Search Results for: nursing homes

The Distilled LTCi Facts

January 27, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Big thanks to Margie Barrie, long-time colleague and friend, for the following insights that “sum it up” for long-term care insurance (LTCi). The information below came from an article Margie recently wrote for LifeHealthPRO.

1. 73 percent of claimants are receiving benefits outside of a nursing home:

49 percent: Home health care.
24 percent: Assisted living.
27 percent: Nursing home.

2. 21 percent of claims are expected to last five years or longer.

3. What are the odds of needing long term care?

58 percent of men ages 65 and over will need care, for an average of 2.2 years.
79 percent of women ages 65 and over will need care, for an average of 3.7 years.

4. Assisted living facility, average length of stay: 21 months.

5. The average premium for a stand-alone LTCI policy is $2,400. That’s 3 percent higher than it was a year ago.

6. 92.3 percent of buyers are buying policies with elimination period of 90 to 100 days.

For clients who want to dive deeper

6. Medicaid: $117,240 is the maximum amount of assets that the federal government will let a healthy spouse keep before the other spouse can be eligible for Medicaid long-term care benefits. (Many states set the cap at a lower level.)

7. Lapse rate for LTCI policies:

1 percent is the estimated lapse rate for stand-alone LTCI policies.
0.5 percent is the estimated lapse rate now being used by Genworth in its projections.

8. 4.5 years is the average length of time someone lives after being diagnosed with dementia.

9. Claims length:

42 percent of claims last less than one year.
Claims lasting less than year are usually for home health care and caused by falls.
The average length of claim that lasts more than a year is four years.

10. Claims: How much?

$7.5 billion of LTCI claims were paid in 2013.
Over $5.2 million was paid each business day.
273,000 people received benefits.

11. Claims: Who’s getting the benefits?

71 percent of the benefits dollars are paid to female claimants
51 percent of the benefits are paid to claimants with mental disorders, including dementia.

12. Claim records (from Genworth):

27 is the age of the youngest person to go on claim.
103 is the age of the oldest person to go on claim.
About 20 years is the length of the longest claim.
$1.3 million is the amount of benefits paid in connection with the biggest single claim.

13. Age of buyers:

24.7 percent are between the ages of 45 and 54.
54 percent are between the ages of 55 and 64.
57 is the average age of applicants.

14. In 2011 and 2012, 67 percent of nursing home residents were female.

15. The number of people using long-term care services:

15 million: The number of people in the United States using nursing homes, alternative residential care or home-care services for LTC needs in 2000.
27 million: The number of people in the United States who are projected to be using nursing homes, alternative residential care or home-care services for LTC needs by 2050.

16. Demographics:

40.2 million: The number of Americans ages 65 or older in 2010.
88.5 million: The projected number of Americans ages 65 or older in 2050.

17. Burden on unpaid caregivers:

80 percent of long-term care is provided by unpaid caregivers at home.
67 percent is the approximate percentage of unpaid caregivers who are female.
67 percent of the people who plan to have a loved one provide care, haven’t asked the loved one.

Studies Explain Why Americans Won’t Plan for Their Long-Term Care

December 23, 2013 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

My prior blog describes two recently published studies, commissioned from the Center for Long-Term Care Reform. For those of us who study long-term care financing, the studies are quite frightening. They quantify how economically vulnerable states are for long-term care (LTC) expenses. The studies were for GA and VA, and a forthcoming study will examine NJ. More information on these studies may be found at the Center for Long-Term Care Reform.

An op-ed piece for the Columbia County News-Times, by Steve Moses, president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform, was published on December 11, 2013. In his piece, Steve describes how easy it is for a citizen with business savvy and means to get the government, through Medicaid, to pay for their long-term care. Even though publicly funded long-term care is of inferior quality, it is “free”, or rather, it is free only at the expense of taxpayers, while the citizen often preserves much of their wealth though clever legal strategies.

The fact that it is fairly easy to get the government to pay for long-term care anesthetizes the public and prevents it from responsibly planning for long-term care in advance, with long-term care insurance (LTCi). But the gimmicks for free LTC will certainly backfire as more states confront the dilemma of greater demand for Medicaid funds than they can possibly meet, and when the seniors who manage to get into Medicaid nursing homes become aware of the miserable environment in which they will spend the rest of their lives. In stark contrast, someone who needs LTC and owns LTCi will have many more options and access higher caliber care. Studies show LTCi owners also access care sooner, and with less panic and emergency than Medicaid (Welfare) recipients.

Here’s a link to the study done for Georgia: www.georgiapolicy.org/ftp_files/IndexofLong-TermCareVulnerability.pdf.

Take Responsibility, Folks!

December 2, 2013 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Thank you again, Dear Abby, for providing fodder for this blog.

