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☆ Big Profits in Caring for the Elderly
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( David Leonhardt | More About David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The main reason is that almost every form of care in the U.S. costs more: doctor’s visits, hospital stays, drug prescriptions, surgeries and more. The American health care system maximizes the profits of health care companies at the expense of families’ budgets. Dying brokeYou can find a poignant example in a series that The Times and KFF Health News (a nonprofit) have been publishing in recent weeks. It’s called Dying Broke, and it examines the long-term care industry. “That is far higher than the money made in most other health sectors.”

Persons: — Gerard Anderson, Uwe Reinhardt, Peter Hussey, Varduhi, —, It’s, ” Jordan Rau Organizations: KFF Health Locations: U.S

☆ Why Long-Term Care Insurance Falls Short for So Many
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Jordan Rau | Jonel Aleccia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“They tightened their belts,” said Alan Kassan, a senior partner with the California law firm Kantor & Kantor, which represents clients challenging denials. “Then they tightened their claim administration and started denying claims more and more.”In 2022, the proportion of traditional long-term care claim denials varied, from 4.5 percent in Rhode Island to 9.6 percent in Alaska, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. By 2017, she was hobbled by osteoporosis and was struggling to manage her multiple medications, according to her daughter, Ann Kempski. But when the family tried to file a claim, they discovered that Penn Treaty was insolvent and the policy had been taken over by the Pennsylvania state insurance guaranty fund. Her doctor told Penn that she had “mild dementia” and osteoporosis and should be in an assisted-living facility.

Persons: ”, Alan Kassan, Kantor, Kantor & Kantor, Alice Kempski, Ann Kempski, Penn, Kempski Organizations: Kantor &, National Association of Insurance, Penn Treaty, American Network Locations: California, Rhode Island, Alaska, Wilmington, Del, Penn, Pennsylvania

☆ A Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Jordan Rau | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

You can find contacts for your state’s insurance department through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ directory. But insurance may be worth it if the value of all your savings and possessions excluding your primary home is at least $75,000, according to a consumers’ guide from the insurance commissioners’ association. Many insurers are selling hybrid policies that combine life insurance and long-term care insurance. Those are popular because if you don’t use the long-term care benefit, the policy pays out to a beneficiary after you die. But compared with long-term care policies, hybrid policies “are even more expensive, and the coverage is not great,” said Howard Bedlin, government relations and advocacy principal at the National Council on Aging.

Persons: you’ll, ”, Howard Bedlin Organizations: American Association for, Care Insurance, National Association of Insurance, Social Security, Medicaid, National Council, Aging

☆ What to Know About Assisted Living
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Jordan Rau | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It’s worth checking a few months after moving in to see if the care plan is more than the resident needs. Is it better to go with a facility that charges a set monthly amount or one that bills for each service? That’s also true if you need assistance with many things. Some facilities have an independent living wing or a program with à la carte pricing, which may be best for those who need only sporadic assistance. Be honest with yourself, and the facility, about what you can afford when the bill rises, because it’s going to.

Persons: they’re, That’s, “ You’ve, ”, Karen Van Dyke Locations: San Diego

☆ Extra Fees Drive Assisted-Living Profits
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Jordan Rau | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Assisted-living centers have become an appealing retirement option for hundreds of thousands of boomers who can no longer live independently, promising a cheerful alternative to the institutional feel of a nursing home. But their cost is so crushingly high that most Americans can’t afford them. These highly profitable facilities often charge $5,000 a month or more and then layer on extra fees at every step. The facilities charge extra to help residents get to the shower, bathroom or dining room; to deliver meals to their rooms; to have staff check-ins for daily “reassurance” or simply to remind residents when it’s time to eat or take their medication. Some even charge for routine billing to a resident’s insurance for care.

Persons: ’ ”, Lori Smetanka Organizations: National Consumer Voice

It was costing us $8,000 out of pocket to have people come into my mom’s house to help her, and that was only eight hours a day. She was in rehab for the maximum number of days that Medicare will cover and couldn’t return home. Because she owned a house, had two rentals, savings and two cars, she had to pay long-term care costs out of her pocket. The state says we still owe close to $20,000 for the year Medicaid paid for her nursing home. It was awful — personally all the time and energy and money to do this for her — and it was great.

Persons: I’m, —, that’s, Bryan Ness Organizations: Medicaid

☆ What Long-Term Care Looks Like Around the World
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Jordan Rau | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Provinces and territories fund long-term care services through general tax revenue. Notably, Canada’s long-term care system is separate from its national health care system, which pays for hospitals and doctors with no out-of-pocket costs to patients. on long-term care, 80 percent more than the United States spent. Britain has also taken steps to shield people from losing all of their wealth to pay for long-term care. Singapore recently instituted a system of mandatory long-term care insurance for those born in 1980 or later.

Persons: D.P., 🇸 🇬, ove, —, Kath l Organizations: Uni, pla, Citi, emi Locations: D. data, nis

Margaret Newcomb, 69, a retired French teacher, is desperately trying to protect her retirement savings by caring for her 82-year-old husband, who has severe dementia, at home in Seattle. She used to fear his disease-induced paranoia, but now he’s so frail and confused that he wanders away with no idea of how to find his way home. He gets lost so often that she attaches a tag to his shoelace with her phone number. They ran up $15,000 in medical and credit card debt while she took on the role of caretaker. “I had to do it.”Millions of families are facing such daunting life choices — and potential financial ruin — as the escalating costs of in-home care, assisted-living facilities and nursing homes devour the savings and incomes of older Americans and their relatives.

Persons: Margaret Newcomb, Feylyn Lewis, Sheila Littleton, ”, “ Locations: French, Seattle, England, Nashville, Houston

☆ As Covid Infections Rise, Nursing Homes Are Still Waiting for Vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Jordan Rau | Tony Leys | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Covid is not pretty in a nursing home,” said Deb Wityk, a 70-year-old retired massage therapist who lives in one called Spurgeon Manor, in rural Iowa. She has contracted the disease twice, and is eager to get the newly approved vaccine because she has chronic leukemia, which weakens her immune system. But many nursing homes will not begin inoculations until well into October or even November, though infections among this vulnerable population are rising, to nearly 1 percent, or 9.7 per 1,000 residents of mid-September from a low of 2.2 per 1,000 residents in mid-June. “The distribution of the new Covid-19 vaccine is not going well,” said Chad Worz, the chief executive of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. That has added new complications for operators of nursing homes, who have encountered resistance throughout the pandemic in persuading people, especially employees, to receive yet another round of shots.

Persons: ”, Deb Wityk, Spurgeon, Chad Worz Organizations: Disease Control, American Society of, Pharmacists Locations: Iowa

☆ Federal Officials Propose New Nursing Home Standards to Increase Staffing
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Jordan Rau | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The nation’s most thinly staffed nursing homes would be required to hire more workers under new rules proposed on Friday by the Biden administration, the greatest change to federal nursing home regulations in three decades. The proposed standard was prompted by the industry’s troubled performance earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, when 200,000 nursing home residents died. But the proposal falls far short of what both the industry and patient advocates believe is needed to improve care for most of the 1.2 million Americans in nursing homes. estimated that three-quarters of the nation’s 15,000 homes would need to add staff members. But the increases at many of those facilities would be minor, as the average nursing home already employs nurses and aides at, or very close to, the proposed levels.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Centers, Medicare, Services, C.M.S

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