I'll Just Self-Insure Archives - Page 17 of 34 - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

There’ll Be Too Few Millennials and Gen X-ers to Care For Us

January 9, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

In Kimberly Palmer’s article, “Why Caring for Older Adults Is Getting Costlier,” published in U.S. News & World Report, December 17, 2014, we learn that by 2030, Baby Boomers will start turning 85. There will be even more of a torrent of people needing long-term care. Most will be unprepared.

The majority of long-term care (LTC) in Texas and the US is provided by unpaid family members.

The article says the current ratio of family caregivers per every “vulnerable person” is 7 to 1. But soon, because of the aging population, it will be 3 to 1, she says. That will put even more pressure on family caregivers and make it harder for them to continue managing all their other responsibilities.

Here’s another blog I did about “Super-Aging.”

This article is highly educational because it puts the dilemma we will face into very human terms. In this quote, it describes the huge toll being a caregiver takes:

“Robison says her experience caring for her grandmother has made her think about the importance of taking out long-term health care insurance for herself one day, as well as saving for retirement. ‘What we think we need is usually nowhere near the amount we need. … If my grandmother didn’t have a family, where would she be? Who would advocate for her?’ Robison adds that the situation continues to strain her family members, who want to make sure their MeMa is living as well as possible. ‘None of us are trained caregivers. We’re just doing the best we can.’”

My advice is to plan for your long-term care now. Owning reasonably priced long-term care insurance (LTCi) is a great way to do this.

Why Medicare Can’t/Won’t/Doesn’t Pay for Long-Term Care

January 5, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

No one researches and easily, clearly explains the need for responsible long-term care planning as well as The Motley Fool.

In their January 4, 2015, The Motley Fool explains why Medicare doesn’t/can’t/won’t pay for long-term care. They also advise people to prepare for long-term care costs ahead of time.

Motley Fool, I admire and love you! You do your readers — and the world — good, by explaining things succinctly, with great insight.

Nursing Homes Imperiled

January 1, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Happy New Year, all!

I gave a larger than average end-of-year donation to Seven Acres, the Jewish nursing home here in Houston. It has a reputation of being top notch, in relative terms. It is as top notch as possible for a Medicaid-accepting, money-losing nursing facility. I have heard from friends with loved ones at Seven Acres that there are too few caregivers. Loved ones often wait a long time for help to come. Seven Acres is the best that any primarily Medicaid-funded nursing home can be. Unfortunately, even the best Medicaid-funded nursing homes have too few caregivers and tend to be warehouses for the elderly and infirm.

Here are just a few of the blogs I’ve done on the unsustainable state of long-term care (LTC) finance in the US: /?s=nursing+home. Because Medicaid pays less than it actually costs to provide care, most facilities run in the red. This causes them to cut corners on the quantity and therefore, the quality of care they can provide.

In its annual solicitation letter, Seven Acres states that in 2013, it “provided over $8 million in charitable care to over 85% of its resident population who rely solely on inadequate Medicaid funding.”

I feel bad knowing that my donation is a drop in the bucket and will not help with Seven Acres’ over all financial problems.

Increased demand for long-term care (LTC) and decreased Medicaid reimbursements will cause Seven Acres to continue to run in the red, in what I foresee as a continued downward spiral.

My donation will have no effect on potential changes and reforms that will be necessary to preserve Medicaid-paid LTC for our most vulnerable citizens. It will also have no effect on making political changes that are necessary to gain control over our country’s out-of-control Medicaid expenses.

The moral: take charge of your own future dignity and choices with a reasonably priced LTC insurance policy.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

December 18, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

In my prior blog we learned about denial. The most common form of denial is implicatory denial. Here, the facts are not denied or re-interpreted, but instead the psychological, economic, political, physical or moral implications that conventionally follow from those facts are denied or ignored.

I see this with people’s refusal to plan responsibly for long-term care (LTC) all the time.

In other words, even though someone will accept the fact that at age of 65 and beyond, there’s a 70% chance that any of us will need long-term care, these deniers somehow have the inside track. People with implicatory denial are aware of these odds, but they refuse to believe this could happen to them. In other words, they’re psychic about this and can see the future. Everyone else will need LTC, but they (including their spouses) won’t.

An article in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times amused me. Its title is “Proved at last: Men really are idiots”. Of the 318 stunts that have qualified for Darwin Awards, 88.7% were done by men (Darwin Awards: awards for the stupidest, most dangerous, foolhardy stunts and activities). This correlates with what I see men doing about responsible LTC planning.

I’ve compared notes with many colleagues about this particular type of denial, and our experiences are similar. For some reason, women “get it” about the need for responsible LTC planning a lot more often than men. Most of the time, women instigate a conversation about LTC insurance with their husbands. Often, the husband puts the kibosh on the conversation. After all, he is psychic and has the inside track. He and his wife won’t need LTC. Everyone else will.

Undeniable Proof That LTCi Is Good for America!

November 24, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

A report proving how and why long-term care insurance (LTCi) helps all of us and our country was just published. LifePlans conducted the study over a period of twelve years. It was commissioned by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).

Here’s background on the report.

The report shows that that for LTCi policyholders:

A typical 60-year old LTCi policyholder would pay $188/month in premium for the same amount of care they would otherwise have to save $1,666/month, for 22 years, for.
Roughly 22 years of premium payments would be returned after only five months of collecting from the average LTCi policy.
The majority (97.6%) of all LTCi claims get paid. My experience has been that the only reasons LTCi claims are not paid are due to incomplete claim paperwork or no true need.
Most LTCi claimants agree that LTCi enhances access and flexibility as they seek to obtain to the services of their choice.
LTCi owners receive on average 35% more hours of care than those without, and their care is also more likely to address their needs.
The LTCi industry currently serves 7.4 million policyholders and is expected to pay out roughly $700 billion in claims over the life of those policies.

For Family Caregivers, the report shows:

Individuals caring for family members with LTCi are nearly twice as likely to be able to continue working as when there is no LTCi.
Caregivers of LTCi claimants experience less stress finding appropriate services for their loved ones.
LTCi enables family members to spend less time on hands-on care and more on social interaction and companionship, which leads to better experiences and less stress.

Why the report proves that LTCi is good for America:

Because LTCi covers a majority of LTC costs, insureds are not forced to depend on Medicaid.
Between 21 and 31% of insured nursing home residents would spend down to qualify for Medicaid if they did not own LTCi. Fewer than 5 percent of LTCi policyholders spend down to Medicaid.
Today’s 7.4 million current LTCi policyholders are expected to save the Medicaid program about $50 billion over their lifetimes. Annualized Medicaid savings per in-force policy are about $334.

The graphics in the report are great. They are straightforward and easy to understand, as is the report itself. If you would like to receive a copy of the entire report, email me at honey@honeyleveen.com.

There’ll Be Too Few Millennials and Gen X-ers to Care For Us

Why Medicare Can’t/Won’t/Doesn’t Pay for Long-Term Care

Nursing Homes Imperiled

Stupid is as Stupid Does

Undeniable Proof That LTCi Is Good for America!

From My Blog

Podcast Illuminates LTC Need

LTCI is Magical at Time of Need!

Testimonials