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More Realize they Need Pricey Long-Term Care

October 10, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

NPR, in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, has recently released a new poll of Americans over 50, which was reported by NPR in a wonderful story on September 29, 2011, called “More Realize They Face Pricey Long-Term Care” . I use the word wonderful for three reasons.

First, it features my good friend and frequent Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi) conference roommate, Sally Leimbach.

Secondly, this is the first time I have heard a radio story solely on LTCi. Usually LTCi is mentioned as an aside. The media finally seem to be giving LTCi the credibility it is entitled to!

Thirdly, the story gets it all right. It includes an interview of a consumer purchasing LTCi: hallelujah, LTCi is finally treated like the “prime-time” solution it deserves to be. It also accurately portrays people’s denial and inability to face reality. The story reports that only 7% of those polled thought that Medicaid pays for long-term care (LTC) in the US. In reality, over 50% of all LTC in this country is paid for by Medicaid.

As the title portends, more people than ever (about 2/3 of us, according to the poll) now admit they may have trouble paying for long-term care (LTC). As I have stated in the past, the public seems to enjoy dwelling in a state of denial and/or disconnect. I am sad that people don’t take responsibility and act on such information. My colleagues and I often say, in regard to responsible LTC planning, that failing to plan is more like planning to fail.

UK on Collision Course with Long-term Care (LTC) Costs

July 7, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

A newly released report by the Alzheimer’s Society (The Dementia Tax Report 2011. Alzheimer’s Society, Devon House, 58 St Katharine’s Way, London E1W 1LB) minces no words describing the collision course between the UK economy and its growing long-term care needs.

Although the report studied the British, the many similarities between our two countries and cultures make the study relevant here.

The study found that only 3% of those with dementia own long-term care insurance (LTCi). The LTCi industry has existed in Britain for quite some time, but it is not as fully evolved as the LTCi industry in the US, where about 10% of us own LTCi, as my blog on the new Urban Institute study confirms.

The Alzheimer’s Society study (p. 3) states that “Despite the hard work of many care staff and care providers there are many thousands of people who cannot access the quality care and support that they need to have a good quality of life. Latest reports from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Age UK and others show that the system is not simply in need of repair but is fundamentally broken.

There are currently 750,000 people living with dementia in the UK and this number will grow to over 1 million by 2021. Two thirds of people living in care homes and one quarter of people in hospitals are people with dementia.”

Yow!

Interestingly, but not really surprising, the survey asked British respondents why they did not own LTCi. They gave the same excuses we Americans do: they didn’t know about it, they didn’t expect to need care, and LTCi is too expensive. In my March 28, 2011 blog I reported similar results of Prudential’s recent study.

Of course, LTCi is not too expensive. “LTCi is too expensive” is simply an excuse people give to avoid having a conversation about responsible long-term care planning. Here’s the simple math. Say your premiums are $2,000/year. Say you need to collect from your LTCi in 20 years (pick any number and the math. is the same). From your $40,000 investment, you will collect over $60,000 (in today’s dollars) from your LTCi policy when you need care for ONLY ONE YEAR. According the US Department of Health and Human Services, the odds of needing some type of long-term care at age 65 are at least 70%.

If you don’t yet own LTCi, please take heed of these warnings and act responsibly – NOW!

Make a Gift of Long-term Care Insurance

May 6, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Mothers spend their lives worrying about you – and they never stop. But as mothers grow older, they have another worry: becoming a burden to their children.

With Mother’s Day approaching, why not purchase long-term care insurance (LTCi) for your parents? There’s not a more appropriate, caring, considerate gift. Siblings can chip in and wind up with very, very low premiums.

LTCi is the gift that ensures dignity, options, choices and access if care is needed. LTCi greatly contributes to keeping families united and stress-free. Since LTCi provides the money to access the most desirable care options, LTCi policyholders often access the right kind of care, sooner than their people with no LTCi.

Without LTCi, families often experience great stress, panic and overwhelming expenses because they are forced to react after a health event triggers a care need. These families are not prepared, and family members can be at odds with each other about the best course of action. Sadly, this discord can carry forward to become mom or dad’s undesired legacy. How I wish I hadn’t seen so many completely avoidable instances where this happened!

If you are still mired in a state of denial about why more and more people understand that LTCi is an absolute necessity, please contact me.

I want to thank nationally syndicated columnist Terry Savage, whose May 4, 2009 article in the Chicago Sun-Times inspired me to post this blog again this year. Terry wrote a wonderful and powerful piece about giving long-term care insurance for Mother’s Day.

Fixing the CLASS Act

May 4, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Here’s a terrific article in the April 29, 2011 New York Times by finance columnist Ron Lieber titled, ” Fixing the CLASS Act to Make Long-Term Care Affordable.”

Mr. Lieber accurately describes how “pie-in-the-sky” unrealistic and economically catastrophic enactment of the proposed CLASS Act LTC is likely to be. CLASS Act LTC, which would be government run long-term care insurance (LTCi), is a little known provision that was included in the passage of health care reform last year.

If you are using enactment of CLASS Act LTC as one more excuse to put off having a conversation about responsible LTCi planning, I urge you to read this brief article.

Are People Clueless About Recognizing Cognitive Impairment?

January 6, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Here’s a piece by Pamela Fayerman of the Vancouver Sun that ran on January 4, 2011. It’s titled “Why are men so much more clueless about Alzheimer’s Disease?”

Ms. Fayerman writes about how people do not recognize the signs of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

I beg to differ with her. I believe she is confusing cluelessness with denial. In fact, here are my posted comments on Ms. Fayerman’s fine piece:

“Thanks for this very useful blog, calling attention to the bewildering disconnect the public seems to enjoy wallowing in. I think the public is not so much clueless as they are in denial. The same “cluelessness” you observe I see on my side of the fence when people are reluctant to talk with me about what would happen if they fell into the 70+% of us who will need long-term care (see “Medicare and You 2011” p. 110: published by the US Department of Health and Human Services). I will never understand this “cluelessness”/denial. You can give them abundant facts and they seem to rationalize them away. But more often, people refuse my offer to have a conversation about rational, responsible long-term care planning before the event requiring care occurs. I have seen some crazy first-hand examples of denial, where the loved one had flagrant cognitive impairment and the family and loved one refused to admit it, made excuses, or assisted in covering for the loved one. This is why I don’t think the public is clueless. What we are observing is actually denial.

Thanks as well for the reference to Jacqueline Marcell’s book, which I will investigate.”

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More Realize they Need Pricey Long-Term Care

UK on Collision Course with Long-term Care (LTC) Costs

Make a Gift of Long-term Care Insurance

Fixing the CLASS Act

Are People Clueless About Recognizing Cognitive Impairment?

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