Senior man and woman having coffee at table seen through window

Ecumen Leader Discusses Presidential Candidates and Long-Term Care Financing With New York Times

Hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend. Welcome back to Changing Aging!The New York Times' 'New Old Age' blog last Thursday had Ecumen CEO Kathryn Roberts provide analysis on why long-term care hasn’t thus far been a big topic with the Presidential candidates thus far. She answers the question:Why are the candidates (mostly) silent on long-term care?' Please add your thoughts.Also, download a new Ecumen white paper by Kathryn:“Long Term Care Financing Reform: An Incredible Opportunity for Candidates Who Desire Positive Change in America'

by origineight

Changing Aging on Vacation Next Week

Changing Aging is taking a break next week to enjoy the end of a Minnesota summer … We’ll see you next week … Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

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Ecumen Recognized as Best Place To Work for 4th Straight Year

For the fourth straight year Ecumen has been named one of Minnesota’s Best Places to Work by The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. In fact, this year Ecumen garnered its best performance ever by gaining 5^th place in the Top 10 of the Large Business category. The top-five in order were LarsonAllen, C.H. Robinson, Comcast, HealthEast and Ecumen, followed by Wells Fargo, Capella Education, Ecolab, Securian Financial and Lakeview Hospital.Nearly 250 companies from around the region made the initial cut to be considered for this honor. Only 10 companies with 1,000 or more employees made the final list. All results are based on employee surveys. Building Home and Building a Legacy

So many people throughout Ecumen see what they do as more than a job. They feel in-tune with the Ecumen values of people, service, innovation, spirituality, wellness, collaboration and stewardship. They see their work contributing to a mission larger than themselves. And they gain energy from Ecumen’s vision for 'Changing Aging:' We envision a world in which aging is viewed and understood in radically different ways.We are creating home at Ecumen … we are creating great places to live and work … we are creating a legacy. And by continually improving and building upon our efforts to make Ecumen a great place to live and work, we will empower future team members to build upon our collective contributions.

Our Mission:

We create home for older adults wherever they choose to live.

by origineight

Age Wave Takes Center Stage at Minnesota State Fair - And You’re Invited

The Future of Aging is going to take 'Center Stage' next week at the Minnesota State Fair in the Big Top Tent, and you’re invited to participate: The Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission is holding a series of community conversations over several days next week. The discussions are called:

Minnesota, Real & Imagined: What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years.

Partners in the project are the Bush Foundation, Twin Cities Public Television/Minnesota Channel, and the Citizens League.Discussion moderators will include: Mary Lahammer, political reporter for Twin Cities Public Television; Lori Sturdevant, editorial writer and columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Peter Hutchinson, president of the Bush Foundation.

The Age Wave Discussion:

The Age Wave will be the topic of the Health and Wellness Panel on Wed., Aug. 28, which will include three 25-minute conversations (from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) (this is based on the old Chautauqua Lyceum models in which citizens accepted a bit of education with their entertainment [or a bit of entertainment with their education]). The Age Wave discussion, the third conversation, will feature:- Kathy Bakkenist, Ecumen’s chief operating officer and senior vice president of strategy and operations- Jan Hively, Ph.D., former deputy mayor of Minneapolis and founder and advisor to the Vital Aging Network- Jim Scheibel, former mayor of St. Paul and former director of the Corporation for National and Community Service- Sean Kershaw, executive director of the Citizens League

by origineight

Democrats See Light, Put Long-Term Financing on Platform

Long-term care financing is like a long dormant volcano that is starting to fizz again.The last time long-term care financing was a serious national topic of discussion was in the late 1980s into 1990 when The Pepper Commission, a bi-partisan commission led by the late Rep. Claude Pepper (D-Fla.) made long-term care financnig part of a national health care reform blueprint. In fact, in 1990, then Presidential candidate George H.W. Bush said he’d give long-term care 'the attention it deserves.' Then … THUD.The issue is getting new life.For the first time Democrats have put long-term care financing in their draft platform 'Renewing America’s Promise' that will be approved in the upcoming convention. As first reported by Future of Aging, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging blog, here is the draft language:Empowerment and Support of Older Americans and People with Disabilities.Seniors and people with disabilities should have access to quality affordable long-term care services, and those services should be readily available at home and in the community. Americans should not be forced to choose between getting care and living independent and productive lives.Seniors We will take steps to ensure that our seniors have meaningful long-term care options that are consistent with their individual needs, including the option of home care. We believe that we must pay caregivers a fair wage and train more nurses and health care workers so as to improve the availability and quality of long-term care. We must reform the financing of long-term care to ease the burden on seniors and their families. We will safeguard social security. We will develop new retirement plans and pension protections that will give Americans a secure, portable way to save for retirement. We will ensure a safe and dignified retirement.

