US News & World Report Archives - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

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.

How’s Your LTC IQ? Take a Fun Quiz

December 27, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

I hope you’ll enjoy taking the quiz below. I used it with great success at a talk I gave yesterday. I awarded a lottery scratch-off ticket to each person who gave a correct answer (I gave them printed copies of the article and told them where to find the answers). My students were quite engaged and seemed to enjoy it.

The questions below come from an October 28, 2014 US News and World Report article called, You’ll Likely Need Long-Term Care, But How Will You Pay for It? This article is great because it’s accurate, brief, straightforward, and well-researched. The article links its statements to the studies documenting them.

Long-Term Care (LTC) IQ QUIZ

1) What percentage of caregiving is done by unpaid family members and friends, including spouses, children and relatives?

2) What percentage of unpaid caregivers had to make financial sacrifices?

3) What is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the US?

4) Nationwide, what percentage of LTC costs does Medicaid pay?

5) What percentage of Americans own LTC insurance?

6) What percentage of Americans are concerned about LTC costs?

7) What is the correct age to consider buying LTC insurance?

8) What is the annual cost of nursing home care?

Answers

1) 90%. I’ve done prior blogs on this.

2) 37%. I’ve done prior blogs on this.

3) Medical expenses which include LTC.

4) Two-thirds. See my blogs on Medicaid.

5) 15%. This is on the high side, other sources say closer to 11%. Bottom line: not enough of us!

6) 74% say they’d forego a cup of Starbucks a day to pay their LTC premiums. But they aren’t doing so!

7) In your 40’s. I’ve done prior blogs on why this is so.

8) $50,000/year. This is an average and is not for the accommodations you’d desire. Check out Genworth’s annual cost of care survey to find all care costs in your locale.

The 70 – 70 – 70 Problem

April 8, 2013 by Honey Leave a Comment

In a ground-breaking article in the Money Section of US News & World Report (Should Long-term Care Be an Entitlement?) March 25, 2013, Philip Moeller makes the familiar point that the older population that will need long-term care (LTC) is growing and that family members who have historically provided care are fewer in number and scattered all over the globe.

Visitors to this blog are familiar with the attempt to establish a national LTC insurance program (CLASS Act), which was abandoned because of the huge costs required to provide care for all seniors in need. The annual cost of LTC is currently estimated at $725 billion, $450 billion of which is in the form of unpaid care by loved ones. And 200 billion of the remaining 275 billion real dollars come from Medicaid, an entitlement rapidly approaching bankruptcy. Direct personal spending makes up almost all of the remaining $70+ billion, and a mere $7 billion comes from LTC insurance policies.

Bruce Chernof, one of the 15 members of the newly formed national committee to study the LTC crisis, cites a common shorthand for public thinking about long-term care, which he calls the “70-70-70” problem:

70 percent of the people over age 65 will need some of long-term care during their remaining lives.

70 percent of the public does not believe they will ever need such care.

70 percent of the public thinks that if they did need such care, it is already covered by their Medicare insurance. Medicare covers only acute short-term care needs, not long-term care.

This catchy slogan captures the “DENIAL” problem that I have written about extensively in this blog, and Mr. Chernof agrees with all LTC insurance professionals regarding the desperate need for educating the public on these statistics and the importance of reasonably priced LTC insurance. Each of us can educate the public every time we speak to a local group or association, write a blog or article, or make a one-to-one presentation to a prospective client.

A Third of Us Will Die With Dementia

March 29, 2013 by Honey Leave a Comment

A recent study cited on March 19, 2013, by Selena Gordon in US News and World Report found that one-third of US seniors die while suffering from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. Between 2000 and 2010, the rate of deaths from Alzheimer’s has risen 68% while deaths from other major diseases have decreased. The report attributes these divergent changes partially to the high level of government funding for research on heart disease, AIDS, etc., compared to much lower funding for Alzheimer’s.

Ms. Gordon’s article was based on a newly published study by the Alzheimer’s Association.

The physical, emotional and financial toll on families is enormous. In 2012, more than 15 million people were Alzheimer’s caregivers. They provided more than 17 billion hours of unpaid care that the Alzheimer’s group estimated was valued at $216 billion. And, of course, as the Baby Boomers age, the rate of Alzheimer’s and its death rate can only increase.

Nearly every American has been affected by this increasingly common disease, either through a family member or friend, and many are even serving as unpaid caregivers. Those all-to-rare victims of this dreaded disease who own long-term care insurance have purchased a wonderful gift for their loved ones – financial resources to provide professional care and thereby reduce the emotional and physical stress of struggling to provide care themselves.

Request a Free, No-Obligation LTCi Quote

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

How’s Your LTC IQ? Take a Fun Quiz

Long-Term Care (LTC) IQ QUIZ

Answers

The 70 – 70 – 70 Problem

A Third of Us Will Die With Dementia

From My Blog

Podcast Illuminates LTC Need

LTCI is Magical at Time of Need!

Testimonials