long-term care 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.

What’s a CCRC?

January 2, 2019 by Honey Leveen 2 Comments

They’ve been around for over a century, starting first in Europe, mostly connected to religious organizations. The U.S. had about 7 CCRCs by the 1900s and they have continued to expand since then as both non-profit and for-profit operations. These days, the country has thousands of these facilities as their popularity continues to grow.

So what, exactly, is a CCRC? It’s a Continuing Care Retirement Community.

Here’s an academic definition I got from a recent insurance course I took:

CCRC’s (Continuing Care Retirement Communities) provide housing for senior citizens, an entire continuum of long-term care services, from part-time services performed by nonskilled staff to skilled nursing facility services.

Individuals start out in independent housing and naturally transition through assisted living to skilled nursing care, all while staying in the same community.

Yawn. This definition is so bland!

The “Retirement Home” for Today

For starters, I think the word “Retirement” in the title CCRC is now obsolete. Many people, including myself, will continue to work while living in one.

CCRCs are a place where people can enjoy a carefree, safe, luxurious, fun, stimulating, enriching – no matter what your interests are – lifestyle. Ours offers a strong sense of community. The CCRC is legally obligated to provide care for you through the end of life. And until that time, you’re living your best life possible! You also aging with grace, honesty and dignity.

The core offering of a CCRC is the ability for its residents to “age in place”. They provide an environment that promotes healthy, independent living which typically contributes to a happier and richer quality of life.

As medical needs increase, the appropriate level of care is available without creating radical, unsettling changes. Residents continue to be part of the community, maintaining friendships in familiar surroundings. This “all in one” solution provides great peace of mind to the seniors and also to their family members.

Jim and I are moving to a place called Shell Point Retirement Community (Fort Myers, FL) in February, 2018. That’s really soon! We contemplated this move for a while. Eventually, our attitudes towards CCRC’s shifted. We realized moving now, while we are still healthy, active and vital, was not only wise, but feasible.

Moving to Shell Point does not mean I’m retiring! I will continue to work, because I love my job. I can offer 30 years of wisdom and insight into long-term care protection, plus strong, client-centered ethics. My phone and email will will not change; I’ll continue to support you. When I’m not working, Jim and I will experience a truly fun lifestyle!

It’s National Long Term Care Awareness Month!

December 12, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

November is officially National Long Term Care Awareness Month (LTCAM). The US Congress created LTCAM in 2001, making this the 17th anniversary! Congress recognized the need to promote LTCAM as a month-long campaign aimed at educating Americans on the importance of owning Long Term Care insurance (LTCi).

Local, state and national governments recognize how unprepared citizens are. When it comes to being able to afford often catastrophically expensive long term care (LTC) costs, many of us are unprepared. Our government will not be able to adequately bear the costs of providing LTC. Long term care insurance costs are often a fraction of actual long term care costs.

How is Your Long Term Care Awareness?

Last year, Genworth Financial conducted a survey to see how informed Americans were on the costs, options and even the need for long term care. They found that only 1 in 5 respondents had taken any action in planning for their future medical needs.

They also found a lot of misunderstanding about who pays for for LTC costs, understanding the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, and a general lack of knowledge about what kind of costs are covered.

2 out of 3 respondents expect government programs to cover the costs of their LTC needs; however, 45% admitted that they didn’t know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid programs.
GenX is most concerned about paying for their medical expenses as they age. And yet, they are least likely to have a financial plan in place.
Millennials are most likely to have made proactive plans for their future. The research suggests that they have the lowest expectations of the government being able to pay, so they have taken action to protect themselves.

Here is a first-hand testimonial of someone who didn’t think she needed Long Term Care insurance, kept an open mind and bought the policy.

Knowledge is Power

The purpose of Long Term Care Awareness Month is to raise your awareness of the need to plan responsibly for LTC, right now! This is the very best way to ensure dignity, options, access and choices if LTC is necessary.

Unfortunately, the odds of needing LTC are high. You protect against other risks, like a car accident or house fire. The need for LTC is more likely than a house fire or car accident. LTC often costs more than a car or a house. If you’re not prepared, a lengthy LTC need puts your savings and retirement, and family at risk.

Just as it is smart to plan ahead for retirement, it’s smart to plan now for long-term care.

Take that first step. Click here to receive your free, no-obligation quote for your own Long Term Care insurance coverage.

Why We Avoid the Hard Stuff: The Ostrich Paradox

October 17, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

ostrich burying head in sand ignoring problems

We fail to evacuate when advised and then we rebuild in flood zones. Helmets aren’t worn. We avoid the risk of “crying wolf” instead of sounding the alarm. In the face of certain disaster, many of us avoid the hard choices and bury our heads in the sand like the fabled ostrich. [BTW, that’s totally a myth.]

