Houston Chronicle Archives - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

Testimonial for LTC insurance

May 19, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

An obituary of Gaye McCutchen, who was highly educated and accomplished, deliberately makes mention of the long-term care insurance (LTCi) she owned, and how beautifully it worked.

I cannot tell from the obituary whether Ms. McCutchen collected from her policy for days, months, or years. But I can tell from the obituary that her LTCi made a striking difference in the quality of her life.

Here’s a quote from the obituary:

“Thankfully, her foresight in purchasing Long Term Care Insurance (LTCi), many years ago, made it possible for her to use her policy to pay for excellent home care during her illness. We thank all of the caregivers provided by Home Care Solutions, but special thanks go to Emelda Buezo and Charlene White. Gaye loved these dear ladies due to their warm and caring nature and upbeat spirit.”

Maybe Ms. McCuthen had the money to pay for all the care she needed from her savings. One thing I have observed, though, is that when people are sick, they don’t have time (or often cognitive ability) to finagle/buy/sell/liquidate/re-organize their estate to pay for unplanned, expensive long-term care costs. Often, the treatment of their illness is all-consuming, time-wise, physically, and emotionally.

People (and their loved ones) dealing with illness are often fearful and in no position to shrewdly re-arrange their finances. We often see affluent people who can afford the right long-term care resist getting the type of care they need.

Being ill and physically dependent, after a lifetime of independence is an incredibly sad thing. It must only compound such sadness when savings start flying out the window to pay for care costs, as well.

LTCi ownership is about having dignity, options and choices without hesitation or pause, just like Ms. McCutchen did. It is necessary to plan in advance if you want to ensure the type of quality outcome Ms. McCuthen had. LTCi premiums are not necessarily expensive. What can be expensive is needing long-term care for anything but a short period of time, and not owning LTCi.

Why Staff (Is All That) Matters in Choosing a Nursing Home (Not!)

May 14, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

In all of my 23 years specializing exclusively in long-term care insurance (LTCi), the Houston Chronicle has done scant reporting on LTCi and long-term care planning. They’ve done a story on how to financially plan for aging and left out mentioning LTCi altogether. On the rare occasion they’ve made mention of LTCi they’ve gotten vital facts wrong.

In a city as large as ours, I’m very embarrassed about the Houston Chronicle’s dearth of coverage of LTCi, a subject that would help its readers. I believe New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, and many smaller cities than Houston, have had good coverage of LTCi lately. Houston still hasn’t.

In her recent Houston Chronicle column, “Why Staff Matters in Choosing a Nursing Home”, reporter Cindy George advises using various online tools to help you “shop” for a facility that won’t neglect or abuse your loved one. She makes this task sound as easy as, say, researching a computer or vacation online.

If you do the proper research, her article implies, your loved one won’t be subject to neglect, abuse, or the murders or beatings that have recently occurred at two Houston nursing facilities. Or maybe your loved one will be subject to just some abuse and neglect, but not beatings or murders? To accomplish this just use the tools she provides; it’s that easy.

Here’s what I wrote to her on my Facebook page:

“Cindy George of the Houston Chronicle, I know you’re trying to help by offering advice on how to choose a functional nursing home, in light of the recent nursing home violence we’ve had in Houston. Your advice may make readers feel good in the short term by giving them the impression there are decent odds they might have any control over the quality of their care if they cannot afford to pay for it. I would like to help add depth to your reporting and hope you will accept my invite to lunch or coffee.”

The problem with stories like “Why Staff Matters in Choosing a Nursing Home” is that it lulls people into believing doing correct facility research and shopping is all they’ll need to access quality long-term care. Responsible long-term care planning is not necessary. The government is there and will be there to pay for quality long-term care.

Search on this blog for “Nursing Homes” to learn a lot about why the government can’t – and won’t – pay for meaningful, adequate long-term care.

Government financing for long-term care is decreasing. Nursing home failures, neglect, abuse, tragedies, are increasing.