Give Input on the Republican Platform

The Republicans will soon announce their platform, but you can still urge them to include long-term care financing it. Here’s how:

Visit GOP Platform 2008.
Click “create platform account.”
Create an account.
Click on “submit text entry” and enter your own version of the following platform statement:

“Any effort at health care reform must also include long-term care financing reform. The responsibility of care giving will only increase as the baby boom generation ages and needs additional services. America needs a fiscally responsible approach for long-term care financing based on the principles developed in the successful state-based Cash & Counseling programs. These principles, including a cash benefit, offer the maximum choice, independence, and personal responsibility for seniors and persons with disabilities, while ensuring fiscal integrity.”

by origineight

A Long-Term Care Financing Idea From Nebraska

We had a fabulous day last week with Nebraska State Treasurer Shane Osborn and Trent Fellers, director of their new Long-Term Care Savings Plan last week. Thanks to the many people who came to the morning event. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has an editorial on the Nebraska plan today, which we’ve posted below.After meeting with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce health care policy committee, they for the first time in their history voted to develop a Chamber policy statement on long-term care. Treasurer Osborn did a great job of outlining that long-term care impacts us all.

Editorial: A pioneering idea from Nebraska

August 17, 2008

It’s a safe bet that neither Madonna, who turned 50 on Saturday, nor the recently-turned-65 Mick Jagger will have trouble paying for long-term care in the years ahead. For us regular folks, especially aging baby boomers, long-term care looms as an expensive necessity that many are ill-prepared to pay for.Long-term care covers a wide range of services needed by the elderly and the disabled -- everything from nursing homes to assisted living to home health aides. According to the federal government, 70 percent of people 65 and older will need long-term care at some point. It doesn’t come cheap. In Minnesota, a year’s stay in a nursing home (in a shared room) averages about $49,000. Surveys show that many in Minnesota and elsewhere plan to rely on Medicare, the nation’s health care program for seniors, to pick up the tab.The trouble is that Medicare does not pay for most of these services. While Medicaid is a last resort when an individual does not have private insurance or has exhausted life savings, that leaves taxpayers on the hook. And that’s a problem when the number of elderly is rising dramatically.Nothing short of systemic reform will solve the looming problem. But until then, creative smaller-scale policymaking can help. This week, Nebraska State Treasurer Shane Osborn flew to the Twin Cities to push one of those ideas -- one that Minnesota lawmakers should move rapidly to adopt.Osborn’s home state is pioneering a practical approach: a state-sponsored long-term care savings plan. The accounts work much like the 529 tax-advantaged college savings plans that many states already have. In this case, people save for long-term care expenses for themselves or family members. State income tax deductions -- currently up to $2,000 for couples filing jointly -- are an incentive.

Nebraska is the only state with such a plan. But Osborn, a Republican and former Navy pilot who made international headlines in 2001 when a Chinese fighter jet collided with his spy plane, hopes others will follow. He rightly concludes that the accounts could not only ease some of the financial strain on state and federal governments in years ahead, but would also raise badly needed awareness about long-term care costs. Osborn spoke at a Wednesday event sponsored by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Citizens League, 2020 Conference and Ecumen, a senior services and housing nonprofit. Fortunately, Minnesota lawmakers know a good idea when they hear one. 'I’m sold. I would go as far as saying I would be prepared to carry this legislation next year in the senate,'' said state Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina.One adjustment that could make a good idea even better: raising the state income tax deduction ceiling for account holders. Osborn is pushing to raise Nebraska’s to $5,000 for couples. That’s a good target for Minnesota, too. Thinking about future long-term care needs is neither easy nor fun. Tax incentives may help more people tackle this difficult issue and prepare for the challenges ahead.

by origineight

Madonna, Prince, Mick and The Change Wave

Madonna finds her lucky star when she hits the big 50 tomorrow. Mick Jagger’s is finding lots of satisfaction at 65. And Prince got a hip replacement, so he can still get crazy and live fully after 50.This is an interesting part of the Age Wave. In the 1950s, 60s, 70s, we didn’t have the mass media that brings us every part of a person’s life. It was mass media that made people such as Madonna, Mick and Prince icons for a lifetime. They’re not going away. But what will increasingly become part of their story and other icons' story are growing into old age, hip replacements, new technologies that help them stay independent as possible, caregiving, dementia, and home care.Think of other iconic people who make news and love being news - who are growing older - Katie Couric, Cher, Bono, Howard Stern, Charles Barkley, Bill Clinton, etc. Aging is becoming part of their story. And I doubt they’re going to leave the stage quietly. For a look ahead, look back …Pre-mass media screen legend and stroke survivor Kirk Douglas sure isn’t exiting quietly. His column in this week’s Newsweek, was entitled 'What Old Age Taught Me.'The Change Wave is here … . will you ride it?

by origineight

Aging Begins When We Are Young, Financial Literacy Should Too

Most Americans think that Medicare will pay for long-term care … It won’t. In 2005 the national savings rate fell below zero percent … the first time since the Great Depression. Most people have no clue what aging services cost.Aging begins when we’re young and financial literacy should, too. That’s the premise of this Ecumen article that appeared in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune. What are your thoughts?

