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The High Cost of Avoidance and Denial

January 20, 2020 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Over the years, I’ve written multiple blogs posts about the importance of creating a solid long term care plan to address your late life wishes. Make the plan and share it with your family. And yet, time after time, I read horror stories about unnecessary suffering, neglect and even death because they never had “the conversation”. As if avoiding this important discussion gives them some artificial sense of control and safety. There is a cost of avoidance and it’s very high.

“I’d rather die than talk about this.”

The truth is that once chronic health problems arise, your ability to make good decisions often decreases. This is partly because your brain may have reduced cognitive powers. And also because making good choices becomes harder when you’re feeling panicked with fewer options. It’s really hard to see the big picture when it feels like your world is getting smaller.

Mr. & Mrs. Shaver Paid the Cost of Avoidance

cost of avoidance
Mr. & Mrs. Shaver — “Sweethearts Forever”

As reported in the New York Times (Dec 2019), their love story is the thing movies are made of. A romantic courtship and a loving marriage of 60 years. Unfortunately, his wife starting showing signs of dementia. Even though his children encouraged hiring home care help, Mr. Shaver refused any discussion. “Mind your own business. I’m taking care of it.”

He had ample savings for their retirement, so we know the cost of hiring help was not the issue. As the sole caregiver to his wife, he was obviously aware of her declining state of mind. However, he was unwilling to make any move that would improve their environment.

It must have broken his heart to see the love of his life disappear from his life. She no longer recognized him or their daughters. One day, while she was asleep, her loving husband laid down in bed next to her and shot his wife. And then shot himself.

The Time to Plan is Now

I’ve been helping people create these plans for 30 years. One thing I’ve learned is that having such a plan in place provides a peace of mind and increases quality of living. Without the comfort of a strategy, the fear of aging only grows over the years. As you age, the concerns over injury (falling in the shower, tripping over furniture, dizziness from medications) can contribute to mounting fears.

Once the fear takes hold, it becomes harder to make clear and thoughtful decisions.  I’ve done several blogs on age-related brain loss and cognitive decline.

For most of us, whether we’re middle class or more affluent, owning long term care insurance (LTCi) is critical for ensuring dignity, options, and access to quality long term care. But it’s not enough. You must have ongoing, difficult conversations with your family so everyone understands the outcome you desire.

Click here to receive a free, no-obligation quote for your own LTCi coverage. Your family will thank you.

Filed Under: Age related brain loss, Age related cognitive impairment, Denial, Elder fraud exploitation scams, Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: age related cognitive decline, Aging, assisted living, brain loss, cognitive decline, dementia, Helpful Information About LTC, home care, long-term care, scams

State of the LTCi Industry – 2018 Update

April 7, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

LTCi Converence 2018
I spoke on a well-attended panel on branding. Clockwise from upper left: me, Denise Lott, Marilee Driscoll, Betty Doll.

I’ve just returned from the largest long term care insurance (LTCi) conference in the world and my head is still spinning! I got to experience so many fantastic speakers and participate in some great conversations. Throughout the week, I mingled with about 1,000 actuaries, claims people, insurance regulators, top management and marketing colleagues. One of the highlights of my year, it is always invigorating to spend time with these professionals in the LTCi industry.

The LTCi Industry is Alive and Kicking!

I am happy to report that the LTC insurance industry is alive & kicking and in solid financial condition. New asset-based LTC products have given the industry an additional boost. Known as “combo” or “hybrid products, these solutions are helping more and more people find ways to protect their future.

What has not changed over the years is the #1 reason people postpone or even avoid purchasing this important coverage. They just don’t believe that they’re going to need professional medical care in their later years. They convince themselves that the government will pay for it if they do. The media often portrays LTC insurance in an undeserved negative light. If an article describes a family’s tale of hardship, the fact that their LTCi coverage actually helped gets buried. LTC is truly the Rodney Dangerfield of insurance!

The need to protect ourselves from the high risk and high costs associated with LTC is not going away. In fact, the need is growing as the Boomers age.  For most of us, there is still no better way to fund long term care than with insurance. Fortunately, the LTCi industry remains committed to offering excellent policies at reasonable cost.

There is still no substitute for the dignity, choices and access only LTC protection provides!

Is LTC insurance the right choice for you? Click here to receive your personal quote for Long Term Care coverage.

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC

Do You Really Want to Depend on Medicaid for Your Long Term Care?

January 15, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Elderly woman in Hospital BedWhat does government-paid long-term care actually provide? And just how effective is that care?

The New York Times reports that “Since 2013, nearly 6,500 nursing homes — four of every 10 — have been cited at least once for a serious violation, federal records show. Medicaid has fined two-thirds of those homes. Common citations include failing to protect residents from avoidable accidents, neglect, mistreatment and bedsores.”

Many health care advocates support these penalties as effective plans to monitor and maintain acceptable levels of care. Objections from the nursing home industry, however, have resulted in a significant reduction in these fines. The industry’s main trade group, The American Health Care Association, complained that the federal inspectors focused excessively on catching wrongdoing rather than helping nursing homes improve.

As a result, the federal government is now scaling back the use of fines against nursing homes that harm residents or place them in grave risk of injury. The new guidelines discourage regulators from levying fines in some situations, even when they have resulted in a resident’s death.

