The SCAN Foundation - LTC Insurance

DataBrief No.9: Long-Term Care Insurance by Income

scanadmin — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:05:17 +0000

Long-term care insurance helps individuals pay for services that assist them with activities of daily living, such as bathing or dressing. This DataBrief reports on the rate at which seniors needing assistance take up individual long-term care insurance given their level of income.

DataBrief No.8: Group Long-Term Care Insurance

scanadmin — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:56:48 +0000

Long-term care insurance has increasingly been sold through employers in the group insurance market. This DataBrief reports on the proportion of U.S. workers who have access to group long-term care insurance through their employers.

How People Use Their Long-Term Care Coverage

scanadmin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 22:28:18 +0000

People who need long-term services and supports most value having someone who can help them immediately when they need personal assistance. They want to feel safe in the place where they are getting care, whether at home or in a nursing facility, according to a September 2008 report, “What Factors Influence the Kind of Long-Term Services Patients with Private Insurance Choose Over Time,” by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Center for Health and Long-Term Care Research.

A New Social Insurance Approach to Long-Term Care: A Major Discussion of the CLASS Act

scanadmin — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 02:42:21 +0000

Private long-term care insurance has been sold for decades as a way for people to pay for future long-term services and support needs. But less than 10% of the population has bought the product, which is costly. A new social insurance model, with the voluntary purchase of a policy created by the federal government, and offering average cash benefits of $50 a day, will be established as part of the Affordable Care Act. “In the debates around the health reform law and its implementation, little attention has been given to the law's provisions supporting long-term care,” according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report in its October 1, 2010 briefing program, “More Than Meets the Eye: Long-Term Care Provisions in the New Reform Law.”

Six California Fact Sheets Highlight Long-Term Care Issues throughout the State

scanadmin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:40:49 +0000

The SCAN Foundation presents six California fact sheets that draw attention to statewide figures on long-term care.
Each easy-to-use document presents a critical long-term care issue, highlights main points in bullet format and provides a comprehensive list of citations.
Please click on the following links to read each themed fact sheet:

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Presents the Series, Care of the Aging Patient: From Evidence to Action

scanadmin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:27:58 +0000

JAMA, a peer-reviewed medical journal, launched a news series focused on caring for the aging population in its Oct. 13, 2010 issue. Titled “Care of the Aging Patient: From Evidence to Action," the series aims to improve clinical practice and inform policy in the care of older individuals, especially those who have started to lose their independence or are at risk of doing so. Articles will explore the course of aging as a result of progressive decline and will also analyze how to put existing evidence into practice by using real patient stories and interviews to address pressing care questions.
To access links to the entire series from JAMA's Web site, please scroll down to "Special Collections" on the "JAMA Topic Selections" page by clicking here.

Please click here to read an excerpt of, "Managing Medications in Clinically Complex Elders: 'Nobody Rushes You Through,"' by Chad Boult and G. Darryl Wieland.

Please click here to read an excerpt of, "Linking a Comprehensive Payment Model to Comprehensive Care of Frail Elderly Patients: A Dual Approach," by Arpita Chattopadhyay and Andrew B. Bindman.

Please click here to read an excerpt of, "Managing Medications in Clinically Complex Elders: There's Got to Be a Happy Medium," by Michael A. Steinman and Joseph T. Hanlon.

Please click here to read an excerpt of, "Medication Use in Older Patients: Better Policy Could Encourage Better Practice," by Jerry Avorn.

Please click here for an excerpt of the commentary, "Clinical Care in the Aging Century— Announcing 'Care of the Aging Patient:From Evidence to Action,'" co-authored by Bruce Chernof, president and CEO of The SCAN Foundation.

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: 'When You're 83, It's Not Going to be 20 Years,'" by David Reuben.

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "Policy for an Aging Society: A Review of Systems," by Christine K. Cassel.

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "The Older Adult Driver with Cognitive Impairment, “It’s a Very Frustrating Life," by David B. Carr and Brian R. Ott's.

Please click here for an excerpt of the commentary, "Driving Fitness and Cognitive Impairment: Issues for Physicians," co-authored by David W. Eby and Lisa J. Molnar.

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "Incontinence in Older Women," by Patricia S. Goode, Kathryn L. Burgio, Holly E. Richter and Alayne D. Markland's article .

Please click here for an excerpt of the commentary, "Talking about Incontinence: The First Step Toward Prevention and Treatment."

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "The Patient Who Falls: It's Always a Trade-Off," by Mary E. Tinetti and Chadrika E. Kumar.

Please click here for an excerpt of the commentary, "The Patient Who Falls: Challenges for Patients, Families and Communities," by Ruth Katz and Priti Shah.

Six National Fact Sheets Highlight Critical Issues on Long-Term Care

scanadmin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:27:38 +0000

The SCAN Foundation presents six fact sheets that draw attention to national figures on long-term care providing an introduction to some of the field’s most significant topics.
Each easy-to-use document presents a critical long-term care issue, highlights main points in bullet format and provides a comprehensive list of citations.
Please click on the following links to read each themed fact sheet:

Policy Brief #3: Federal Health Care Reform and its Potential Impact on California’s Long-Term Care System

scanadmin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:21:44 +0000

This policy brief represents the written testimony presented to California’s Little Hoover Commission at a public hearing on August 26, 2010 in Sacramento, CA. The SCAN Foundation’s Director of Policy Lisa Shugarman, PhD, was invited to present on Federal Health Care Reform and its potential impact on California’s long-term care system.
Her testimony to the Commissioners responds to three specific questions on this topic:

What are the long-term care provisions in the reform package?
What new opportunities might be available – under health care reform or by way of modeling innovations made in other states – for California to expand its capacity to provide long-term care services?
How can we ensure that California takes advantage of these opportunities?

This testimony refers to several provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA, P.L 111-148).
To read the policy brief in its entirety, please click here.
To read the press release, please click here.

Public Policy and Aging Report: Themed Issue on Implementing the CLASS Act

scanadmin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:55:20 +0000

With funding from The SCAN Foundation, the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of Public Policy and Aging Report features seven articles that recount the origins of the CLASS Act, analyze the legislation's key provisions, and explore potential hurdles of implementation.
The authors include Lisa Shugarman, PhD, of The SCAN Foundation; Joshua Wiener, PhD, of RTI International; Walter Dawson of Oxford University; Barbara Manard, PhD, of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging; Anne Tumlinson, MMHS, of Avalere Health; Rhonda Richards of AARP; and Kathryn Roberts, PhD, of Ecumen.
To read the issue in its entirety, please click here.

An Analysis of the Major Legislative Provisions of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act

scanadmin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:42:20 +0000

The CLASS Act, a critical component of the health care reform law, established a federally administered voluntary insurance program to help adults age 18 and older with disabilities pay for long-term services and supports. Major legislative provisions of the CLASS Act can be found in a June 2010 National Health Policy Forum report titled, "The Basics -- The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act: Major Legislative Provisions."