Headlines about "Long-term care"
Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Opinion] Defend Freedom: Repeal CLASS
"CLASS was a fiscal time bomb. It's clear the program's main initial function was to pump up Obamacare's financing, since it would have collected premiums for five years before paying out a penny in benefits. As a result, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that it would reduce budget deficits by $81 billion over the next decade." (Galen Institute)
House Votes to Kill CLASS Program, LTCI Provision of Affordable Care Act
"The U.S. House of Representatives voted 267 to 159 [on Wednesday Feb. 1] to repeal the CLASS Program, a stagnating program that was a crucial component of the Affordable Care Act. . . . The bill's chances in the Senate, controlled by Democrats, [are] far less certain." (LifeHealthPro)
Judge Says Same-Sex Health-Coverage Ban Biased
"A federal judge signaled Thursday that she's likely to strike down a federal law that denies long-term health coverage to the same-sex domestic partners of state employees in California, saying it appears to be based on prejudice against gays and lesbians." (The San Francisco Chronicle)
Five Reasons to Offer LTC Insurance in 2012
"According to EM-Power Services, a provider of long-term care insurance and employee benefits services, LTCI is an important benefit that should be offered by employers in 2012, especially as the U.S. is expected to face rapid growth among the age 65 and older population." (BenefitsPro)
The Calculating Required Before Buying a Long-Term Care Policy
"The question of whether to get long-term care insurance bedevils consumers and their advisers. Unlike medical insurance, it is intended primarily to cover people who need assistance with so-called activities of daily living . . . ." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Should You Buy Long-Term Care Insurance? Maybe Not
"Medicaid is no bargain. Still, why buy insurance for something you can get for 'free' from the government? And that helps explain why the report from the Society of Actuaries suggests that those with savings of less than $250,000 may not want to buy private insurance, while those with assets exceeding $2 million may not need to." (Forbes)
Cost of Long-Term Care Requires Additional Financial Planning
"According to Northwestern Mutual's 'Cost of Long-Term Care Study,' while the costs vary widely based on location and type of care, the study shows that the national average daily rate for a single occupancy, private nursing home room is $246.06 per day, or almost $90,000 for one year of care." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)
Six Considerations When Shopping for LTC Insurance
"Here are six basic factors for you and your employees to consider about LTC coverage: 1. The elimination period. . . . 2. The benefit period. . . . 3. Inflation riders. . . . 4. Shared benefits. . . . 5. Premiums. . . . 6. Financial stability of the insurance carrier." (Employee Benefit News)
Six Basic Considerations for Employees When Shopping for LTC Insurance
"[The first basic factor] to consider about LTC coverage: 1. The elimination period. This is the time between the beginning of a claim and when the policyholder is actually eligible to receive benefits. Most policies require some period of paying for care out of the insured's assets. The longer the elimination period, the lower the premium. Rather than a 30-day elimination period, consider a 60-, 90-, or even 180-day period." (Employee Benefit News)
Shelving of CLASS Act Presents Opportunities and Challenges for Employers and Employees
"[T]he CLASS Act was an incredible catalyst for the long term care discussion in the workplace. It's gotten it onto the radar screen for benefit managers. Now that we have clarity that they're not implementing it, it sends a clear message to Americans and to benefits managers that the responsibly is on us: The federal government is not going to provide an option, so we better take personal responsibility.'" (Employee Benefit News)
House Committee Votes to Repeal CLASS Act
"While some Democrats have argued for restructuring the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS) and the White House opposes repealing the program, Republicans insist on scrapping it in its entirety, saying the law would be a long-term drag on the federal budget." (The Washington Times)
[Opinion] Video: How Can We Address Long-Term Care without CLASS?
"Richard Johnson talks us through ways [CLASS] could be revitalized, new policies that could boost participation in the private market, and public-private options that could help achieve higher rates of coverage." (Urban Institute)
[Opinion]
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Comments to to HHS on Implications of GINA Application to Long-Term Care (PDF)
A joint work group comprised of members of the SOA Long-Term Section Council and the Academy's Federal Long-Term Care Task Force submitted a letter to HHS Secretary Sebelius regarding the department's extension of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) to long-term care insurance in proposed regulations. (American Academy of Actuaries)
Long-Term Care Costs: What's Next?