Burning the Medicaid Candle

We seem to be burning the Medicare – Medicaid Candle from both ends. Medicare and Medicaid fund most of U.S. nursing home care. We know they are not an endless well of money. On the patient side, Medicaid doesn’t pay enough per patient day for nursing homes to provide good care. Medicaid-funded nursing homes cannot hire enough caregivers, because they cannot pay them enough.

As my colleague Stephen Moses aptly describes, “Beatings will continue until morale improves!”

Many people expect Medicaid-funded nursing home facilities to provide them with long-term care. Medicaid eligibility requires asset spend down. In addition, quality of care  is dependent on our financial resources. People who own long term care insurance (LTCi) have necessary funds and are far more likely to be able to avoid Medicaid, stay at home, or access quality assisted living if they need long term care.

Click here to receive your personal quote for Long Term Care Insurance coverage.

Filed Under: Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, Uncategorized Tagged With: Helpful Information About LTC, self-insure

Caregiving for Elders, Not Children, Denies Women Paychecks

December 29, 2017 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Grandmother with WalkerFor decades, we’ve heard how women in the workplace were unable to keep pace with their male colleagues. We thought this was partly due to the demands of maternity leave and ongoing parenting responsibilities. Why then, when children left the home, did this pattern seem to continue into the later years of these career women? Enter the “elder-care crisis”, as described in a recent New York Times article.

The author addresses the rising trend of women shifting from child care to elder-care. Because many our aging Americans are unable to care for themselves, their care often falls to their wives and daughters. This results in reduced hours at work, lower paychecks and sometimes leaving their jobs altogether.

In case you’ve missed the statistics:

  • 25% of women aged 45 – 64 are caring for an older relative
  • 14% of women aged 35-55 are caring for an older relative
  • 10% of these women have reduced time at their paying jobs
  • 6% of these women quit their jobs

You can read more about the research here and here.

Who Provides the Care for our Elderly Family Members?

A graph in the NYT article dramatically illustrates that after rising for half a century, the labor force participation rate among prime-age women began to decline sharply in the early 2000’s – right around the time the time the elderly share of the population began to rise sharply.

It’s not a stretch to connect the dots. About 14 million older Americans currently can’t live independently and care for themselves. Unless they’ve purchased long term care insurance (LTCi), the burden of care weighs predominantly on their wives and daughters.

In his book “Who Will Care for Us?” Paul Osterman estimates that there are about 21 million family members caring for an adult relative for no pay. By 2040, he predicts demand for such care will rise to 34 million.

There are a variety of costs associated with caregiving tasks, from financial to emotional. This is one image provided by Merrill Lynch:

 

You can click here to find additional easy-to-read images.

Unlike the Boomers currently caring for their parents, their millennial children will not have as many siblings to help them care for their parents. Future elderly will also live longer, suggesting that there will be a lot of caregivers well into their 50’s juggling work with caring for children and parents.

The New York Times article ends on an unfortunate note, concluding that “private insurers are not the solution.” If you’ve been following me for any time at all, you know I am strongly in favor of using private insurance as a successful solution. In fact… I’ll take a deeper dive into this in a future blog post.

In the meantime, if you’d like to proactively prepare for the likelihood of needing some form of elder-care, please click here to receive your free LTCi quote.

 

 

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, Long-Term Care Awareness Month, Uncategorized Tagged With: caregivers, Helpful Information About LTC, Long Term Care insurance

Astounding Knowledge Gap!

December 9, 2017 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, with a new diagnosis made every 66 seconds.   This comes from a poll released by Maria Shriver’s Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement and the Bipartisan Policy Center. It’s got a lot of surprising information about the public’s lack of awareness of Alzheimer’s disease. When preparing for Alzheimer’s, we find ourselves using a lot of inaccurate information.

The Knowledge Gap is Huge!

According to the poll (October 2017), there is a significant chasm between commonly held beliefs about Alzheimer’s disease and the actual facts about Alzheimer’s. Let’s take a look at some of those myths versus facts:

Most women (over 70% polled) believe that symptoms don’t begin until their 60’s.

  • Actually, symptoms develop 20 – 30 years before diagnosis
  • Also, women are at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease, as 66% of diagnoses are women.

44% of Americans have no concerns about Alzheimer’s because it doesn’t run in their family.

  • Your genes do not accurately predict Alzheimer’s disease.

54% of those polled believe that the long term care costs will run around $25,000 per year.

  • In 2014, the average nursing home stay costs $87,000 per year.
  • In 2014, the cost of home health care costs $45,800 per year.

Preparing for Alzheimer’s

Once we have the facts around this insidious disease, we are better able to prepare for the possibility of living with Alzheimer’s.  You can click here to read the details of this poll and even download the key findings from the survey.

 

A future with Alzheimer’s disease is very likely, especially if you are female. Keep this in mind when planning your long term care options. Although most people (66%) want to be cared for by family members, few are having the conversation.

Taking steps to plan today can relieve your family of an unnecessary burden in the future. Plus, you’ll receive professional medical care, either at a facility or in the comfort of your home.

Now that you know, why would you wait?

Click here to receive your personal quote for Long Term Care Insurance.

Filed Under: Denial, Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC Tagged With: Denial, Helpful Information About LTC

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Honey Leveen, LUTCF, CLTC, LTCP
“The Queen, by Self-Proclamation, of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi)”
404 Royal Bonnet
Ft. Myers, FL 33908

Phone: 713-988-4671
Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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