We also go to great lengths to avoid talking about long term care planning. Of the millions of Americans who qualify (by age and income criteria), only about 10% actually own long term care insurance (LTCi).

In his recent Forbes column (Sept 2018), Howard Gleckman reported on this avoidance behavior. He wrote,

“Americans are unable to plan for a catastrophe, even one we know is coming. Our brains cannot, for some reason, process this. Thus, in the face of an approaching calamity many of us…do nothing.”

There’s a Storm Coming

The residents along the Carolina coastline, for example, were given multiple warnings to evacuate before the arrival of Hurricane Florence. Despite the mandatory evacuation orders, many people chose to ignore the oncoming danger and stayed in their homes.

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, suffered from pancreatic cancer for years. Despite her worsening condition, she never made a will, leaving her $80 million estate vulnerable to hefty taxes before her children receive any inheritance. All because she never faced the need for advanced planning.

When We Avoid Information

“A person should never avoid information, because information can never hurt a decision”, states economist Joshua Tasoff. And yet, we go to great lengths to do just this. Listen to why in this wonderful Hidden Brain podcast.

Denial defies logic. Because it’s strictly emotional.

Mr. Gleckman refers to a book called “The Ostrich Paradox: Why We Underprepare for Disasters“, by Robert J Meyer.

From this book and Mr. Gleckman’s column, here are some reasonable explanations of why we often behave irrationally in the face of coming disaster:

Excessive optimism: They know the storm is coming and still believe that, magically, they will be unharmed. They see an aging population getting older and more frail and still believe that their own experience will somehow be different.

Herd thinking: Nobody else is preparing, so why should I? Saving isn’t sexy. Let’s plan our next exotic vacation!

Myopia: It’s easier to focus on our short term needs and desires. Planning for the long term might require sacrificing our current wants and channeling that money into some prudent investments. That’s inconvenient. (Oh, the stories I could tell you about this one.)

Amnesia: Our minds can block bad memories. We downplay how bad that last storm was. And we forget how hard it was watching our parents get all the care they needed in their later years.

Inertia and simplification: We’ve all experienced “Analysis Paralysis”. Faced with complicated matters, we freeze up and end up making no choice. Unfortunately, the long term care industry is also part of this problems. Policies can be difficult to understand. It’s easier to shove them into the desk drawer, unread and unsigned.

Not even the ostrich buries its head in the sand. Why should you? When you are ready to start taking some proactive steps for your future, click here. You will receive a no-obligation quote on your own Long Term Care insurance plan.

Denial of the Facts Does Not Make Them Less True

October 10, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Resistance to planning for long term care and doubting that human activities have created global warming share some very interesting roots. What a revelation to me! Author Karie Marie Norgaard connected these dots in her book, Living in Denial.

In the book, Norgaard examines the thought processes behind those who choose to deny the existence of climate change. I read an essay by Andy Skuce in which he takes a deep dive into Norgaard’s research and understanding about Denial.

Types of Denial

The book divides denial into 3 categories:

Literal denial. This happens when people don’t trust the facts, even when overwhelmingly supported by objective and thorough scientific data. We often see this from “Climate Skeptics”.
Interpretive denial. This one gets slippery. It accepts the facts (climate change is real), but reinterprets the meaning so it doesn’t sound like a real threat. That removes their responsibility to make proactive changes, since it’s not a real problem.
Implicatory denial. In this case, the facts and the interpretations are generally accepted. But then, “the psychological, political or moral implications that conventionally follow” are discounted and ignored. Climate change is already too advanced for anyone to do anything about it, so I’m off the hook and don’t have to make hard choices.

Denying the Need for Long Term Care

If these thought processes sound familiar, these are exactly the same behaviors I’ve been writing about throughout my career as a Long Term Care Insurance Specialist. Let’s run through these again:

Literal denial. Not trusting the facts — No matter how many studies get funded, no matter how may reports get written. There are always going to be people who refuse to accept that they are probably going to need financial help to cover their future medical care.
Interpretive denial. Accepting the facts: Yes, we’re living longer. Yes, we’ll probably need help in our later years. BUT… we’ve always taken care of each other. Or our family is ready to step in to help. We’ll be fine.
Implicatory denial. I know, we’ve got some uncertain times ahead of us. BUT… ‘they’ say that there’s no real reliable coverage. Or it costs too much. What can I do at this point?

For almost 30 years I’ve had well-educated, affluent friends and acquaintances make excuses to avoid the conversation about reasonable, responsible long term care planning. Intellectually, these people know better. They are making sound decisions in other areas of their lives, but they refuse to accept the fact that after age 65, they might be one of the 70% of us are going to need some sort of long-term care.

Denial is not a river in Egypt and the first step is easy. Click here to receive your no-obligation quote on your own Long Term Care insurance plan.

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