"What can those who were likely to benefit from the CLASS Act do now to pay for their current or anticipated long-term-care needs? How can the country deliver and finance long-term-care for its rapidly aging population? What role will providers play as Medicare and Medicaid payments are cut?" (MarketWatch)
What Happened to The CLASS Act?
"Program on Retirement Policy Director Richard Johnson walks us through CLASS's aims and design, why greater access to long-term care is needed, and where the program ran into problems." (Urban Institute)
[Guidance Overview] Milliman's Monthly Benefit News and Developments, November 2011 (PDF)
Highlights of recent legislative activity; regulatory round-up. (Milliman)
The 2011 MetLife Market Long-Term Care Costs' Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs (PDF)
"This market survey, conducted in conjunction with LifePlans, Inc., contains daily private-pay rates for private and semi-private rooms in licensed nursing homes, monthly base rates for assisted living communities, hourly rates for home health aides from licensed agencies and agency-provided homemaker companion services, and daily rates for adult day services across the United States." (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company)
[Opinion] The CLASS Act, Part of the Health Reform Bill, Quietly Abandoned
"This abandonment of what Obama saw as an ultimately unworkable program leaves open the question of just how the nation will pay for the long-term care needs of some 20 million Americans." (The Century Foundation)
IRS Announces Key Benefit Plan Limits for 2012 (PDF)
"The IRS has issued . . . the retirement plan limits for 2012, and [the] 2012 limits for qualified transportation fringe benefits, adoption assistance programs, long-term care products, and medical savings accounts." (Buck Consultants, LLC)
[Opinion] Four Ways to Fix Long-Term Care
"'If you got bunch of real long-term care wonks in a room, we could figure something out,' says Duke University's Donald Taylor, a health care economist. I spent most of yesterday talking to those wonks, and here are four solutions they came up with . . . ." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
[Opinion] Behind the Class Act, a Numbers Game
"The primary stumbling block, as Class critics have pointed out since it was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act, was the potential for so-called adverse selection -- the chance that too many people needing benefits (because they were already sick or disabled or soon would be) would enroll without enough younger, healthier people joining up, paying premiums and balancing the risk." (The New York Times; free registration required)
HHS Suspends CLASS Program Indefinitely
"In suspending the CLASS program, HHS cited actuarial and solvency impediments as the reason why they had 'not identified a way to make CLASS work at this time.'" (Faegre & Benson LLP)
[Opinion] CLASS Long-Term Care Insurance Is Dead, but What Comes Next?
"Where do we go from here? Most independent analysts recognize that the model most likely to succeed for long-term care insurance is a system of universal coverage." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Obama Administration Pulls Plug On CLASS, the Long-Term Care Program
"After looking at a variety of options, the Obama administration determined the CLASS Act program could not simultaneously meet three important criteria: be self-sustaining, financially sound for 75 years and affordable to consumers." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
What Factors Affect the Future of Class: The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act
"[HHS] has promised to release in mid-October a detailed analysis of what can be done to shore up the program's financial structure, based on a review of legal and actuarial reports." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Lawmakers Raise Doubts about CLASS Act's Future
"The Repeal CLASS Working Group is comprised of Republican leadership in both the House and Senate charged with overseeing implementation of the new health care law. In mid-September, the group released a report apparently detailing the insolvency of the CLASS Act." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)
Some Optimism for CLASS Act's Future; Anticipation Mounts Regarding Essential Benefits Report
"News outlets report on these health law implementation topics, including news that some advocates say the Obama administration's upcoming release of an analysis of the CLASS program is a positive sign. Meanwhile, the Institute of Medicine is expected to unveil its recommendations for medical coverage standards next week." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Analyzing the Health Law's Tax Credits and the Class Act's Future
"This round-up of health law implementation news also includes a report that the comment period for state health exchanges has been extended and news that Catholic organizations have stepped-up their opposition to the measure's requirement that contraceptive services be covered." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Insuring Long Term Care in the U.S.
