Now that we have arrived at the long awaited generational stage in our society that “Baby Boomers” are reaching the age of Medicare eligibility, the need to address the question of who is going to pay for a massive increase in long term care spending has become paramount. Exacerbating the growing crisis is the impact of the economy on the availability of private pay dollars and government spending. For the last two years we have watched as one of the primary sources of private funds,…
Senior Care Blog
Will a Life Settlement Help Pay Assisted Living Expenses?
National Underwriter (published June 14, 2010) by Chris Orestis, President Life Care Funding Group The question was: My client would like to use a life settlement to help pay the assisted living expenses for her mother, who is alert but frail and needs the care the community provides. The mother is the owner and insured of a $250,000 UL in-force policy, but the daughter (my client) has power of attorney for her mother’s financial affairs. Is a life settlement the best option in this situation…
Elder Care, Insurance SettlementCLASS Act provides a Long Term Care Benefit Plan to Participants
As part of the recently passed healthcare reform bill signed into law by President Obama, an act to address the long term care funding crisis in our country was included. The Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) Act provides a voluntary long term care benefit for participants that elect to participate. To participate, you must enroll through your company or a self-employed pension plan and pay a monthly premium for five years to qualify for the benefit in the future. CLASS will not be…
CBO Projection– Government Budgets will not keep pace with demand for healthcare spending
” The federal budget is on an unsustainable path, primarily because of the rising cost of health care and the aging of the U.S. population.”– Congressional Budget Office March, 2010 When you visit the CBO’s website that is the very first message to greet you in a very PROMINENT headline on their homepage! The chart below this dire warning is a graphical depiction of how sharply spending on Medicare and Medicaid escalates above spending on Social Security and on every other Federal expenditure combined will…
Health Care for SeniorsConvergence of Life Settlements and Long Term Care
An interview with Chris Orestis, President of Life Care Funding Group Chris Orestis, president of Life Care Funding Group, is a 15 year veteran of the insurance and long term care industries. Over the course of ten years in Washington, D.C. he worked in senior positions for the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA–now reconstituted as AHIP), and for the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). His first professional exposure to the life settlement market came in 2005. Since 2007, Life Care Funding Group has…
Insurance Settlement, Long Term CarePremiums for the Popular Medicare Advantage Continue to Increase
The very popular Medicare Advantage coverage that seniors elect as part of Medicare to cover medical and prescription drug coverage became significantly more expensive in 2010 than it was last year. Reflecting cut backs in government funding, private insurers who offer elective Medicare Advantage coverage decided they would raise rates this year instead of reducing services. This is bad news especially for the 8.5 million seniors currently enrolled in these cost saving programs. The premiums increased by more than double for some seniors that are…
Cost of Care, MedicareLine Between Assisted Living and Nursing Home Care is Blurred
There are over 60,000 assisted living and nursing home properties throughout the United States. More than 2,000,000 people reside in these properties, but over the last ten years the differences between assisted living and skilled nursing have become less distinct. There are a number of contributing factors to consider: pressure on Medicare and Medicaid budgets, private pay services such as Alzheimer’s care, personal tastes of the aging Baby Boomers, and the economics of the facilities themselves. Assisted Living facilities have increased the level of service…
Assisted Living, Nursing HomeMedicaid Budgets Comes Under Fire to Reduce Spending on Services
A report tracking Medicaid spending going back over the last seven years showed that Medicaid underfunded payments for services to all patients by $14.17 everyday in 2009. Projections are that this alarming Medicaid underfunding trend will get worse in 2010 and 2011. The economic crisis has robbed state budgets of funds available to support Medicaid funded programs and as a result there was a national deficit of almost $5 billion. Medicaid funds at least 2/3 of all spending for nursing home care. Spending shortfalls of…
Medicaid, Senior Budget CutsSenior Care Partnership Program
As demand to help seniors with the costs of senior housing and long term care continues to rise across the country, a senior care partnership program has emerged. Life Care Funding Group has begun adding “Network Partners” at the local level around the U.S. to support senior care and living facilities while working directly with families. Starting in the Midwest with Jo Letwaitis, Founder and CEO of the The Senior Site, Inc., senior care experts are being endorsed to represent Life Care Funding Group and…
LifeCare Partnerships, Senior IssuesAARP Supports Health Reform Bill’s $460 Billion Cuts to Medicare
In a move that will bolster the Democratic coalition in the Senate and the need to hold on to 60 votes, the AARP announced their support today for the reform plan that includes massive reductions to Medicare. AARP says that the cuts will be paid for in reduced waste and fraud, improved efficiencies and elimination of duplicative benefits. The support of AARP is a huge boost for Democrats that have been struggling to keep the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster that would kill…
AARP, Medicare, Senior Budget CutsCuts Could Keep Hospitals and Nursing Homes From Accepting Medicare
In a report released this past Saturday, the government agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid detailed the possible impact of cuts proposed in healthcare reform passed by the House of Representatives. The study states that the proposed $500 billion in cuts would be so severe that hospitals and nursing homes would be forced to stop accepting Medicare as payment. The report says that seniors would suffer form additional reductions in benefits and services to pay for the $500 billion in reduced spending. The White House…
Medicare, Nursing HomeFinancial Pressure on Seniors in Retirement and Long Term Care
Two recent reports add more evidence to the alarming trend of financial pressure being pushed back onto seniors and their families as they reach the age that the costs of long term care play a central role in their lives. In addition to Medicaid cuts in the states and cuts to Medicare being proposed as part of healthcare reform, more money will continue coming out of seniors’ pockets. The annual MetLife Mature Markets Institute study tracking the costs of long term care in assisted living,…
Long Term Care, Retirement FundingNo Cost of Living Adjustment for Social Security recipients for the first time in 35 years
Another sign of things to come for seniors in the 21st Century: for the first time since the darkest days of the economic crisis of the 1970’s, seniors will not see a cost of living increase in their Social Security checks. Combine this new development with proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and the trend for seniors is becoming clearer every day. The realities of a global economic recession intersecting with explosive growth in the senior populations will create increasing pressures for the United States….
Senior Budget CutsSenator Snowe Explains Position on Healthcare Reform
Senator Snowe (R) of Maine has emerged as one of the most important figures in the healthcare reform debate that has been transpiring in Washington, DC and around the country for months. She is one of the most respected and influential Senators serving today because of her moderate approach to issues and her thoughtful efforts towards bi-partisan coalition building. In recent correspondence with Chris Orestis, Senator Snowe was kind enough to share her thoughts about healthcare reform with Life Care Funding Group. We are pleased…
Health Care for SeniorsHealth Care Reform Will Hinge on Seniors
The raucous health care reform debate that has been playing out across the country and in Washington, DC is now reaching the point where key Congressional committees are voting on which provisions will be in or out of the final bill. Central to these votes and the tensions all around is how reform will impact seniors. In numerous versions Medicare cuts have been proposed and opposed. As different versions of reform bills have cleared various House and Senate committees, it has remained very clear that…
AARP, Health Care for Seniors