Long-Term Care Financing Solutions: AARP
Earlier we blogged here about the long-term care financing forum at the University of Minnesota. One of the solutions put forward came from AARP. Here are highlights from Enid Kassner, director, Independent Living/Long-Term Care Public Policy Institute. Next we’ll share an approach from the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.AARP’s Goal:Create an affordable, consumer and caregiver-focused system providing coverage for, and access to, high quality long-term services and supports for independent living.1. Promote - nationally and in the states - reform of delivery and financing for long-term services and supports.2. REFOCUS reform debate on providing: long-term services and supports for independent living … rather than on 'long-term care' or 'Medicaid Reform.'3. Include ALL opulations, people with: developmental disabilities and physical disabilities . . . while improving services for seniors.4. Defin 'long-term services and support system' as FOUR separate, but related components:1. Caregivers2. Housing3. Health Care4. Long-Term and Community-Based Supportive Services… . plus mechanisms to finance each component.FIRST: Revamp Medicaid- Revamp Medicaid as one vehicle for both: System financing ---- structural reform.- See that proposed reforms: promote increased home and community-based services and cover additional services, populations- Eligibility: move from 'categorical' to 'financial means plus functional need.' Oppose restrictive changes to eligibility and services- Oppose mandatory, risk-based managed care, but recognize managed care can be vehicle for reform.SECOND - Delivery Reform- Support for family caregivers: respite services, financial help, single point-of-entry, navigation assistance- Workforce development and quality: recruitment, retention; enhancing image of workers; promote workforce training by U.S. schools, esp. community colleges- Consumer-directed programs for obtaining needed services- Quality measures and incentives- Regulations and standards- Support Innovative Models for long-term services and supports: - Endorse, help expand and fund effective, existing, new or demonstration models and promising state models for financing and care delivery. - Use states' efforts as means for galvanizing a national FOCUS ON REFORM- Encourage personal planning for and family conversations about long-term care- Motivate consumers to demand more options for long-term services and funding- Promote products and services that help consumers with decision making, navigationTHIRD - System Reform- Federal disablity-based insurance system that protects ALL Americans.- Expanded chronic care coverage and management under all insurance programs- Navigation help - and financial help - for informal caregiversLONG-TERM CARE REFORMED1. Rebalanced Medicaid to emphasize home and community-based care2. Single point of entry and navigation help3. Supports for informal caregivers4. Chronic care management under Medicare5. Quality improvement throughout6. Consumer-driven options7. Workforce development8. Insurance against disability for allFINANCING THIS APPROACH1. Medicaid Rebalancing- Older Americans Act and state funding2. Delivery System Reforms- Medicare with chronic care funding- Tax credits for caregivers- Home equity options- Private insurnance3. Federal InsuranceValue added tax dedicated to health care and long-term care
Next Generation of Older Americans Seek Encore Careers
At least 6 percent of Americans between the ages of 44 and 70, or 5.3 million people, are working in second careers with non-profits, governments, schools, or other organizations that benefit society, according to a new survey.And half of the people in that age group who aren’t already involved in so-called “encore careers” say they would like to find such employment -- a great opportunity for professions in aging.The survey was commissioned by Civic Ventures, a charity in San Francisco that seeks to engage older Americans in civic activities, and paid for by the MetLife Foundation, in New York. It was based on telephone interviews with more than 1,000 people.
Green Senior Housing Community for North Country Health Services in Minnesota to Be Developed by Ecumen
New senior housing development could become one of country’s few LEED-Certified CommunitiesSHOREVIEW, MN, June 17, 2008 -- https://ecumen.org €“ Aging services provider Ecumen, one of the country’s largest non-profit senior housing companies, is developing a green senior housing for North Country Health services in Bemidji, Minn. It is seeking to be one of the country’s few LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) senior housing developments.The $20 million senior housing development, to be owned by North Country Health Services and developed by Ecumen, is being built using environmentally friendly or “green” features and methods. For example, underground parking will lessen impervious surface space and reduce water use, lighting features will prevent light and energy waste, and many construction materials will be harvested locally.North Country Health Services and Ecumen plan to submit the project for third-party LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the United States Green Building Council.“Three words stood out as we began to shape this project €“ mission, vibrancy and sustainability,” said Jim Hanko, president and CEO of North Country Health Services. “The new housing will complement our mission of assuring a lifetime continuum of quality healthcare services, it will be a vibrant community that allows people to live in Bemidji for a lifetime, and it will help sustain natural resources that we all share.”“This project fully embraces a philosophy that aging is all about living,” said Sandy Bensen, North Country Health Services’ (NCHS) vice president of senior and community living services. “This will be a community that promotes healthy, successful aging and that honors and celebrates a person’s life to its very end.”Slated for a late-summer groundbreaking, the senior housing development will include independent living apartments, assisted living apartments, and memory care apartments. The link to the NCHS mission is most evident with the “aging in place” concept where older adults can move in not needing any services and as they age, assisted living services are brought to them when they need them and on an ala carte basis. All living spaces will link to Neilson Place, the North Country Health Services skilled nursing care center that opened in 2004. The project is anticipated to open in the fall of 2009.When completed, the Anne Street site will have more than 148,000 square feet of livable space in two buildings. Eighty catered living apartment homes, which feature independent living and assisted living, will have underground parking. The one-story memory care building will have 27 studio apartments.Other features will include a library and media center, grand fireplace lounge, commercial kitchen and dining room, two guest motel-like suites, a hair salon and barber shop, community room, fitness room, and outdoor patios and walking paths.“We’re extremely proud to be working with North Country Health Services and helping make this shared vision become a reality,” said Steve Ordahl, senior vice president of business development for Ecumen.About North Country Health ServicesNorth Country Health Services (www.nchs.com) is a community-owned, not-for-profit health system comprised of North Country Regional Hospital, Neilson Place, Baker Park, Bemidji Medical Equipment, and the North Country Health Services Foundation.About EcumenEcumen (ecumen.org) is based in Shoreview, Minn., and is one of the largest non-profit senior housing, services and development companies in the United States. The name Ecumen comes from the word ecumenical, which in turn is derived from the Greek word for home: “Oikos.” Ecumen’s mission is to create “home” for older adults wherever they choose to live. Ecumen is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and has 4,000 team members. Ecumen writes about news and ideas that are shaping the future of aging services at its Changing Aging blog: https://ecumen.org/changing-aging/
Coming of Age in Philadelphia
This is a cool mission statement:
To transform a source (the knowledge, talent and skill of the region’s 50+ population) into a force for enriching our community by helping individuals find meaning and the means to contribute to the greater good.
