long-term care insurannce Archives - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

Are Assisted Living Facilities Keeping Up With Needs?

March 26, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Assisted living facilities and their residents don’t tire of blaming each other for sub-standard care.

An article in the New York Times reported the tragic and avoidable death of a 90-year-old resident, suffering from dementia. A resident of Brookdale Charleston Senior Living, she wandered outside — and not for the first time.

Nobody noticed her absence for seven hours. She was found in the pond behind the facility, dead from puncture marks to her ear, temple, jaw and cheeks. Her pacemaker was discovered inside one of the alligators that lived in the pond.

The assisted living facility has already settled the family’s claim for wrongful death and is now facing an additional suit for emotional distress.

Sharing the Blame

I believe that the residents, their families and the facilities can share in the blame.

Undertrained Staff

Assisted living is not federally regulated. Nursing homes are. State enforcement and sanctions are often lax and not very stringent.

Many experts agree that much of the problem stems from inadequate staffing which I’ve blogged about in the past. Adequate funding will easily resolve these shortcomings. An simple recommendation, but more difficult to implement.

Assisted living started as a service for people who were more independent. Residents who need help with activities of daily living (ADLs). Some residents were experiencing early cognitive challenges. Just a generation later, assisted living often accepts people with far greater needs. Needs they may not be prepared to fully accommodate. I often see this, and it disturbs me.

The Facility’s Profit Motive

Many assisted living facilities are for-profit entities, earning handsome returns to their investors. I have some friends who manage the marketing at some of these organizations. They often tell me that they are pressured by management to fill as many apartments as they can.

Facilities cannot offer this needed care at an affordable price point that fills apartments and attain financial returns that please their investors. As the saying goes, “No one can serve two masters.”

The Resident’s Budget

The residents (or their families) pay for assisted living out of their own pockets, unlike nursing homes. Medicare or Medicaid do not contribute. They have a high appeal, as they emphasize independent living instead of intensive medical care.

Many residents are unable to afford the higher cost of fully trained and properly staffed facilities, so they let their budget determine the quality of care they receive.

People want to deny the almost certain fact that they might ever need long term care (LTC). When they inevitably do need LTC, it is common for them and their family to downplay the true extent of their needs.

So they choose the posh, upscale environment so many assisted living facilities have, instead of one that may be better-equipped to actually care for the resident.

What happens when the residents and their family realize that they’re not getting the care they need? They might experience the tragic consequences like the resident in the NYT article. They might move to another facility more appropriate for their escalating needs.

Decide to Plan

When planning for your future needs, wouldn’t it be nice to make your decisions based on quality of life and not settle for a sub-standard solution just because of your financial limitations?

Choose quality! Click here to receive your free, no-obligation quote for your own Long Term Care insurance policy.

The Special Case for Women and Alzheimer’s

December 19, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

As I reported in October 2015, Alzheimer’s disease has a disproportionate impact on women. As we close out 2018, the statistics have not improved for us. In fact, two-thirds of America’s 6 million Alzheimer’s patients are women. It’s time for us to pay special attention to women and Alzheimer’s disease.

First, some quick facts from the Alzheimer’s Association and the Women and Alzheimers site:

Every 65 seconds, someone in the US develops Alzheimer’s
At age 65, a woman has a 1 in 6 chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Her risk for breast cancer is 1 in 11.
Also by age 65, a woman is twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s than a man. By age 75, she is three times as likely.
More than 60% of unpaid Alzheimer’s caregivers (friends and family of Alzheimer patients) are women.

More Likely In Women

It seems like Alzheimer’s disease can affect any family at any time. So why is it more prevalent among women? Is it because women live longer than men? After all, the disease is more prevalent as we age. But we now know that the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s often begin 20 years before they are ever diagnosed.

Genetic risk factors are now getting more attention and focus. Back in the 1990s, scientists found that the presence of the ApoE4 gene was the primary culprit in the patient’s memory and other mental abilities. Further tests showed that this is more applicable to females.

Heart disease and smoking are also considered contributors to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. So is depression, which is more common in women than in men. And there is always the deepening discussion around hormonal changes that are so much more intense for women as they age.

Because women usually take on the responsibility of caregiving, there is some research that points to this extra emotional burden as a possible risk factor.

Alzheimer’s patients and their families have a great amount of uncertainty and difficult decisions in their future. If you or someone you love is a woman, extra care should be taken to prepare for this disease.

Don’t get caught by surprise when the statistics are this powerful. You can begin by clicking here to receive your free, no-obligation quote for a long term care insurance policy.

Genworth’s Rosy Future

December 23, 2016 by Honey Leave a Comment

Genworth, a pioneer in the long-term care insurance (LTCi) industry, has sold the largest number of LTCi policies (1.2 million) and paid out more than its competitors.

Through December of 2015, Genworth paid over $13 Billion in claimed LTCi benefits. Genworth pays out an average of $5.6 million dollars in LTC benefits every business day!

Those of us who specialize in LTCi have huge admiration and respect for Genworth’s perseverance. They are in LTCi for the “long game” and have huge commitment to it. They have the experience to sell it profitably, which means they understand LTCi’s slow, but eventual profitability.

Recently, Genworth was purchased by China Oceanwide Holdings. This will make Genworth’s shareholders happy, which will in turn, take much pressure off Genworth’s leadership.

This excellent interview of Genworth CEO Tom McInerney, explains the the “upsides” of the buyout.

Genworth’s website has more information about the buyout. It is easy to navigate and also has abundant information on long-term care costs, as well as how to understand and choose the best LTCi coverage.

Are you sure you want to count on Medicaid to pay for LTC?

January 14, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

The bottom line, illustrated in this May, 2014 New York Times story, is that there’s been an increasing trend towards managed care for Medicaid patients. The patients featured in this story are Medicaid-paid long-term care (LTC) recipients. An increasing number of Medicaid providers are paid “capitated” rates. Capitated means they get a flat, per person allowance to care for each Medicaid recipient. In the Medicaid-paid LTC described in the article, providers are “cherry picking” out less needful, easier to care for patients, leaving more needful LTC patients with fewer options.

A reasonably priced long-term care insurance (LTCi) policy is a better option than planning on letting Medicaid pay for your long-term care.

Is Traditional LTCi or Hybrid LTCi best for you?

September 12, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Here’s a September, 2014 Morningstar article by Christine Benz describing the main differences between traditional long-term care insurance (LTCi) and the newer hybrid (also known as “combo”) LTC products. Hybrid LTC products are life or annuity based; traditional LTCi is a type of health insurance.

This article is good because it is written in “lay” language.

I have more articles that describe the differences between traditional versus hybrid LTC approaches. Email me and I’ll send additional articles to you.

Although I’ve been working primarily with traditional LTCi for the past 24 years, before embarking on this career, I spent a couple of years selling life, health and disability insurance. I still know how to explain complicated aspects of life and annuity-based products adeptly and simply.

There are pluses and minuses to each approach. I like to show both approaches and don’t favor either. I just want to see more people take the high risk, high cost odds of needing long-term care more seriously, and plan accordingly.

In the Big Picture, each approach is good. Just take action and plan for needing long-term care, now!

Here’s an old, rhetorical question that’s been around well before I started my career. Here it is: what’s the best insurance policy? Answer: the one that’s in force when you need it!

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