote for long term care insurance coverage. It only takes a minute and can make all the difference!

Preparing for Financial Scams

June 12, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission received almost 3 million reports of financial scams, which is an increase from the previous year. A study by New York State estimates that for every instance of financial exploitation reported, as many as 44 scamming cases go undetected.

Another study has calculated that older people lose over $36 billion each year from financial exploitation.

A Couple of Surprises About Financial Scams

It’s common knowledge that the elderly are easy targets of financial scams. What you may not know is that younger people (aged 20 – 29) actually report losing money more often than older people (aged 70 – 79). And it’s a significant difference! Younger people make up about 43% of these reports vs. only 15% from older people.

The difference is that once they fall prey to these operations, the elderly suffer considerably higher losses, since they have accumulated more wealth than younger generations.

There is a lot of scientific evidence that shows how vulnerable we become to these scams as we age. Most people believe that this is a symptom of cognitive impairment. But this isn’t always the case. It may also be part of isolation, loneliness, and other symptoms of physical decline. No two cases are alike.

While thoughtful estate planning and having a living will are very important, they will not necessarily protect someone from becoming an unwilling victim of financial scams.

To avoid being scammed or falling victim to fraud, difficult conversations must occur.

Here’s a wonderful video about how to talk with loved ones about the possibility of financial fraud.

In an earlier blog, I discussed a series from NPR’s Marketplace called “Brains and Losses“. I’m sharing the link to the podcast again because the information was so useful.

It’s not easy preparing for difficult circumstances that might lie ahead for us or for those we love. That’s why I am so deeply committed to my role as a Long Term Care Insurance Specialist. Together, we can create a plan that will make future decisions easier for you. Click here to receive your free, no-obligation quote so we can get started.

“Brains and Losses” – Financial Scams on Seniors

May 28, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

NPR’s Marketplace has done a thoughtful, engaging investigative series on age-associated financial vulnerability, called “Brains and Losses”. You can click here to listen to the 5-part audio series (Don’t worry — each episode is only about 5 minutes long!). It’s an interesting look at new research involving why we are more prone to financial scams as we age.

Even back in 2015, a well-respected and often-cited study found that Americans lose over $36 billion each year to “elder financial abuse”. The study breaks down those losses in 3 major areas:

$17 billion from exploitation – Seniors are led to making poor decisions based on confusing language or high sales pressure.
$12.8 billion from fraud – Seniors fall prey to identity theft or cons to send strangers money.
$6.7 billion from abuse of trust – Seniors who rely on the guidance of close friends, family or other advisors are deceived by the relationship and bilked out of their money.

It seems obvious that as age-related cognitive abilities decline, seniors become an easier target. In fact, I’ve written about this before. One of the early signs of oncoming cognitive impairment is falling for financial scams.

I’ve Seen This Too Often

I’ve observed the warning signs with my own clients and prospective clients. They ask the same questions again and again. They don’t seem to be absorbing the answers I give to their questions. Sometimes they drop their long-term care insurance (LTCi) policies. In a panic, they – or their kids – later call me, wanting to reinstate the policy. This is not a change of heart, but recognizing that a poor decision was made. And it is heartbreaking to me.

As I began listening to the 5-part audio series, I anticipated I’d be hearing more of these kind of stories. Boy, was I wrong. The series examines and explains so much more!

It turns out that you don’t have to be cognitively impaired to fall victim to these scams. There are a host of other factors that also sets someone up for these traps. Financial vulnerability may also be associated with loneliness, isolation, and impaired physical health.

Have the Conversation

I’ve shared the importance of having the difficult conversations with parents about care in their later years. Talking about financial management is a big part of this.

Here are 4 suggested questions that can get the ball rolling:

As you get older, what are your spending priorities?
Do you know what a scam is? What would you do when a stranger calls you, asking for money?
Who do you trust to help you with your finances? How often do you want to talk to them?
If you start to start to get a little shaky around these decisions, what do you want us to do for you?

The bottom line: be proactive. Protect yourself, protect your family, by having explicit conversations, now!

A great way to protect the future financial and medical options for you or someone you love is through long-term care insurance (LTCi). To receive your own free, customized no-obligation quote, click here. Let’s start this conversation!

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