Medicaid Planning Archives - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

Can’t the Government Pay For This?

April 23, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

There is a growing trend in the United States. More and more Americans now want the government pay for programs that meet our daily needs. Does this surprise you? It sure isn’t what I expected to find.

For years, the rallying cry has been for smaller government. In fact, this recent shift marks the first time in 8 years that a majority of Americans now favor an increase in government participation. A report from the Pew Research Center found that most Americans think the government is doing too little to help young people, the elderly, the middle class and the poor.

This new trend was also reported by William A. Galston’s article (WSJ, “Americans Want Big Government“):

“In the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll last month, 58% of Americans—the highest share ever recorded—agreed that ‘government should do more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people,’ compared to only 38% who thought that ‘government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals.”

Galston also cited a Kaiser survey that reports an interest in increased spending on defense and education.

As early as 2017, a separate Pew survey found broad support across both Republicans and Democrats for increased spending on veterans’ benefits, infrastructure, scientific research, environmental protection and assistance to the needy.

Can the Government Pay for Programs?

Not this government. Not today. “The federal deficit is big and getting bigger… Its balance sheet reveals that the public debt will reach $15.7 trillion by October.” And these numbers don’t include “unfunded liabilities, reported by the Social Security and Medicare Trustees, that are four times the current public debt.” (John F. Cogan, WSJ, “Why America is Going Broke.“)

So, if you’re counting on Medicaid…

I’ve written a number of articles urging you to become more self-reliant when planning for your future. Our nation’s financial uncertainty does not have to limit your access to quality care. You just need to do a little planning today.

The first step is to click here to receive your personal quote for Long Term Care Insurance.

New LTCi White Paper and Executive Summary Published!

September 16, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) is the leading professional trade association for health insurance agents, brokers and consultants, and represents more than 100,000 benefit specialists nationally. NAHU is highly regarded and trusted on “The Hill”.

I’m very proud to be involved with NAHU. In July, 2015, I stepped down as chair of NAHU’s LTC Advisory Committee. I continue to serve and be actively involved.

I’m even more proud to announce NAHU has now taken an official stance on long-term care reform with just published, publically available LTC White and Executive Summary papers.

These papers offer good common-sense ideas on how to preserve Medicaid for the truly needy, and how to encourage more Americans to prepare responsibly and properly for their long-term care. They will be included in NAHU’s political advocacy.

I worked on the completion of both papers, but I believe my colleagues Claude Thau, Sally Leimbach, John Parker, Joe Lesson and Linda Thalheimer were tireless and played more essential, critical roles. We also had excellent support from Dan Sampson on NAHU’s staff.

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.

Bad Nursing Home Gets $14 Million Punishment

July 28, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

A July 25, 2014 story in McKnights, by Tim Mullaney, reports on a $14 million award ($12.5 million was awarded in punitive damages) to the family of a nursing home patient. This story was also covered in the Boston Globe on July 24, 2014.

Quoting from the Globe story, “Judge Krupp instructed the jury that while punitive damages can be awarded for a company’s bad behavior, they can also be used to dissuade other nursing homes from similar conduct…the judge explained that the whole purpose of the punitive award is to send a message that you can’t get away with this anymore.”

How wonderful if the problem could simply be fixed by a judge using the court system to “teach a lesson”!

Again, the 8,000 pound elephant in the room is being ignored.

Especially in Texas, but throughout the country, nursing homes get paid less per diem than it costs them to care for their patients. Medicaid, which pays for the majority of long-term care in the US, needs an overhaul.

There is no doubt in my mind that the nursing home sued accepted mostly Medicaid patients. Here are a couple of blogs I did about murders that occurred in Lexington Place nursing home in Houston. Lexington Place accepts mostly Medicaid paid patients.

When nursing homes do not get paid enough, there are not enough caregivers. This directly affects the quality of care nursing home patients receive.

Click here for several blogs I’ve done that explain why Medicaid paid nursing home care often leads to sad outcomes.

Those of us who own long-term care insurance (LTCi) are far more likely to have the money to avoid nursing homes and receive care at home or in an assisted living facility.

“Police Say Nursing Home Resident Killed 2 With Arm of Wheelchair”

April 26, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

The breaking news that immediately seized my eye on the front page of the April 23, 2014 Houston Chronicle was, “Police say nursing home resident killed 2 with arm of wheelchair.”

The murders took place at Lexington Place nursing facility.

This is an article I wrote about Lexington Place. I’ve been there a few times and have toured it. The article was published in an insurance trade magazine in August, 2011.

What’s interesting is that hardly anyone ever comments on my blogs or online articles. This had been the case with all the articles I wrote for this magazine, except for this one, which described a few aspects of life inside Lexington Place. This particular article motivated many peers from all over the country to comment, all in positive ways. They all thanked me for telling the story straight.

According to my source, almost all of Lexington Place’s residents were/are Medicaid recipients. That means that Lexington Place was/is in a particularly precarious situation. Medicaid reimburses at rates that are beneath what it actually costs to provide care for nursing home patients.

If you search this website for “nursing homes”, you’ll find much factual information on why nursing homes are suffering. Essentially, most Medicaid-funded nursing facilities are the red and continue to suffer funding cuts.

Here, I opine: there is something about money being in short supply that causes businesses to panic. Then fear sets in. Then dysfunctional management occurs. This is what I believe occurred at Lexington Place.

I believe Lexington Place admitted people it probably shouldn’t have, in hopes of keeping its census high. If funding gets cut, a volume approach is often the remedy, whether this makes sense in the big picture, or not.

I believe, based on information I was given by a trustworthy former employee there, that Lexington Place is also woefully understaffed. That is what I was told, that’s what I reported in my August, 2011 story.

My question remains: if people complained about the murderer’s violent tendencies, why was his behavior not dealt with in a more reasonable manner?

The murderer bludgeoned his victims with the arm of a wheelchair. I presume the deaths were not sudden, but rather, drawn out in a process involving screaming, for quite a while. Where were the caregivers?

I think the answer to the above question must be screaming similar to that of the murder victims is a normal occurrence at Lexington Place.

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Can’t the Government Pay For This?

Can the Government Pay for Programs?

So, if you’re counting on Medicaid…

New LTCi White Paper and Executive Summary Published!

Nursing Homes Imperiled

Bad Nursing Home Gets $14 Million Punishment

“Police Say Nursing Home Resident Killed 2 With Arm of Wheelchair”

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