“Police Say Nursing Home Resident Killed 2 With Arm of Wheelchair”

April 26, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

The breaking news that immediately seized my eye on the front page of the April 23, 2014 Houston Chronicle was, “Police say nursing home resident killed 2 with arm of wheelchair.”

The murders took place at Lexington Place nursing facility.

This is an article I wrote about Lexington Place. I’ve been there a few times and have toured it. The article was published in an insurance trade magazine in August, 2011.

What’s interesting is that hardly anyone ever comments on my blogs or online articles. This had been the case with all the articles I wrote for this magazine, except for this one, which described a few aspects of life inside Lexington Place. This particular article motivated many peers from all over the country to comment, all in positive ways. They all thanked me for telling the story straight.

According to my source, almost all of Lexington Place’s residents were/are Medicaid recipients. That means that Lexington Place was/is in a particularly precarious situation. Medicaid reimburses at rates that are beneath what it actually costs to provide care for nursing home patients.

If you search this website for “nursing homes”, you’ll find much factual information on why nursing homes are suffering. Essentially, most Medicaid-funded nursing facilities are the red and continue to suffer funding cuts.

Here, I opine: there is something about money being in short supply that causes businesses to panic. Then fear sets in. Then dysfunctional management occurs. This is what I believe occurred at Lexington Place.

I believe Lexington Place admitted people it probably shouldn’t have, in hopes of keeping its census high. If funding gets cut, a volume approach is often the remedy, whether this makes sense in the big picture, or not.

I believe, based on information I was given by a trustworthy former employee there, that Lexington Place is also woefully understaffed. That is what I was told, that’s what I reported in my August, 2011 story.

My question remains: if people complained about the murderer’s violent tendencies, why was his behavior not dealt with in a more reasonable manner?

The murderer bludgeoned his victims with the arm of a wheelchair. I presume the deaths were not sudden, but rather, drawn out in a process involving screaming, for quite a while. Where were the caregivers?

I think the answer to the above question must be screaming similar to that of the murder victims is a normal occurrence at Lexington Place.

The State of FL is Dumping Disabled Children

September 8, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

A story in today’s Houston Chronicle, titled “Florida hit for putting disabled kids in nursing homes”, ties in beautifully to the blog I wrote yesterday, “Medicaid in Deep Trouble No Matter Which Party Wins the Election”.

The Chronicle article illustrates the great lengths some money-strained governments are already going to to slash their Medicaid budgets. Medicaid is what pays for long-term care for the disabled children described and impoverished elderly.

I have good reason to fear that what this article describes is just “the tip of the iceberg” compared to what’s in store. People don’t properly prepare and the government just can’t afford to provide decent long-term care. This trend does not show signs of reversing.

If you want to ensure quality choices, dignity, and reduced family stress and strife, and you don’t want to risk wiping out your life savings doing so, you need to talk about reasonable and responsible long-term care planning, then take action and prepare, NOW!

Here are some quotes from the Houston Chronicle story:

“Florida health and disability administrators have been systematically dumping sick and disabled children – some of them babies – in nursing homes designed to care for elders, in violation of the youngsters’ civil rights, the U.S. Justice Department says.”

“In recent years, however, Florida health administrators have relied upon nursing homes to house hundreds of children who could safely live at home with their parents – often at less expense to the state, advocates claim. Assistant US Attorney General Thomas Perez said the state has cut millions from programs that support the parents of disabled youngsters, refused $40 million in federal aid that would have enabled some children to stay or return home, encouraged nursing homes to house children by increasing their per diem rate – and even repealed state rules that limited the number of kids who could be housed in adult nursing homes.”

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.

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Testimonial for LTC insurance

Why Staff (Is All That) Matters in Choosing a Nursing Home (Not!)

“Police Say Nursing Home Resident Killed 2 With Arm of Wheelchair”

The State of FL is Dumping Disabled Children

Perfect Storm Brewing in Texas Assisted Living Facilities

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