It’s the mission of Coming of Age, a Philadephia collaboration of four partners: Temple University’s Center for Intergenerational Learning, WHYY Wider Horizons, the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and AARP Pennsylvania. Coming of Age has three objectives: 1. Helping people age 50+ plan for the future;2. Promoting 50+ volunteering, learning, and community leadership;3. Working with nonprofits to recruit, train, and retain 50+ volunteers. Coming of Age is a great model for other communities who want to seize opportunities of an unprecedented age wave. It’s fresh, invigorating, inspiring, fun … It’s also drawing dollars … Atlantic Philanthropies recently gave it $1.8 million to expand in other parts of the U.S.. … .Do you know of any other communities that are doing this?
Tim Russert’s Tribute to His Father
Thank you to the late Tim Russert for giving us this story. A tribute to a Father, this Father’s Day weekend.
Fewer Than 1% of China’s Oldest Citizens Live in a Nursing Home
An interesting new study on China’s 'oldest old' has been released by Duke University researcher Dr. Matthew Dupre and is available in the American Journal of Public Health. (note: you have to have a paid subscription to access it) He did the research while at the University of North Carolina and is now at Duke University Medical Center. Highlights of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study, which included a sample size of more than 13,000 people include:- Fewer than 1 percent of of Chinese 80 and older are living in nursing homes.- Most are free of chronic disease and not disabled or cognitively impaired.- For urban men and women, living in larger households was associated with longevity, suggesting that residing with one’s children, or grandchildren, might extend lifespan.- Most study participants said they 'looked at the bright side.'- Rural women - likely the most disadvantaged group in China - showed the greatest longevity benefit from being optimistic. Most people in the survey have a positive outlook.- Most also eat veggies, and a lot of them are poor, have little education and drink and smoke, challenging some of the advice we get in regard to living a long time.
How Many 70-Year-Old-Football Players Do You Know?
Thanks to Changing Aging reader Jon Riewer for sharing this item from up Fargo way…Pictured here is Bob Bonawitz, a linebacker for the Fargo-Moorhead Liberty, a semi-pro football team. Bob, 70-years old, got the itch to play again after getting bored with retirement. He had last played football in the 1950s as a member of the Moorhead High School Spuds.You can see more photos of Bob taken by Fargo Forum photographer Dave Walls here.
How many 70-year-old football players do you know?
Thanks to Changing Aging reader Jon Riewer for bringing this item to our attention from up Fargo way … Bob Bonawitz is a 70-year-old linebacker for the semi-pro Fargo-Moorhead Liberty. Bob got bored with retirement and found a new-old outlet. He had played football for the Moorhead High School Spuds in the 1950s before returning to the game this year. Read the whole story in the Fargo Forum here.
Fewer Than 1 Percent of Oldest Old in China Live in Nursing Homes
A new study hit the American Journal of Public Health, providing insights on China’s oldest-old (80 to 105). The research of more than 13,000 people was done by Dr. Matthew Dupre of Duke University Medical Center while he was at the University of North Carolina. According to the study:- Today nearly 20 percent of the world’s population 80 and older lives in China, and by 2050, Chinese are expected to account for more than 25 percent of the world’s oldest old.- Most of the individuals studied were not disabled or cognitively impaired.- Most were free of chronic disease.- Most said they 'looked at the bright side.'- Rural women - likely the most disadvantaged group in China - showed the greatest longevity benefit from being optimistic.- For urban men and women, living in larger households was associated with longevity, suggesting that residing with one’s children, or grandchildren, might extend lifespan.- While most of China’s oldest citizens eat veggies and have a positive outlook, many are also living in poverty, have little education, and even smoke and drink.- Fewer than 1 percent of Chinese 80 and older are living in nursing homes or other institutions; most are cared for in their communities and by family members.