"Long-term care expenditures constitute one of the largest uninsured financial risks facing the elderly in the United States. This paper provides an overview of the economic and policy issues surrounding insuring long-term care expenditure risk. Through this lens we also discuss the likely impact of recent long-term care public policy initiatives at both the state and federal level." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
CLASS Act's Future is in Doubth
"The health law's long-term care program, which has faced concerns about its fiscal sustainability, appears at risk following reports that the HHS office overseeing it faces a key staff reduction." (Kaiser Health News)
CLASS is Adjourned; Long-Term Care Federal Program on Hold
Administration officials have decided to postpone implementation of the CLASS voluntary long-term care program ('Community Living Assistance Services and Supports') created under the recent federal healthcare reform legislation. Concerns have been raised about its cost. (Associated Press via Forbes)
[Guidance Overview] Payments to Caregivers Are Deductible as Qualified Long-Term Care Expenses
"The most important thing for employers and administrators to remember about the tax court's decision is what it does not say. Specifically, although qualified long-term care services can be deductible on an individual's tax return, health FSAs cannot reimburse them on a tax-free basis. Similarly, most HRAs may not reimburse qualified long-term care services. . . . In contrast, HSAs can reimburse long-term care services tax-free." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)
[Guidance Overview] IRS Interim Guidance on Federal Income Tax Treatment of Annuity and Life Insurance Contracts with Long-Term Care Insurance Feature (PDF)
"The Notice requests public comment on several questions 'to assist in the development of further guidance' concerning the taxation of combination products." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)
GAO Report on Long-Term Care Insurance: Carrier Interest in Federal Program, Changes to Its Actuarial Assumptions, and OPM Oversight
"In this report, GAO describes (1) factors affecting carriers' interest in FLTCIP, (2) how the actuarial assumptions used to set FLTCIP premiums have changed since the program's inception, and (3) OPM's oversight of actuarial assumptions and experience and program communications." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Gang Of Six Deficit Plan: Executive Summary
"The plan uses a two-step legislative process: (1) an initial bill that makes immediate cuts; and (2) a process for a second bill to enact comprehensive reform and put our nation on a stable fiscal path." (Gang of Six via Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
AARP Study Finds Toll on Family Caregivers Is 'Huge'
"Modern medicine now allows people to manage chronic conditions for decades. But the AARP study finds increasingly complicated procedures are routinely expected of family caregivers." (AARP)
[Guidance Overview] Tax Court Allows Deduction for Payment to Long-Term Caregivers
"Amounts paid for qualified long-term-care services are deductible as medical expenses under section 213(d)(1). Qualified long-term-care services include personal care services required by a chronically ill individual and provided pursuant to a plan of care prescribed by a licensed physician (IRC ? 7702B(c)(1))." (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
[Guidance Overview] CLASS Program Scheduled to Begin Operation in Fall of 2012
"Secretary Sebelius has also stated that HHS wants to make sure the Program is appealing to employers and their employees. Why? Because one of its key components is a mandate for HHS and the Department of Treasury to develop procedures under which you can automatically enroll your employees, allowing them to pay the required premium through payroll deduction." (Miller, Johnson, Snell & Cummiskey P.L.C.)
Average Long-term Health Care Claim $159,000 This Year: Analysis
"The average annual claim cost per bed, which has hovered around $1,400 for the past five years, is projected to increase to $1,430 this year." (Business Insurance)
Health Care Reform's 'Class Act' Needs Employer Support to Be Viable
"[A] way to potential success here is through automatic enrollment: getting those employers who do sign on to put every employee in the government [LTC] plan and let individuals opt out later if they so choose." (The New York Times; free registration required)
[Guidance Overview] CLASS Program FAQs from HHS (PDF)
"HHS recently released FAQs relating to the CLASS program, a long-term care program established by PPACA. The FAQs address, in very general terms, who will be eligible to enroll in and receive benefits under the program, what benefits the program may or must offer, and the employer's role in the program." (Buck Consultants)
Who Purchases Long-Term Care Insurance?
