long-term care Archives - Page 7 of 12 - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

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.

There’ll Be Too Few Millennials and Gen X-ers to Care For Us

January 9, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

In Kimberly Palmer’s article, “Why Caring for Older Adults Is Getting Costlier,” published in U.S. News & World Report, December 17, 2014, we learn that by 2030, Baby Boomers will start turning 85. There will be even more of a torrent of people needing long-term care. Most will be unprepared.

The majority of long-term care (LTC) in Texas and the US is provided by unpaid family members.

The article says the current ratio of family caregivers per every “vulnerable person” is 7 to 1. But soon, because of the aging population, it will be 3 to 1, she says. That will put even more pressure on family caregivers and make it harder for them to continue managing all their other responsibilities.

Here’s another blog I did about “Super-Aging.”

This article is highly educational because it puts the dilemma we will face into very human terms. In this quote, it describes the huge toll being a caregiver takes:

“Robison says her experience caring for her grandmother has made her think about the importance of taking out long-term health care insurance for herself one day, as well as saving for retirement. ‘What we think we need is usually nowhere near the amount we need. … If my grandmother didn’t have a family, where would she be? Who would advocate for her?’ Robison adds that the situation continues to strain her family members, who want to make sure their MeMa is living as well as possible. ‘None of us are trained caregivers. We’re just doing the best we can.’”

My advice is to plan for your long-term care now. Owning reasonably priced long-term care insurance (LTCi) is a great way to do this.

Why Medicare Can’t/Won’t/Doesn’t Pay for Long-Term Care

January 5, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

No one researches and easily, clearly explains the need for responsible long-term care planning as well as The Motley Fool.

In their January 4, 2015, The Motley Fool explains why Medicare doesn’t/can’t/won’t pay for long-term care. They also advise people to prepare for long-term care costs ahead of time.

Motley Fool, I admire and love you! You do your readers — and the world — good, by explaining things succinctly, with great insight.

Homes on the Range

January 4, 2015 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

“Currently, 1.5 million Americans reside in nursing homes where they are often treated more like patients than residents. Despite the explosive expansion of nursing homes — to a current total of 16,100 — few older people want to live in one.” This is a quote from Jane Brody’s December 15, 2014 New York Times Wellness blog.

This quote makes exactly the same point I have for years, “… few family members would choose, if they had a choice, to place a beloved relative in one. The common belief is that nursing homes are depressing places where old people go to die.”

Nursing homes are primarily funded by Medicaid, which pays them at lower rates than their actual costs. Most nursing homes are in continual economic tailspins. Their future is bleak due not only to budget shortfalls and political stalemate in Washington, but also to an impending barrage of Baby Boomers who are failing to plan for long-term care (LTC). Such Boomers will further drain a system that I will argue is already tragically broken.

Nursing homes are inhumane warehouses for our most defenseless, vulnerable citizens. We can do better.

Many of us have known for years of Dr. Bill Thomas and his Green House Project. Green Houses are revenue neutral, far more dignified nursing home alternatives that reflect the good accomplishments we humans are capable of.

Our courageous and dedicated personal friend, Dale Bell, founder of the Media Policy Center, has spent 12 years creating an acclaimed documentary called “Homes on the Range.” This poignant film spotlights what is possible when people who believe there is a better way achieve grass-roots cooperation. It is a heartwarming story of perseverance and hope.

Homes on the Range is the story about the citizens of Sheridan, WY, who decided their elders deserved a whole lot more than nursing home care. Click here to read about how Sheridan’s Greenhouse project was born and see a 20-minute video.

Denial is a Curious Beast

December 15, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Refusal to plan for long-term care and refusal to believe manmade activities are creating global warming are caused by the same thing. What a revelation to me! A book called Living in Denial, by Kari Marie Norgaard examines the causes of climate change denial.

Here’s an essay about Dr. Norgaard’s book. I love the fact that her book defines the three different types of denial:

Literal denial. This is the outright refusal to believe the facts and to dispute the consensus science, and even to deny the existence of a scientific consensus. Many so-called “climate skeptics” fit into this category.
Interpretive denial. This involves not disputing the underlying reality, but using euphemisms and framing to distort meaning. An example of this kind of denial might be the Government of Alberta claiming that it is improving emissions intensity (emissions per barrel) from the oil sands, while absolute emissions of CO2 are increasing rapidly due to growing bitumen production.
Implicatory denial. Here, the facts are not denied or re-interpreted, but instead “the psychological, political or moral implications that conventionally follow” from those facts are denied or ignored. Implicatory deniers accept the reality of human-caused climate change, but they live their lives as if the problem was little to do with them. This variety of denial is the main focus of the book. Most of us who live at a high standard of living in developed countries are guilty to some degree of implicatory denial.

These are exactly the same denial behaviors I see all the time!

For 25 years I’ve had well-educated, affluent friends and acquaintances who like, respect, and trust me, make excuses to not talk with me 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.

There’s little about denial that makes sense to me.

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

There’ll Be Too Few Millennials and Gen X-ers to Care For Us

Why Medicare Can’t/Won’t/Doesn’t Pay for Long-Term Care

Homes on the Range

Denial is a Curious Beast

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