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Sign that I’m Getting Old: I See Actual Evidence of Income Inequality

February 6, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

In my prior blog, www./2014/income-inequality-is-here, I gave irrefutable proof that income inequality is here. Due to the human tendency to deny facts that are unpleasant, it is often difficult for even smart, educated people to acknowledge this.

The email below comes from an informed prospective client who works in the long-term care industry. Every day she sees families in crisis, largely because their loved one does not own long-term care insurance (LTCi). She believes LTCi is the only solution for middle-class people who want to secure their dignity and options, should the probable need for long-term care arise. She sought my help upon the strong recommendation of her friend. We had a good rapport, and I showed her reasonable LTCi premiums. At the point of placing her LTCi application, she froze in fear, like a deer in headlights :

“Honey – Just wanted to touch base with you. I want to be respectful of your time. My week became crazy at work. Things went haywire with individuals quitting and getting laid off. I am going to hold up on my long term care insurance. I will pay the increase when I get the insurance. I may be getting laid off. I will know some time in Feb. I do not want to take on added expense until I know something. Thank you kindness and patience with me. ~ Tracy“

When I began selling LTCi 23 years ago, I did not get many objections like the one above. True enough, there was horrid, incorrect, sometimes scathing media coverage of LTCi in those days. This is not as true nowadays. People were also convinced Medicare would pay for their long-term care or that their kids would care for them. Thankfully, both of these myths have been largely dispelled.

Now we have income inequality replacing the obstacles described above and throwing a wrench into what I believe would be an otherwise thriving LTCi industry.

This is sad to me. With the presence of income inequality, there is a stronger than ever need for LTCi ownership.

New Study Shines Light on Family Long-Term Care Providers

December 30, 2013 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

A new study by the AARP Public Policy Institute and the United Hospital Fund reports on just how much care, and what type of care employed family members (unpaid caregivers) provide. The findings are alarming. They show that despite their workplace obligations, nearly half of all employed family caregivers perform many of the tasks we normally associated with licensed health care professionals, including a range of medical/nursing tasks, such as medication management, wound care, using meters and monitors, and more.

An earlier report by the same authors found that nearly half of family caregivers (working and non-working, combined) nationally performed such medical and nursing tasks. This new report shows that family caregivers who also work, perform medical/nursing tasks at about the same rate non-working family caregivers do.

These findings surprised the researchers, who expected more of a difference between the extent to which employed and not-employed caregivers perform medical/nursing tasks.

The report also examines the characteristics and stress levels of working versus unemployed family caregivers. No surprise here: employed caregivers have more stress.

Much of the stress family caregivers face would be alleviated with the presence of long-term care insurance.

It’s Always Best to Move Ahead of Life Events

December 27, 2013 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

A long-time client, Carolyn Bowden, has been kind enough to share her thoughts about why she and her husband chose to downsize from a larger home to a significantly smaller rented apartment while they were both still very independent.

I strongly feel it’s far better to honestly consider and realistically prepare for possible health adversities far in advance. Life is more enjoyable this way. Buying long-term care insurance is an important part of doing this, and so is preemptively downsizing, as the Bowdens have done.

Carolyn told me that she and her husband made this move not only for themselves, but also for their entire family.

I admire Carolyn for making this considerate, preemptive move and am grateful to her for offering the share her experience with my readers.

What follows is a quote from the recent column she wrote.

“My husband and I moved in November 2013 to a Senior “Independent” Living Residence for adults (only) over the age of 50. Our 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment is just 1026 square feet with a balcony. This meant we could only take with us 1/4th of the contents of our home. We do have a small, 3 by 8 foot storage room outside our apartment, and we selected to park our car in a car port instead of one of the small garages. Our apartment is on the top floor, at the rear of the building on the north side.

The month before our move, I would walk our house and “grieve” over what I was leaving behind. Our new home has amenities, such as, granite counter tops, an attached garage and a beautiful view of the adjacent park behind our home. We lost items like our sterling, Lenox china and crystal, which were sold in an estate sale, along with family treasures going back over 200 years. The children have their own “treasures”. I consoled myself by envisioning what had been mine, would now be in “new” homes and my hope was that they would be appreciated and enjoyed.