"Most Americans will eventually need long-term care, which is often expensive and not usually covered by public programs until care recipients have nearly exhausted their savings. Yet, relatively few Americans purchase private long-term care insurance, exposing many families to potentially high out-ofpocket costs." (Urban Institute)
[Opinion] Towers Watson Testimony at House Hearing: 'A Framework for Employers in Deciding Whether or Not to Participate in the CLASS Program'
"The March 17, 2011, hearing was on 'The Implementation and Sustainability of the New Government-Administered Communicty Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Program." (Towers Watson)
HHS Moving to Implement New CLASS Program
"With October 1, 2012 as the 'go live' date set by [PPACA] for the new government-administered Community Living Assistance Services and Supports . . . Program, a set of Frequently Asked Questions was released by [HHS], while hearings were held by a House of Representatives subcommittee regarding the sustainability of the program." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)
Long-Term Care Insurance: A Piece of the Retirement & Estate Planning Puzzle (PDF)
"Specifically, the study measures attitudes towards and knowledge of long-term care insurance among Americans. The survey also explores concerns about needing extended care services, confidence in being able to pay for such services in the future, perceived methods of funding the expenses associated with long-term care, and the misperceptions about and barriers to purchasing long-term care insurance." (The Prudential Insurance Company of America)
FAQ on the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Program Released
"[FAQs on the CLASS program, released by HHS'] Administration on Aging, confirm that initial CLASS guidance isn't due until Oct. 1, 2012. The CLASS program won't be operational until details on eligibility, enrollment, benefits, premiums and other topics are released." (Mercer LLC)
Hybrid LTC Plans Cited Among 2011 Benefit Trends
"The message comes courtesy of Mark Konen, president of Lincoln Insurance and Retirement Solutions, who believes voluntary plans will continue to gain importance as more employers search for cost-effective benefit solutions." (Employee Benefit Adviser; one-time free registration required)
Hybrid LTC Plans Cited Among 2011 Benefit Trends
"One reason traditional LTC sales keep declining is the assets used to fund premiums are lost in the event that the insurance is never needed. That's not the case for a hybrid plan with an LTC rider, which enables policyholders to reallocate cash reserves to upgrade coverage, leverage death benefits when the product is combined with life insurance and access cash." (Employee Benefit News; one-time free registration required)
The Voluntary, Long-Term Care Insurance Program Known As the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports, or CLASS (PDF)
"The first section [of this brief] discusses how families currently cover the burden of long-term care. The second section describes CLASS and compares it to private insurance. The third section identifies adverse selection . . . as the major stumbling block facing CLASS." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Federal Agency to Launch Long-Term Care Insurance Open Season for Federal Employees
"In a Federal Register notice issued on Friday, the Office of Personnel Management announced that open season for the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program will run from April 4 through May 27." (Government Executive)
Is Long-Term Care Insurance Worth the Price?
"The rule of thumb is that premiums should not exceed 7% of your annual income. But the lesson of the recent hikes is that you can't base your decision solely on today's premiums -- you must also figure out if you'll be able to swing the costs later on." (Cable News Network)
[Guidance Overview] Married Gay Couples Can Sue for California State Benefit Rights
"One member of each couple works for the [state], and the couples are fighting for the equal right to buy long-term care insurance from the state's pension system." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)
[Guidance Overview] Court Win for Same-Sex Couples Seeking Benefits
"In a victory for gay rights advocates, a federal judge has ruled that state employees in California can sue for discrimination over the federal government's exclusion of their same-sex spouses from a long-term health care program." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Federal Budget Deficit Commission Is Looking at the CLASS Act As a Possible Source of Deficit Relief
Excerpt: "The CLASS Act is supposed to create a voluntary worksite LTC benefits program. Insurance groups and actuaries at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have criticized the program and argued that it will be actuarially unsound. Budget analysts say the CLASS Act would reduce the cost of implementing the Affordable Care Act up until 2014 but then would add $76 billion to the deficit from 2015 to 2020." (Milliman, Inc.)
Long-Term Care Insurance Business Struggling to Survive
Excerpt: "Insurers like Genworth Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp.'s John Hancock, which dominate the market, are under pressure as a result. Even as they generate revenue from new policies, they face losses from books of older business, plus headwinds from a new competing government program." (Business Insurance)
[Guidance Overview] IRS's 2011 Adjusted Limits for Long Term Care, MSAs, Adoption Assistance, and Tax Credit Limits
Excerpt: "This revenue procedure does not include a number of adjustments normally listed, including the qualified transportation fringe under IRC Sec.132 and the child tax credit under Sec. 24." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview] Perspectives on the CLASS Act: The Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act (PDF)
20 pages. Excerpt: "The articles detail various implications for individuals, the federal government, employers, insurers and agents, and health plan providers." (Milliman)
CalPERS' Ailing Long-Term Care Plan
Excerpt: "California is the only state in the U.S. that has gone the self-funded route for its public employee long-term care benefit plan. And that makes some officials very nervous." (CalWatchdog)
2010 Winners in '10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security'
Excerpt: "The Principal Financial Group? presents the 2010 winners of The Principal? 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security. The independent panel of judges -- all experts in employee benefits -- cited the winners for their level of commitment to strong benefits -- even during difficult economic times." (The Principal Financial Group)
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