Americans Talk Paying for Long-Term Care In New Poll
How will you pay for care if you need it in your senior years? When we polled baby boomers in our Age Wave study, there were a number of options they supported for paying for care if they needed it in their seniors years . . from private insurance … to payroll deductions for a year of guaranteed care … to a pooled risk statewide long-term care insurance plan. What was also clear is that they don’t want to live in an institutional environment.Last week a new national poll on long-term care in the 2008 elections was released. Commissioned by Genworth Financial, the fieldwork was done by Public Opinion Strategies and the Mellman Group. Among the key findings, many of which parallel our research are:- Nearly 7 in 10 Americans have not made any plans for their own, a spouse’s or another relative’s long-term care needs. Yet, over half of those surveyed have had a loved one who needed a form of long-term care. (Our poll showed that people are totally clueless when it comes to differences between Medicare and Medicaid, the first one won’t pay for your long-term care needs.)- This is an area where individuals feel they should bear some personal responsibility for payment. (We saw that in our poll, too.) 60% of voters surveyed supported new taxes or payroll deductions to subsidize senior care.- 68% of those who supported new taxes or payroll deductions also indicated a willingness to pay between $25 monthly and upwards of $50 per month. In our Age Wave study, nearly 9 out of 10 (86% of all respondents) support a payroll tax up to $12 per month to pay for a year of guaranteed care if needed.Here’s a link to a AOL Money and Finance News account of the Genworth poll. Meanwhile, you can read the full questions to our Age Wave study here.
First Baby Boomer Applies for Social Security
The Age Wave is arriving on the shores of America’s entitlement system.Today, the nation’s first' baby boomer, a retired teacher from New Jersey, applied for Social Security benefits, signaling the start of an expected avalanche of applications from the post World War II generation.In a Associated Press story, Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue called it 'America’s silver tsunami.'Kathleen Casey-Kirschling applied for benefits over the Internet at an event hosted by Astrue. Casey-Kirschling was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946, gaining her recognition as the first baby boomer €” a generation of nearly 80 million born from 1946 to 1964, Astrue said.Casey-Kirschling will be eligible for benefits after she turns 62 next year. She taught seventh graders for 14 years at a school near Camden, N.J., before retiring and volunteering for the Red Cross in Gulf Coast areas hit by Hurricane Katrina.An estimated 10,000 people a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits over the next two decades. The Social Security trust fund, if left alone, is projected to go broke in 2041. Casey-Kirschling said her generation won’t let Social Security fail.'I think the baby boomers will want to get this fixed,' she said. 'They’re going to want to take care of their children and their grandchildren.'
Technology and Aging: The Future is Now
Several years ago our board of trustees and leadership team were at a retreat developing our dashboard, which helps us set goals and measure results in our transformation work. One of the trustees put a question mark in a circle and asked the others what was the big thing' that is going to change aging services, which wasn’t at the forefront of our work then. The word 'Technology' was written in the circle. Today we are piloting 2-3 new technologies per year to determine those that can enhance our customers' experience and our work.One of those technologies was featured in an interesting story in the L.A. Times last week about baby boomers fueling the 'aging in place' movement and turning to technology to help fulfill their parents' wish to live where they want to live.The tool is called QuietCare. We started using the unobtrusive sensor technology two years ago, piloting it with 20 of our customers. Today more than 600 use it. You can see QuietCare up close here. It helps us spot small health problems before they grow into larger ones; and it helps enhance information sharing and communications between our customers, their family members, caregivers and physicians.The consulting firm BearingPoint, just did a study for the National Commission for Long-Term Care, which is chaired by Newt Gingrich and Bob Kerrey. The report highlights, which you can read here, discuss technology being essential in long-term care, but that it needs to be connected to other segments of healthcare. As the L.A. Times article points out, and as we’ve experienced at Ecumen, technology can enhance people’s lives and break down critical information silos. Baby boomers are going to drive increased use of technology in aging services as more provide care and want technology to help them in this area of their life just as it does in so many other aspects of their lives. In fact, 9 out of 10 baby boomers told us in our Age Wave study, that they 'EXPECT' technology to help them live longer and more independently.
