Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen | Houston, TX

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Nursing Home Infections Are Increasing…Surprise (Not!)

October 17, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Elder In Nursing HomeHere’s an October 9, 2014 article from McKnight’s LTC News describing recently published findings that show across the board infection rates in nursing homes have surged during the past five years. 

Quoting from the article, “The prevalence of viral hepatitis in nursing homes increased 48% between 2006 and 2010, the investigators determined. MDRO prevalence increased by 18% and pneumonia by 11%. The rates of urinary tract infections, septicemia and wound infections also rose.”

Here are several additional blogs I’ve done about Medicaid’s shortcomings. Because most long-term patients in nursing homes are on Medicaid (a form of Welfare), and because Medicaid’s reimbursement to nursing homes is actually less than the cost of caring for such patients, many nursing homes are unprofitable. We all agree that the most important employees in nursing homes are the custodial caregivers. These are the lowest paid people on the economic totem pole. Counter-intuitively, these critical frontline caregivers are often the first place nursing homes fire to cut expenses.

My opinion is that because of inadequate care in many Medicaid-funded nursing homes, corners are cut. Quality of care suffers. Sad outcomes then occur. This is what is causing the rapid rise of nursing home infections. It is not hard to connect the dots on this one.

Many nursing home patients end up in such facilities because they do not have money to access better care. People who own long-term care insurance (LTCi) are far less likely to wind up in Medicaid-funded nursing homes. They are far more likely to end up in preferable, far nicer assisted-living facilities.

Filed Under: Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: Honey Leveen, Long Term Care insurance, LTCi, McKnights Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, Medicaid, Nursing Homes, www.honeyleveen.com

Bad Nursing Home Gets $14 Million Punishment

July 28, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Bad Nursing HomeA July 25, 2014 story in McKnights, by Tim Mullaney, reports on a $14 million award ($12.5 million was awarded in punitive damages) to the family of a nursing home patient. This story was also covered in the Boston Globe on July 24, 2014.

Quoting from the Globe story, “Judge Krupp instructed the jury that while punitive damages can be awarded for a company’s bad behavior, they can also be used to dissuade other nursing homes from similar conduct…the judge explained that the whole purpose of the punitive award is to send a message that you can’t get away with this anymore.”

How wonderful if the problem could simply be fixed by a judge using the court system to “teach a lesson”!

Again, the 8,000 pound elephant in the room is being ignored.

Especially in Texas, but throughout the country, nursing homes get paid less per diem than it costs them to care for their patients. Medicaid, which pays for the majority of long-term care in the US, needs an overhaul.

There is no doubt in my mind that the nursing home sued accepted mostly Medicaid patients. Here are a couple of blogs I did about murders that occurred in Lexington Place nursing home in Houston. Lexington Place accepts mostly Medicaid paid patients.

When nursing homes do not get paid enough, there are not enough caregivers. This directly affects the quality of care nursing home patients receive.

Click here for several blogs I’ve done that explain why Medicaid paid nursing home care often leads to sad outcomes.

Those of us who own long-term care insurance (LTCi) are far more likely to have the money to avoid nursing homes and receive care at home or in an assisted living facility.

Filed Under: Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Medicaid Planning Tagged With: McKnights Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, Medicaid, Nursing Homes, The Boston Globe, Tim Mullaney

Former CBO Director Testifies, Gets It

May 8, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

“The availability of Medicaid presents a deterrent to some for the purchase of private long-term care insurance,” testified Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Ph.D., president of the American Action Forum, at a Senate Special Committee on Aging titled “The Future of Long-Term Care: Saving Money by Serving Seniors.” This was reported in an April 19, 2012 article in McKnight’s LTC News.

Mr. Holtz-Eakin is the former director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and he really “gets it” about long-term care financing. He also added that one way to do this would be for the government to provide incentives for long-term care insurance purchase.

Mr. Holtz-Eakin’s beliefs resonate with me and every other (Long-Term Care insurance) LTCi specialist I know. We feel that even though Medicaid provides inferior care (as I often document in this blog), it is relatively easy for almost everyone to access. Therefore,  people are poorly motivated to plan responsibly for their long-term care.

The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), whose Long-Term Care Advisory Committee I serve on, wholeheartedly agrees with Mr. Holtz-Eakin.

Filed Under: Information About LTC Tagged With: American Action Forum, Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McKnights Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, NAHU, National Association of Health Underwriters

Cuts in public funding cause increased nursing home admissions

May 8, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

Due to budget concerns, many states are cutting respite services, which provide temporary relief in the form of short-term home care workers, brief stays in residential facilities and adult day care centers, reports this April 30, 2012 article from McKnights Long-Term Care News.

These services, which are much less costly for families than skilled nursing facility stays, have been targeted by cash-strapped states.

Respite care often allows the elderly to delay or prevent being admitted to a nursing home.

These cuts will lead to more seniors being admitted to nursing homes. When people need long-term care and cannot afford to pay for it due to lack of responsible advance long-term care planning, they usually default to Medicaid. Each additional Medicaid long-term care recipient worsens budget shortfalls and crisis.

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: adult day care, McKnights Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, Medicaid, residential facilities, Respite care

Is Warehoused Long-Term Care Imminent?

August 9, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

For those who refuse to plan responsibly for long-term care, the nightmare of warehoused care that I think is a certainty in years to come, may be a very unpleasant reality sooner than I thought.

The July 29, 2011 edition of McKnights Long-Term Care News reports that Medicare payments to nursing homes would be trimmed by 11.1% beginning Oct. 1, under a corrective proposal the federal government issued.

The call for reduced funding comes amid reports that providers have been paid more than $2 billion above federal projections since a new payment system took effect late last year.

The recalibration will result in a reduction to skilled nursing facility payments of $4.47 billion or 12.6%, according to CMS. However, that drops to an 11.1% cut when offsetting increases are factored in.

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: Honey Leveen, long-term care, McKnights Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, Nursing Homes, www.honeyleveen.com

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Phone: 713-988-4671
Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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Honey Leveen, LUTCF, CLTC, LTCP
“The Queen, by Self-Proclamation, of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi)”
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Phone: 713-988-4671
Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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