“The two most important driving forces for the federal budget are the aging of the U.S. population and rapidly rising health-care costs.” – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Law makers from both sides of the aisle have come together to create a “Super Committee” comprised of six Democrats and six Republicans, half come from the House of Representatives and half come from the Senate. The members of the Super Committee are tasked with finding at least $1.5 Trillion in budget cuts over 10 years….
Posts tagged "Senior Issues"
New Way To Pay for Senior Living Options

By Richard Scott News of a novel benefit program at one of the largest senior care providers in the nation should come across as a big event for those involved in providing care for seniors. The benefit program takes a life insurance policy and converts it into real cost payments for a number of senior living options. The provider of the benefit program is Brookdale Senior Living, which developed the conversion policy with Lifecare Funding Group. The hope behind the so-called Long Term Care Benefit…
Retirement Funding, Senior IssuesLife Care Funding Group To Lead Panel Discussion At Senior Market Expo
Featured session will explore growing consumer, industry and political support for private pay funding solutions to help seniors pay for long term care Life Care Funding Group will lead a panel discussion entitled Consumer Disclosure Law: The Changing Face of Long Term Care Funding on August 25th at the Annual Senior Market Advisor Expo in Las Vegas. The panel session will consist of Chris Orestis, CEO of Life Care Funding Group as host and moderator with panelists: Jayne Sallerson Executive Vice President of Emeritus Senior…
Long Term Care, Senior IssuesCost of Caring for Elderly Parents Could Be Next Financial Crisis

A survey conducted by AgingCare.com found that although adult children are often responsible for paying for their elderly parent’s care, the large majority of caregivers are vastly unprepared. The survey found: 63% of caregivers have no plan as to how they will pay for their parent’s care over the next five years. 62% say the cost of caring for a parent has impacted their ability to plan for their own financial future. “With an estimated 34 million Americans providing care for older family members, the…
Cost of Care, Economic Crisis, Senior IssuesMedicaid Crisis Costing Families More in Out of Pocket Expenses
Medicaid in particular has become a serious problem for the states. It funds at least 2/3 of all spending for nursing home care and is the primary payer for long term care services in the United States. Unlike Social Security and Medicare, seniors do not automatically qualify for Medicaid at age 65 and instead must qualify based on income and assets at indigent levels. Many seniors follow a “spend down” path to get rid of money and assets so that they can qualify. Since the…
Cost of Care, Medicaid, Senior IssuesNearly 65? Time for the Medicare Maze
From the New York Times By WALECIA KONRAD Published: October 14, 2009 NOW that you’re about to retire, there’s good news and bad news about your health insurance. The good news: When you turn 65, you’re eligible for Medicare — all in all, a pretty affordable way to get coverage for doctor bills, hospitalizations and, more recently, prescription drugs. The bad news: You’ve got a big job ahead of you, sorting through the Medicare bureaucracy. For someone new to the system, the hundreds of…
Medicare, Senior IssuesBernanke: Health, Aging to Drive Budget
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a speech about the U.S. economy today at the Washington Press Club to a gathering of the media’s top financial press. In it he specifically said: “Even after economic and financial conditions have returned to normal, the federal budget will remain on an unsustainable path, with the budget gap becoming increasingly large over time, unless the Congress enacts significant changes in fiscal programs,” Bernanke said. “The two most important driving forces for the federal budget are the aging of…
Health Care for Seniors, Senior IssuesBaby Boomers 2011 – the Beginning of the Silver Tsunami
Happy Birthday Ed Mahern of Indiana! On January 1, 1946 at two seconds past mid-night, Ed was one of the first Baby Boomers born in the Untied States. On January 1, 2011, he was one of the first Baby Boomers to turn 65. Over the course of today, 10,000 other Baby Boomers will join him in celebrating their 65th birthdays. And then every day going forward approximately 10,000 more Baby Boomers will turn 65—for the next 19 years!! 79 million Americans born between 1946 and…
Elder Care, Senior IssuesCostly Medical Surprises for Seniors

Ben Schull-MBA, CPCU, ARM: Posted Linked-In 12/30/10 In 2009 1.1 Million seniors received unpleasant and costly surprises from Medicare, the hospital where they were initially treated and the Skilled Nursing facility that they were sent to for recovery and continuing treatment. These seniors thought they were “admitted” to a hospital for treatment for the three days Medicare requires in order to have the doctor order continuing medical rehabbing at a Skilled Nursing Facility which would be covered by Medicare and many Medicare Supplements. The key…
Cost of Care, Senior IssuesOvercoming America’s Long Term Care Crisis
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,…
Long Term Care, Senior Issues