The EU and the Age Wave
In fewer than 13 years, we will have more seniors in Minnesota than children. That’ll be a first. Interestingly, the European Union is already in the midst of an age wave. According to Elita Vucheva, who writes on global business for Businessweek.com, there are currently more seniors than children living in the EU, as Europe’s young population has decreased by 21 percent - or 23 million -- in 25 years, 10 percent of which in the last ten years alone.Only 16.2 percent of today’s EU population is less than 14 years old, while one sixth (16.6 percent) is 65 years or more. In addition one out of every 25 EU citizens is over 80 years old.Italy has the least young people (14.2%) and one out of every five Italians is more than 65 years old. At the other end of the scale, Ireland has the most youngsters (20.7%), according to a recently-released report by the Institute for Family Policies based in Spain.
Kathryn Roberts on The It Factor
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgZtjvKqZXc[/youtube]Posted by Robin Krause, Ecumen Vice President of Human Resources What is this thing called 'It?' It’s essential to creating great places to live and work. We’ve been talking a lot lately about 'It' within Ecumen. You know whether a community has 'It' right away. You can feel 'It.' 'It' feels good.I wanted to find out what Kathryn Roberts, Ecumen’s CEO thinks about 'It,' so I went and asked her. You can see the interview above. For the next three weeks, I’m going to post a weekly question here with her related to what goes into making a great workplace.On October 25th, the day of the last question, we’re going to celebrate Ecumen-wide a pretty neat achievement, that Ecumen has been named a 'Best Place to Work' by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal for a third straight year.I’d love to hear what you think 'It' is … please join the discussion that’s already taking place and share your examples of 'It' at work.
Nursing Assistants and Leadership
The other day the Minneapolis Star Tribune did a story on the job of nursing assistants. Nursing assistants are on the frontline of care and to be great, they have to be absolutely fabulous in delivering customer service. They ensure dignity, helping people eat, bathe and dr
ess; they listen (instead of simply hearing) what the people in their care say; they deliver authentic warmth that simply makes people feel good; they provide encouragement. Bottom line: Great nursing assistants make life better.Featured in the Star Tribune was Ecumen regional director Mary Cordts (pictured at left). Mary began her career as a nursing assistant in a nursing home in her hometown. She found her calling. And the world of aging services is changing because of it. She later got her degree in nursing. After that she earned her masters in business. And the learning didn’t end there … .This weekend in Chisago City, Minn., Mary will keynote the grand opening of the new Vitalize! Wellness Centre at the Ecumen community of Parmly LifePointes, where Mary also serves as executive director. [We’ll share more photos of Vitalize! here soon.] It’s part of a movment to expand the work of a senior community that was largely known for its nursing home, and turning it into a community-wide hub for vital aging. In fact, Parmly Senior Housing & Services changed its name to Parmly LifePointes (they’re officially launching that this weekend, too) because the community saw the former name as too limiting for what Parmly is becoming … a community-wide resource for successful aging at multiple points in life, not just at the end of life. Earlier we were talking about the role of nursing assistants. Forgot to mention that they can change the world. Take it from Mary.
Eldercare and Japan’s Care Robots
Would you want a robot to take care of you? While we’re integrating a number of new technologies at Ecumen, that’s not one that’s hit any of our communities.It’s a different story in Japan, where 22% of of that country’s population is already 65 or older. Businesses there are rolling out everything from easy-entry cars to remote controlled beds, fueling a senior technology market worth more than $1 billion. Secom Company there recently introduced a robot that assists people with eating. The Tokyo-based company already has sold 300 of the robots, which come at a price tag of $3,500.An intelligent wheelchair from Fujitsu Ltd. and Aisin Seiki Co. uses a positioning system to automatically travel to a preset destination, and uses sensors to detect and stop at red lights, and to avoid obstacles.Then, according to Hiroko Tabuchi, Associated Press reporter, there’s a new care designed by Toyota. Part of the Welcab series, it’s designed for easy entry for people who use a wheelchair or have difficulty walking.Driving this technology development is Japan’s age wave, a desire to help seniors live independently and fully, and the fact that not as many families are providing multi-generational care.
