Baby Boomers Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

The Cost of Entitlements Just Goes Up and Up

February 15, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

“Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It” (NY Times, Feb. 12, 2012, pp. A1, 24) presents frightening trends that threaten the well being of every American. A myriad of benefits programs provided over $6,500 for every man, woman and child in the US in 2009, a 69% increase from 2000. And although the primary objective of these programs was to keep Americans out of poverty, the poorest Americans no longer receive the majority of government benefits.

Trends in the need and cost of these programs are sobering. Nearly 50% of Americans lived in households receiving government benefits in 2010, up from 38% in 1998 and 44% just before the recession in 2007. And spending on medical benefits is projected to rise 60% over the next 10 years. As the baby boomers age, the number of Americans covered by Medicare will increase by one-third. These increases will make spending on medical benefits higher than every other expenditure in the federal budget expect interest on the national debt – higher even than the money invested in education or defense!

And where will the money come from to cover all these national expenses? Not from the taxes we pay. For example, “a 45-year old woman who earns $43,500 in 2010 will pay taxes worth $87,000 to the federal government by the time she retires, BUT the government will spend $275,000 for her medical care before she dies. As the economists say, “There is no free lunch.”

As the boomers age, increasing numbers of them will also need long-term care, which is covered by Medicaid or personal funds, NOT Medicare. And, of course, the demand for long-term care will continue to increase – even as Medicaid funds shrink. How sad…

One way to maintain your dignity in your final years AND to minimize physical, emotional and financial stress on your family is to own long-term care insurance to cover these expenses that can average over $70,000 per year. You owe it to yourself and your family to give this option careful thought.

Perfect Storm Brewing in Texas Assisted Living Facilities

February 6, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

In “Budget cuts elicit fears for elderly” (Houston Chronicle, January 30, 2012, B1, B5), Renee C. Lee documented some frightening trends in Assisted living (AL) facilities throughout Texas.

As in virtually every state, the eldest Baby Boomers are turning 66 this year and the number of Texans needing long-term care will continue rising for the next two decades. On a positive note, the number of AL facilities has increased from 1,355 in 2000, to 1,440 in 2007, to 1,621 in 2011. Unfortunately, this growth is a mixed blessing because there are nearly 20% more facilities that must be periodically inspected to ensure that state regulations for the industry are being met. And Texas has been slow to revise current regulations to adjust to the growing demand for long-term care.

Second, the TX Department of Aging and Disability Services recently eliminated 60 inspectors who enforce state regulations! Consequently, the typical AL facility will be visited every 18 to 24 months. Even before the cuts in staff, horror stories of bedbugs, physical and sexual abuse by staff, and failure to report missing residents abound. The only rational conclusion is that less inspection will result in failure to detect more mistreatment of the elderly.

Third, “Texas requires as little as 16 hours of on-the-job training for attendants, allows medication to be administered without a license and doesn’t require specific staff-resident ratios,” Lee reports. Carmen Castro, an advocate for the elderly, referred to this situation as “the Wild West.”

So there you have it – a sobering combination of increasing need, less frequent inspection, and inadequate training and requirements for attendants is brewing in Texas (and very likely in many other states). These conditions can only lead to more misery for our parents and grandparents – and ourselves – in their final years.

One solution, so course, is for seniors to be very careful to choose only the most reputable, well staffed AL facilities with the best endorsements from current residents. Sadly, however, the high cost of quality AL can severely drain the life savings of many Americans needing long-term care. So many must settle for the cheapest facilities they can find.

On the other hand, Americans who own long-term care insurance (LTCi) are armed with financial resources that enable them to be much more selective about the type of facility they choose.

Word of the Long-Term Care Crisis is Spreading

February 3, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

“The long term care system in Hawaii is broken, “according to the December 13, 2011 Draft Final Report of the Hawaii Long term Care Commission (http://www.publicpolicycenter.hawaii.edu/documents/LTCC_FINALREPORT_draft14dec.pdf. 2424 Maile Way, Saunders 723,Honolulu,HI96822). And as noted in several previous blogs, the crisis will get worse because of the aging of the Baby Boomers. Furthermore, the population from which care givers are drawn is beginning to decline.

