Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen | Houston, TX

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One in Five Nursing Home Residents Report Abuse

June 20, 2016 by Honey Leave a Comment

Abusive Nursing HomeA new study reports one in five – or about 20% of nursing home residents – have experienced at least one resident-to-resident abusive event.

This is a conundrum brought about by abysmally low pay to nursing home caregivers, and by Medicaid reimbursement rates so low it is difficult for nursing homes to stay in the black. The majority of nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid.

Here’s a blog I wrote showing nursing home workers are quitting to work at McDonald’s, where they get paid more and don’t have to mess with bedpans or possible back injuries.

The article mentions the double homicide at a nursing home not far from here. Here is a series of blogs I did about this event.

If you want to greatly increase the odds you will not wind up in a nursing home, you need to own long-term care insurance (LTCi). Most LTCi policyholders are able to remain at home or move to an assisted living facility, instead of a nursing home. The evidence is in a recent AHIP study sited here; ask and I will email the complete study to you.

Filed Under: 3 in 4 Need More, Denial, Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: AALTCI, Abuse, long-term care, LTC, LTCi, Medicaid, Medicare, Nursing Homes

Media Continues to Love Trashing LTC Insurance

May 16, 2016 by Honey Leave a Comment

The MediaI will never completely understand why inflammatory headlines like this are necessary: “Out-of-Control Premium Hikes for Long-Term Care Insurance”.

I do partially understand why they run inflammatory headlines. “If it bleeds, it leads”. Disparaging headlines sell copies.

Nowadays, the majority of LTCi media coverage is constructive. But readers usually have to get past negative titles and first paragraphs intended to “hook” people into reading the story.

In the case of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi), this is very harmful to the public. Disparaging headlines and lead paragraphs further encourage people to make excuses to avoid important, necessary conversations about planning for LTC.

In addition, inflammatory LTCi coverage fuels falsehoods such as out-of-control, wanton rate hikes and claim difficulties.

If people bother to read “Out-of-Control Premium Hikes for Long-Term Care Insurance” they will find excellent reporting on why today’s LTCi policies should experience very stable rates with very minimal odds of rate hikes.

Click here to read several blogs I’ve done that explain the reasons for and likelihood of LTCi rate hikes.

I want to give a “shout out” to my highly esteemed friends and colleagues Scott Olson, Steve Cain, and Jesse Slome who were quoted in this story. This article’s excellent content is largely due to their input.

Filed Under: Denial, Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC, Misinformation About LTC Tagged With: AALTCI, Jesse Slome, Long Term Care insurance, LTCi, LTCi rate hikes, Scott Olson, Steve Cain

LTCi Pays – Have the Conversation Now!

March 3, 2016 by Honey Leave a Comment

LTCi PaysThe following piece was authored and is re-published here with the permission of my dear friend and colleague Tobe Gerard.

Tobe makes two points. The first is that long-term care insurance (LTCi) policies are normally purchased many years in advance of being needed. We are now seeing “the tip of the iceberg” of claimants who need to collect from their LTCi. For the foreseeable future, we should see annual increases in the number of claims being filed and the amount of money being paid out for LTC.

The second point Tobe is making is that it is typically a son or daughter who assists with the claim. LTCi claims are not onerous, but policyholders are typically not able to manage them alone. Letting kids and other trusted individuals know you own LTCi is sometimes difficult, but worth it. Knowing a parent owns LTCi proves to be a balm and a source of extra piece of mind and security for all involved.

Here is Tobe’s excellent blog:

According the the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, long-term care insurance (LTCi) companies paid $8.15 billion in claim benefits to 260,000 policyholders in 2015. That number is 4% more than what was paid out in 2014. We are all living longer, and though your clients hope to never have to use their policies, the good news is that policyholders and their families are benefiting from owning this important insurance protection. When the rubber hits the road, LTCi policies are paying out!

With that in mind, many advisors encourage their clients to have “the long-term care conversation” with their adult children. It’s not an easy conversation, but it is an important one. Having this conversation early allows adult children to know that their parents have thought things through and have a plan in place. Among other things, breaking the ice by having this conversation early allows adult children to know their parents own LTCi policies. The reality is that in most instances it will be the adult children who will be involved with filing the initial LTCi claim and, in many cases, supervising the care that will be required over time. Adult children want to learn what their parents have in mind. Owning a LTCi care policy should never be kept a secret!”

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: AALTCI, home care, long-term care, LTCi, the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance

Happy Long-Term Care (LTC) Awareness Month!

November 1, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

LTCi is Good for AmericaNovember is National Long Term Care (LTC) Awareness Month, an opportunity to focus on a topic that is still unfamiliar to most Americans.

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, www.aaltci.org, first established the month in 2001 with the single goal of encouraging more people to think about the issue of long term care. The need to plan ahead for long-term care is of vital importance to all Americans.

LTC Awareness Month has been recognized by Congress and a number of Governors. Many mayors, including Houston’s Bill White and Anise Parker, have proclaimed November LTC Awareness Month, and have encouraged citizens to focus on long-term care awareness and planning.

Filed Under: Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: AALTCI, Honey Leveen, Long Term Care insurance, Long-Term Care Awareness Month, LTCi, www.AALTI.org, www.honeyleveen.com

Human-Caused Global Warming Is Here But Denied, Just Like LTC Odds

November 2, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Global WarningAccording to an article in the September-October issue of Audubon Magazine by Elizabeth Kolbert, who’s written the recently released “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,” 97% of all climate scientists agree that human-caused climate change is happening.

According to a Pew Research Center Study done earlier this year asking Americans about their own beliefs in global warming, only 45% of us believe human activity was the main cause. And only 58% of us know that carbon dioxide is the gas most scientists believe causes temperatures in the atmosphere to rise.

I am pretty fascinated by this denial of climate change. It parallels denial of the need for responsible long-term care planning in so many ways. I believe the psychological denial mechanism used to avoid believing in global warming is nearly identical to denial of the high probability of needing long-term care. Both are about avoidance of the most unpleasant facts. Both issues mandate discussion and education in order to understand them properly and to do something constructive about them.

Global warming has been in the press a lot lately and is now being given the credibility it deserves. Still, important discussions about it in Washington and most states is not occurring.

For most of the 25 years I’ve been selling long-term care insurance (LTCi), the press has often misrepresented the facts and typically led articles with a negative, inflammatory bias even when some truth follows. And financial pundits have often pooh-poohed the need for LTCi.

Recently, however, the press and pundits have begun to report affirmatively on the need for LTCi and  responsible LTC planning. Still, not enough of us are following their lead. In coming years, there will be a lot of Baby Boomers and their families in turmoil and crisis due to unplanned needs for LTC.

Here’s a cool website called What We Know. Its purpose is to educate the public, which hopefully, will create better public policy concerning global warming. This site is produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The long-term care insurance (LTCi) industry has comparable, highly reputable sites with outstanding LTCi content and education. Here’s one: www.aaltci.org. Find links to several more, here.

No one seems to read these sites. Or perhaps they read them and there is some type of emotional disconnect, an inability to assimilate such inconvenient truths.

Filed Under: Denial, Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: AALTCI, Audubon Magazine, Denial, Elizabeth Kolbert, Global warming, Honey Leveen, Long Term Care insurance, LTCi, Pew Research Center, www.honeyleveen.com

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Honey Leveen, LUTCF, CLTC, LTCP
“The Queen, by Self-Proclamation, of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi)”
404 Royal Bonnet
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Phone: 713-988-4671
Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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