I am excited with the intimate apartment and have discovered how much easier it is to maintain. Our is more carefree now. In some ways, we have fewer decisions. For example, I only have one set of tongs, 3 sauce pans, and 3 skillets, etc. It is like living in a small cottage, except that I do not have the white picket fence with climbing roses.

We are renting now. How nice it is to just pick up the phone or email when maintenance and repairs are needed! We bear no unexpected expenses. There’s no need to wait for repairmen to arrive. There is no expiration of service warranties to deal with. I am so very happy!

However, my husband is not as comfortable with the changes. He misses his recliner, his view of the park where there was always something of interest to see. He can no longer open the door to venture outside and check out the yard and trees. But, he is trying. He is pleased with no longer having major home repairs and expensive maintenance of the yard.

It is my thought that this time next year he will be more adapted. Thoughts of what we left behind will be just memories. We will be busy moving ahead.”

Studies Explain Why Americans Won’t Plan for Their Long-Term Care

December 23, 2013 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

My prior blog describes two recently published studies, commissioned from the Center for Long-Term Care Reform. For those of us who study long-term care financing, the studies are quite frightening. They quantify how economically vulnerable states are for long-term care (LTC) expenses. The studies were for GA and VA, and a forthcoming study will examine NJ. More information on these studies may be found at the Center for Long-Term Care Reform.

An op-ed piece for the Columbia County News-Times, by Steve Moses, president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform, was published on December 11, 2013. In his piece, Steve describes how easy it is for a citizen with business savvy and means to get the government, through Medicaid, to pay for their long-term care. Even though publicly funded long-term care is of inferior quality, it is “free”, or rather, it is free only at the expense of taxpayers, while the citizen often preserves much of their wealth though clever legal strategies.

The fact that it is fairly easy to get the government to pay for long-term care anesthetizes the public and prevents it from responsibly planning for long-term care in advance, with long-term care insurance (LTCi). But the gimmicks for free LTC will certainly backfire as more states confront the dilemma of greater demand for Medicaid funds than they can possibly meet, and when the seniors who manage to get into Medicaid nursing homes become aware of the miserable environment in which they will spend the rest of their lives. In stark contrast, someone who needs LTC and owns LTCi will have many more options and access higher caliber care. Studies show LTCi owners also access care sooner, and with less panic and emergency than Medicaid (Welfare) recipients.

Here’s a link to the study done for Georgia: www.georgiapolicy.org/ftp_files/IndexofLong-TermCareVulnerability.pdf.

Take Responsibility, Folks!

December 2, 2013 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Thank you again, Dear Abby, for providing fodder for this blog.

When I read this recent column, written by a daughter whose mother is evidently in a Medicaid-paid nursing home and receiving less than respectful care, I said to myself, “grow up; face the truth and don’t pawn the blame off on others.” The daughter’s sugary sweet letter smacks of the misguided denial I often see. It is cloaked in the daughter’s dysfunctional view of reality. The daughter aims her complaints at her mother’s caregivers, who are simply the most visible, yet non-responsible, cause.

As usual, Abby does not address the actual problem, which is the public’s widespread avoidance of conversation and responsible planning for long-term care, well in advance. However, she did give a correct answer to the letter writer, which is, “don’t blame the messenger”! Abby also correctly noted that the caregiver is the lowest ranked, lowest-paid, least respected, and in the most understaffed area at the nursing home. These caregivers do their best. They often work two or more jobs, and really must have heart and soul to want to do this type of work. Don’t blame the caregiver for the low quality care you are nearly certain to receive in Medicaid-funded nursing homes.

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Sign that I’m Getting Old: I See Actual Evidence of Income Inequality

New Study Shines Light on Family Long-Term Care Providers

It’s Always Best to Move Ahead of Life Events

Studies Explain Why Americans Won’t Plan for Their Long-Term Care

Take Responsibility, Folks!

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