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The Continuum of Care

January 20, 2016 by Honey Leave a Comment

The Continuum Of CareForbes has recently done some outstanding, insightful reporting on long-term care (LTC). I am very grateful for this. It’s a welcome and deserved change from typical error-riddled LTC coverage.

Their contributor Wade Pfau, a professor at The American College and principal at McLean Asset Management, really “gets” LTC. More importantly, he has a writing style that makes complicated concepts clear and simply understood by readers.

In is January 7, 2016 column he lists and describes the LTC continuum. I don’t remember ever having seen it laid out so clearly and accurately.

He explains why Medicare only pays for short duration skilled needs under certain conditions. He explains the difference between skilled and custodial care. It’s custodial care that is bankrupting so many Americans financially, emotionally, and health-wise.

He lists excellent questions to ask of facilities.

I am very grateful for Mr. Pfau’s columns. They do the public a true service.

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: Activities of Daily Living, ADLs, adult day care, assisted living, Forbes, LTC Continuum, McLean Asset Management, Nursing Homes, The American College, Wade Pfau

Long-Term Care Insurance Can Be Costly but Effective

December 26, 2015 by Honey 1 Comment

Elderly WomanWhy doesn’t this New York Times article report on what its title promises it will, which is the effectiveness of long-term care insurance (LTCi)?

While being factually correct, this article puts the wrong “spin” on things.

It starts by giving the wrong title. LTCi is not necessarily costly. What can easily be far more costly is needing long-term care for anything but a short length of time and not owning LTCi.

The article “hooks” readers in the first paragraph by describing how LTCi preserves wealth. From there, this article gives readers excuses to avoid responsible LTC planning.

The truth is, the most important reason to own LTCi is not to preserve wealth. It is to preserve family integrity by reducing family resentment, stress and discord. The fact that LTCi also preserves wealth, and does it so well, is “icing on the cake.”

Families and governments are in budgetary crisis due to skyrocketing LTC costs.

Reporters and editors need to get the above perspectives corrected. Reporting needs to be done – now – on the hundreds of thousands of families collecting from LTCi and the radical qualitative difference that LTCi creates in their lives.

Here are some examples of the harmful “spin” I’m talking about:

The article hints that Ms. Cheng’s father is collecting enormous amounts from his LTCi policy, but it is not explicit about this. Why not? Why isn’t any space devoted to describing the extraordinary, qualitative difference LTCi has made not only for Ms. Cheng, but for her father?

Does Ms. Cheng own LTCi herself? Her advice about needing correct professional assistance with choosing LTCi, having a holistic outlook about the role of LTCi in estate planning, and asking children for input and help is sage. The reporter (Mr. Wasik)  should have asked her to comment about her own LTCi (if she doesn’t own LTCi, I just don’t understand why not, based on her personal experience and how wise she seems to be).

Instead, Mr. Wasik sidetracks readers with some “red herrings.”

There’s an irrelevant sentence describing how Keith Singer recommends clients with more than $500,000 should own LTCi. (I doubt he has any clients with less than a $500,000 net worth; most financial planners don’t.)  This sentence is harmful to readers, giving lower net-worth people one more excuse to dissuade themselves from doing responsible LTC planning. Such people are far more prone to catastrophe resulting from unplanned LTC needs. Here’s a story about a solid middle class couple with a 0,000 net worth that was devastated by unplanned LTC costs. This couple probably could have purchased very reasonable LTCi while they were insurable.

This sentence does not report on the effectiveness of LTCi (as the title purports) and is again potentially harmful to readers : “After a 90-day “elimination” period (often partly covered by Medicare for people whose need for extra care is hastened by a stroke or other medical emergency), the policy covers all assisted living, community and home care.” This perspective is incorrect, and further goads the American public to avoid responsible LTC planning by hinting that Medicare might assist with LTC costs. Medicare-paid LTC is not only paltry and inadequate; most people are not entitled to it.

Shame on Mr. Wasik and the NYT editors, whom I otherwise hold in high esteem. For the sake of the American public, reporting needs to be done now on the extraordinary, qualitative, transformative difference LTCi has and will make for hundreds of thousands of us.

Filed Under: 3 in 4 Need More, Denial, Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC, Misinformation About LTC, New York Times Tagged With: adult day care, assisted living, home care, home health care, Long Term Care insurance, Medicare, New York Times, Nursing Homes, Wealth Preservation

Cuts in public funding cause increased nursing home admissions

May 8, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

Due to budget concerns, many states are cutting respite services, which provide temporary relief in the form of short-term home care workers, brief stays in residential facilities and adult day care centers, reports this April 30, 2012 article from McKnights Long-Term Care News.

These services, which are much less costly for families than skilled nursing facility stays, have been targeted by cash-strapped states.

Respite care often allows the elderly to delay or prevent being admitted to a nursing home.

These cuts will lead to more seniors being admitted to nursing homes. When people need long-term care and cannot afford to pay for it due to lack of responsible advance long-term care planning, they usually default to Medicaid. Each additional Medicaid long-term care recipient worsens budget shortfalls and crisis.

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: adult day care, McKnights Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, Medicaid, residential facilities, Respite care

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

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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