Financial sense must be taught early

By Eric Schubert, Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs, Ecumen

August 9, 2008

Used to be that credit cards didn’t pad most wallets. People stayed in the same job, steadily paid off a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, retired with a pension and, when life waned, received care from family or a nursing home bolstered by Medicare and Medicaid.Personal finance had autopilot sensibility.But individuals now hold the controls -- from 401(k)s IRAs and health savings accounts. Soon we’ll hold more controls -- of necessity.The tools of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society -- Medicare and Medicaid -- are running tight and badly in need of retooling. There are more of us, we live longer, and we don’t want to die in a cinderblock room next to a stranger. To meet our desires amid today’s fiscal realities and unprecedented age wave, we’ll have to raise taxes, create new savings and payment options, or both.More control demands fiscal literacy for a lifetime. But we don’t teach personal finance across all schools and grades. Some say money management should be home taught. A wonderful concept, but too many parents are financially illiterate.In 2005, the national savings rate fell below 0 percent, the first time since the Great Depression. A University of Minnesota study says nearly one-third of Minnesotans age 43 to 72 are at 'very high risk' of not having enough money for retirement.A new AARP study says half of us don’t read financial information because 'it’s too hard to understand.' And, in a study of baby boomers by Ecumen, my employer, nearly one-third think Medicare will pay for long-term care. It won’t. Beyond the several-week rehabilitation benefit, you, your long-term care insurance or Medicaid pay nursing home costs.All told, financial home schooling has been a failure.

Fiscal literacy can’t just be a 12th-grade class. Learning must begin early and progress so students leave high school knowing the power of compound interest, financial pitfalls, the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, and how decisions made in their 20s will affect how they’ll live in their 90s.Curricula must be experiential and emphasize sharing. Politicians talk about how churches and nonprofits are integral to helping people. They are. But good intentions can’t fuel our work. And while we don’t pay profits to shareholders, our work requires dollars. No money, no mission.For Minnesota to come out of the age wave in sound fiscal shape, tomorrow’s adults must innately understand the interplay among saving, sharing and spending. Giving kids a nominal, pre-funded investment account that they can contribute to and manage would provide hands-on learning and perhaps go toward their college tuition or seed money for a business.Would mandated classes cost too much? They shouldn’t. Other states already do it. The Itasca Project includes a variety of materials at financiallyfitmn.org that could contribute to a state curriculum. Financial services companies could gain more substantive, top-of-mind recognition by diverting a portion of their mega-ad dollars to supporting K-12 financial literacy efforts. Regulators can ensure their support wouldn’t unduly influence curricula.Financial education works. University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin researchers found that immediately after completing a financial literacy program, almost half of the students reported increased financial knowledge. In follow-up surveys, nearly 40 percent started saving money.The nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research found that adults who attended high schools with state-mandated financial literacy training generally save more and accumulate more wealth than other adults. And many of those people had non-saving parents. If our young people learn and embrace fundamentals of saving, spending and sharing, they will benefit, as will Minnesota.

Poverty likely won’t be eradicated in my lifetime. Immoral wage gaps probably won’t be, either. Despite that, fiscal literacy can lead to less personal debt, more personal responsibility, preservation of safety nets and more disposable income spent and shared in our state.While it’s easier to build a child than repair an adult, we can’t give up on ourselves. We should exercise automatic enrollment in workplace retirement savings programs that have the option to automatically diversify and rebalance assets, have more workplace education on planning for big-ticket items such as senior care, and help others learn from our mistakes.A K-12 fiscal literacy curriculum is a good next step.

by origineight

All Genes or You? Take the Ecumen Poll on Aging

Can you impact how you age?We recently featured two Ecumen centenarians - Hardy Rickbeil and Marion Davidson. They live different lifestyles. For example, one is a fitness buff, one is not. We’re all different, so this raises a question below. Please take our poll. If you have any comments to add, please click on the 'comments' section below.Have a great weekend.[poll id='3']

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A New Look on Aging: Carol’s Beauty of Aging Show

Our culture hasn’t always placed the highest value on the aging process; wrinkles and grey hair seem to be things to cover up rather than take pride in.Carol Seefeldt, an artist and volunteer at the Ecumen community of Parmly LifePointes, sees aging in a different light and wanted to show others just how beautiful aging can be. Her 'Beauty of Aging' art show is a gift to those people and the community she enjoys.The exhibit at Parmly LifePointes runs through this month. The exhibit showcases photos of people we serve engaged in their everyday activities, which range from enjoying the relationships of friends to using Vitalize! Wellness Center. Carol stresses that engagement in life can be seen in the sparkle in one’s eye, in a smile, or a conversation.Thank you, Carol.

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