A New Study, Underfunding Medicaid and DD-Day
Newsweek columnist George Will calls it DD-Day, the day the Demographic Deluge begins. That is January 1, 2008, when the first of 78 million baby boomers reach 62, the age at which a majority of Social Security receipients begin to receive benefits. Will writes that Social Security is unsustainable in its current format, but a picture of health as it relates to Medicare. And then there’s that thing called Medicaid -- the largest payer for long-term care in America.A New Study on Medicaid FundingAccording to a new study commissioned and released last weeby the long-term care trade group the American Health Care Association and conducted by the accounting firms BDO Seidman/Eljay,LLC, states are underfunding the actual cost of providing seniors’ critical nursing home care by at least $4.4 billion annually, or, $13.15 per patient day €“ representing a dramatic 45% increase from 1999 ($9.05) through 2007.The new study also found that the states with the greatest disparity between the actual cost of providing quality care and Medicaid reimbursements are, in order of severity, Illinois, New Jersey, Wisconsin (with $27.29 per person daily shortfall) , Minnesota (with $24.96 daily shortfall), Vermont, New Hampshire, Missouri, Delaware, Washington and Massachusetts. The study goes on to make a connection that cutting Medicaid adversely impacts Medicare.Moving the Discussion ForwardUnfortunately this study got little media coverage. Although more people are talking about how to pay for the future of eldercare, it’s not yet a top-tier issue nationally. (That will undoubtedly change, though.).- The public’s and most policymakers' focus in this nanosecond is on 'health care', not 'long-term care'. Take a look at the Presidential candidates' health care plans at how they address health care and then long-term care (there’s a big difference). - Americans don’t want to live in nursing homes and the way 'The System' works today, nursing home services are a huge drain on government dollars. It’s easier for 'The System' to simply let the market watch nursing homes that can’t diversify go away. That’s great for those people who can access the innovators, but not so great if one of those innovators isn’t serving your community.The very good thing is that the issue of how to pay for the huge wave of seniors' care is starting to rise. Creating Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s was a long, arduous process. But then people, such as a smart, amibitious guy who wanted to be President, John F. Kennedy, started to become champions for aging. There will be new political champions on renovating or rebuilding how we pay for and deliver care for seniors in America. Right now such revolutionaries and innovators exist in the private and non-profit sectors.When it comes to public policy changes, the new champions in elective office will be those who can make this issue relevant to all Americans, where businesses, labor unions, religious organizations, and Joe and Josephine Mainstreet Americans see the need for and call for change. That’s not a big stretch, as baby boomers pointed out in our Age Wave study, it’s a great opportunity for someone who wants to grab it and be seen by Red and Blue America as a pragmatic, visionary, creator of solutions.
America’s Opportunities in Aging
We want to invent the future, otherwise we know what it’s going to be.'Great quote from Joseph Coughlin, Ph.D., and head of MIT’s AgeLab. Robert Powell, at Marketwatch.com, has some great insights from Coughlin, an aging services innovator and visionary who sees huge opportunity to transform for the age wave and make society better. A few key points he raises: 'Boomers are not the first generation to get old, but they are first to have health and wealth and the expectation that things will be different.'Think Differently: He calls for financial firms to design new products that will provide income to Americans who want to modify their houses as they age or who still have transportation needs long after they stop driving. 'We are about to see baby boomers sever the link between health and health care.'Health and Wellness: The next generation of seniors will pursue wellness, and technology will play a large role in that.Entrepreneurship. Boomers will live longer and work longer. Many more of them also will seek work that is rich in purpose … for many that will mean a different job.'Boomers will want to remain alive not just live longer.' Lifetime Learning: Coughlin sees many boomers moving to college campuses where they can take classes, stay engaged with other generations and have easy-access health care.Interestingly, but no suprisingly, Coughlin’s insights completely parallel what we heard from boomers in our Age Wave Study. Do you agree/disagree with Coughlin? Any other insights you have about how aging will be different than it traditionally has been?
New Name for Pennsylvania’s Office of Long-Term Care
The Office of Long-Term Care. It’s no longer called that in the The State of Pennsylvania. They’ve changed the name to the Office of Long-Term Living. How words can change the pictures in your head …