When I read this recent column, written by a daughter whose mother is evidently in a Medicaid-paid nursing home and receiving less than respectful care, I said to myself, “grow up; face the truth and don’t pawn the blame off on others.” The daughter’s sugary sweet letter smacks of the misguided denial I often see. It is cloaked in the daughter’s dysfunctional view of reality. The daughter aims her complaints at her mother’s caregivers, who are simply the most visible, yet non-responsible, cause.

As usual, Abby does not address the actual problem, which is the public’s widespread avoidance of conversation and responsible planning for long-term care, well in advance. However, she did give a correct answer to the letter writer, which is, “don’t blame the messenger”! Abby also correctly noted that the caregiver is the lowest ranked, lowest-paid, least respected, and in the most understaffed area at the nursing home. These caregivers do their best. They often work two or more jobs, and really must have heart and soul to want to do this type of work. Don’t blame the caregiver for the low quality care you are nearly certain to receive in Medicaid-funded nursing homes.

Truthful Info on LTCi Claim Payments

August 20, 2013 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

These statistics from Genworth, a leading long-term care insurance (LTCi) carrier, provide insights into the nature and complexion of LTCi claims:

If you missed Genworth’s webinar on their claims history over the past 38 years, here are some interesting facts:

Youngest claimant: 27 years old
Oldest claimant: 103 years old
Longest claim: 19.6 years
Most expensive claim (still ongoing): $1,300,000
71% of all claimants are females 29% of all claimants are male
51% went on claim due to dementia & cognitive issues
15% of all claims lasted more than 5 years
Average length of claims, if on claim more than 1 year: 3.9 years
71% of claims started with home care 13% of claims started with assisted living facilities 16% of claims started with nursing homes
50% of claims lasted less than 1 year (conversely, 50% lasted more than 1 year)
The reason claims closed: 61% death 28% Recovery 11% exhausted benefits
Average age of claimant: 79
Who goes on claim? 38% Single women 28% Married Women 10% Single men 24% Married men
Most expensive claims: Dementia & Parkinson’s

Neither Party Has A Solution For The Oncoming Deluge of Medicare/Medicaid Services

September 25, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

I was happy to see in Steven Rattner’s September 16, 2012 New York Times Op-Ed column at least a faint acknowledgement of a looming catastrophe. Because of its highly unsavory political nature, neither Democrats or Republicans really want to address the oncoming deluge of aging Americans who will further glut our already hobbled Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Mr. Rattner sticks to describing Medicare in his peice, although he does refer to the oncoming deluge of ill-prepared aging parents who will need long-term care.

Politicians are even less inclined to discuss Medicaid, which pays for more than half of all long-term care in the US. However, I have recently blogged about Medicaid’s bleak future, no matter which party wins the election.

Medicaid payments affect the quality of Medicaid-paid long-term care. Medicaid-paid nursing homes count on Medicare covered expenses to offset the money they lose on every Medicaid patient.

In past blogs I have explained why budget shortfalls make Medicaid-paid long-term care inferior in many regards. With this knowledge, why aren’t more people motivated to act responsibly and protect themselves and families against the high costs, high risks of needing long-term care? This remains a mystery to me. Reasonably priced long-term care insurance is still the cheapest way to access and pay for the long-term care options people want, and that are preferable to Medicaid-paid care.

I’ve added the bolded type below, for emphasis.

Mr. Rattner writes, “The Obama and Ryan plans are not without common ground; both propose an identical formula for capping the growth in Medicare spending per beneficiary. And both dip into the same toolbox (particularly lower payments to providers) to achieve a reduction of nearly $1 trillion in Medicare expenditures over the next decade from projected levels.”

“Mr. Ryan believes that meeting the goal over the long term requires introducing more competition into Medicare through vouchers to purchase private insurance. But Ryan’s approach was rendered toothless when the issue’s brutal politics forced him to retreat from his initial tough plan to simply cap the growth in government spending on Medicare and stick the inevitable overage onto beneficiaries. Under his revised plan, private insurers would be required to offer the same level of benefits as traditional Medicare, meaning that any savings would have to come from unidentified efficiencies (the ever-popular “waste, fraud and abuse”).”

“To be sure, health care cost increases have moderated, in part because of the recession and in part because Medicare has been tightening its reimbursements. But those thumbscrews can’t be tightened forever; Medicare reimbursement rates are already well below those of private providers.”

Mr. Rattner concludes, “the Independent Payment Advisory Board should be allowed to offer changes in services and costs. We may shrink from such stomach-wrenching choices, but they are inescapable.”

Government-paid long-term care will get worse before it gets better. Be forewarned with this knowledge and act accordingly and responsibly. If you want to be assured greater dignity and options, buy reasonably priced long-term care insurance NOW!

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Search Results for: nursing homes

The Distilled LTCi Facts

For clients who want to dive deeper

Studies Explain Why Americans Won’t Plan for Their Long-Term Care

Take Responsibility, Folks!

Truthful Info on LTCi Claim Payments

Neither Party Has A Solution For The Oncoming Deluge of Medicare/Medicaid Services

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