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Fixing the CLASS Act

May 4, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Here’s a terrific article in the April 29, 2011 New York Times by finance columnist Ron Lieber titled, ” Fixing the CLASS Act to Make Long-Term Care Affordable.”

Mr. Lieber accurately describes how “pie-in-the-sky” unrealistic and economically catastrophic enactment of the proposed CLASS Act LTC is likely to be. CLASS Act LTC, which would be government run long-term care insurance (LTCi), is a little known provision that was included in the passage of health care reform last year.

If you are using enactment of CLASS Act LTC as one more excuse to put off having a conversation about responsible LTCi planning, I urge you to read this brief article.

New York Times Describes Need for LTCi

March 31, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

A March 23, 2001 New York Times article titled “Reaching Retirement Goals After Long-Term Neglect” by Carmen Wong Ulrich describes the more and more common situation of parents needing to move in with children.

This article describes a 52 year-old Baby Boomer who has not done adequate financial planning. In addition, her 89 year-old mother now lives with her.

While framing her story with this true, firsthand scenario, Ms. Wong Ulrich reports accurately on the necessity of owning long-term care insurance (LTCi).

CLASS Act LTC Rests on Sickbed

February 23, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

My colleagues and I, across the board in the long-term care industry, ranging from advisors like me to the leading actuaries, have been saying for a few years now that the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (or CLASS) Act is unsustainable.

CLASS Act long-term care (LTC) is part of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s legacy in the new health care law, intended to allow the chronically ill and people with disabilities to continue living in their homes.

A story in the February 22 New York Times titled, “Long-Term Care Needs Changes, Officials Say” reports that officials in the Obama administration finally agree with what we’ve been trying to tell them all this time: in its current state, CLASS Act LTC is not viable. It will not attract the number of enrollees projected, it will be a magnet for what we call “adverse selection” (people who are ineligible, due to their health, for conventional long-term care insurance) and it cannot stay in the black.

This article is excellent. It explains why CLASS Act LTC in its current form is “a dog that will not hunt.”

Innovations in Alzheimer’s Care

January 5, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

A December 31, 2010 New York Times story by Pam Belluck titled “Giving Alzheimer’s Patients Their Own Way, Even Chocolate,” describes recent innovations in long-term care. In particular, the article describes at length what is being done for Alzheimer’s patients at the Beatitudes campus in Phoenix, AZ.

It seems Beatitudes is going out of its way not to be a conventional nursing facility. Strict institutional schedules deliberately yield to individual needs. For example, meals are served at all hours. Patients can eat whatever they want and follow whatever schedule makes them happiest.

From the article:

“Dementia patients at Beatitudes are allowed practically anything that brings comfort, even an alcoholic ‘nip at night’,” said Tena Alonzo, director of research. “Whatever your vice is, we’re your folks,” she continued.

All this makes great sense to me.

Being cared for at Beatitudes costs money. Lots of it. Yet this article doesn’t mention anywhere how much Alzheimer’s care at Beatitudes costs. This is the first thing I wanted to know when I read the article, and I’m sure I’m not the only reader wanting this information. The media often seems to sweep such useful information under the carpet, which continues to amaze me.

It’s a continuing mystery to me how and why the public, often aided and abetted by the media, suffers a “disconnect” when it comes to dealing with the need for responsible long-term care planning that can fund wonderful options like Beatitudes.

Happy 65th Birthday to the Boomer Generation

January 1, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Happy New Year…and happy 65th birthday to the Baby Boom Generation! Today, the oldest Baby Boomers started turning 65.

An article in the January 1, 2011 New York Times, pp. A1, A3, “Boomers Hit Another Milestone of Self-Absorption: Turning 65″ states that over the next 19 years, 10,000 boomers a day will turn 65. There are 79 million of us, about 26 percent of this country’s population. “The pig has moved through the python, and is moving to the final stage,” says the article.

The reporter states that boomers are the most self-centered generation ever, which as a boomer, I feel qualified to attest to.

The writer also reports that the suicide rate for middle-aged people has increased and appears to be related to the sluggish economy. The assumption is that boomers are far from being economically prepared for their long lives.

This does not bode well for what long-term care will look like for the majority of us baby boomers. Statistics show that very few of us own long-term care insurance (LTCi), or have even had a conversation about responsible long-term care planning.

If you are a boomer who falls into the majority of those have not yet prepared for the possibility of needing long-term care, I urge you to heed my call to prepare now, so that if the need arises, you will have dignity, options and choices.

The biggest misconception about LTCi is that it’s too expensive. My clients are often pleasantly surprised to learn that LTCi prices can be quite reasonable. Indeed, what is expensive is needing long-term care for anything but a brief length of time and not owning LTCi.

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Fixing the CLASS Act

New York Times Describes Need for LTCi

CLASS Act LTC Rests on Sickbed

Innovations in Alzheimer’s Care

Happy 65th Birthday to the Boomer Generation

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Podcast Illuminates LTC Need

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