Members of this Commission clearly “get it.” They note that 75% of people over 65 will eventually need some form of long-term care (LTC) and that people need to begin planning for this prospect well before they reach their 60s. The report also cites an average cost of $80,000 per year in a nursing home and the lack of public funds to cover these enormous costs.

A recent survey (2011 Long-term Care Consumer Survey and Quiz Results John Hancock Life Insurance Company U.S.A., Boston, MA02117 includes encouraging evidence that public also “gets it.” In a sample of 1,000 Americans aged 21 – 75, 82% agreed that it is irresponsible not to plan for the cost of long-term care. On the negative side, however, only 11% actually own long-term care insurance (LTCi). And while 62% agreed that LTCi was the best way to do such planning, only one-third were inclined to purchase a policy in today’s economy.

So news about the growing need for LTC and the lack of resources to fund care is getting to the public. But Americans are still reluctant to invest their own money to purchase insurance for their own LTC.

The solution to this perplexing & frustrating problem is nicely summed up in the Hawaiian Commission’s first two recommendations:

“Conduct a long-term care education and awareness campaign

Treat the risk of needing long-term care as a normal life risk” (p. 10)

This has been my mission for over 20 years.

“I don’t want to be a burden on my children.”

January 8, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

A recent article (“Aging and Broke, More Lean on Family,” Wall Street Journal, Dec. 31, 2011) by E.S. Browning documents a disturbing trend among boomers and their parents. And if Americans continue to avoid responsible planning for their long-term care, boomers and their CHILDREN will be confronted with an even more pervasive problem. Increasing numbers of aging boomers will live with their children or receive financial aid from them.

Browning reported that “Thirty-nine percent of adults with parents 65 and older reported giving parents financial aid in the past year, according to a September Pew Research Center survey. Some parents may have trouble acknowledging it: 10% of parents 65 and older reported receiving aid. …In 1900, 57% of adults 65 and older lived with relatives, according to Pew Research. Because of Social Security, Medicare and improving health and wealth, that rate declined to 17% by 1990, Pew says. Now it is up to 20%.”

As the boomers continue to age, this percentage is extremely likely to increase, and the result will be growing levels of emotional, physical and financial stress among family members. Long-term Care Insurance provides dignity and choice and helps families avoid this kind of crisis.

Medicaid Funding — Going, going… Gone?

December 26, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Although our hearts are filled with the spirit of giving during this Holiday Season, our federal government and many states will increasingly resemble the Grinch in the very near future.

Facing the same dilemma of many other states whose Medicaid funds are drying up, Maine’s new Republican governor recently called the state’s entitlement system “a runaway train” (“Medicaid Cuts Are Part of a Larger Battle in Maine,” New York Times, Dec. 24, 2011, p. A11). His proposal to reduce Maine’s Medicaid rolls by 65,000 (18%) has generated outcries from citizens throughout the state. One specific cut is room and board at assisted living centers.

So Baby Boomers who are gambling on the availability of state Medicaid funds to defray the cost of their long-term care are seeing their odds of “winning” go down and down. In view of this Scrooge-like future, the need for US citizens to engage in sensible planning for their long-term care with reasonably priced Long-term Care Insurance is becoming more and more urgent!

Now that I have your attention, I’m sorry to add another statistic that we are all familiar with – 10,000 boomers are joining the Medicare rolls every day. In a Dec. 23, 2011 story in the Washington Post titled,“Medicare Spending Growth Rising Slower but Enrollment Will Rise,” we learn that projected growth in Medicare recipients will rise from 47 million in 2010 to 88 million in 2040. And medical costs for seniors also continue to rise.

So seniors who need long-term care will be competing for increasingly scarce funds with seniors who need medical care – a very sad predicament, indeed.

The clock is ticking, America!

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The Cost of Entitlements Just Goes Up and Up

Perfect Storm Brewing in Texas Assisted Living Facilities

Word of the Long-Term Care Crisis is Spreading

Medicaid Funding — Going, going… Gone?

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