LTC
Bullet: What Have You Done
for Me Lately? Wednesday, December 13, 2006 Seattle-- LTC Comment: Our
annual recounting of the Center's achievements toward better long-term
care financing policy and our appeal for your new or continued support
follows the ***news.*** *** LISTEN to Steve Moses's presentation on the
Deficit Reduction Act and long-term care financing at the 2006 LTCi
producers' summit last November in Austin, Texas.
Available to Center for Long-Term Care Reform members only at http://www.centerltc.com/members/podcasts/sm_on_dra.MP3.
Expect it to download for a few minutes before the speech begins.
Not a member of the Center?
Simple solution. Contact
Damon at 206-283-7036 or damon@centerltc.com
to join. *** *** HEADS UP.
Don't miss The
Seventh Annual Intercompany Long-Term Care Insurance Conference March 25
to March 28, 2007 at the Adams Mark Hotel in Dallas, Texas.
For details and to register, go to http://secure.lenos.com/lenos/soa/LTCI2007/.
*** LTC BULLET: WHAT
HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY? LTC Comment: Of
course, the big news this year was passage of the Deficit Reduction Act.
The DRA made private long-term care insurance and reverse
mortgages more attractive and Medicaid less desirable and achievable as
LTC funding sources for middle class and affluent families.
The DRA was also a critical step toward preserving and improving
Medicaid as a long-term care safety net for people truly in need. Your Center for Long-Term Care Reform played an
important role in the design, advocacy, passage and defense of the
Deficit Reduction Act. I
worked half time in Washington, DC for six months in 2005 briefing
legislators, congressional staff, think tanks, trade associations,
reporters and all manner of policy-makers on the need for new rules to
discourage the abuse of Medicaid and to encourage more private financing
of long-term care. I
testified at hearings of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the
germane committee on Medicaid in the U.S. House of Representatives.
David Rosenfeld, who co-founded the Center with me in 1998,
largely wrote the DRA provisions on Medicaid and LTC financing and he
guided them toward successful passage through treacherous shoals of
political sensitivity and opposition. Pre- and post-passage of the DRA, the Center for
Long-Term Care Reform kept up a steady series of LTC Bullets
debunking specious criticism of the law from biased academic and
government sources. I
testified in defense of a Congressman viciously and falsely attacked in
the media for his support of the DRA.
We've done many speeches and teleconferences explaining the
meaning and impact of the DRA for improving the long-term care insurance
and reverse mortgage markets while relieving the fiscal burden on
Medicaid. The Center for
Long-Term Care Reform completed a study of Medicaid and long-term care
financing in Kansas that strongly recommended full implementation of the
DRA. We're now completing a
similar study in Texas. Truly, thanks to your support, 2006 has been a very
productive and successful year for your Center for Long-Term Care
Reform. But the job that
must be done is by no means finished.
In fact, we've barely begun to save and improve Medicaid by
persuading more people to plan, save, invest and insure to pay for their
own long-term care. Won't you help us carry on this important mission
for another? Join the
Center. Read our
publications. Share them
with others, especially local reporters and public policy makers.
Together we have made a difference this year. We can again. Annual
dues are only $150 for individuals and negotiable for corporations and
organizations. Contact
Damon at 206-283-7036 or damon@centerltc.com
to join. He'll quickly get
you into "The Zone," in receipt of all our e-publications, and
enjoying all the benefits of membership. -------------- Now, here's a run down of some of the Center for
Long-Term Care Reform's accomplishments in the past year. Center president Stephen Moses published 12 bylined
articles in 2006. Four of
these articles were part of an 8-article series for the national
newspaper Health Care News funded by a grant to the non-profit
Heartland Institute by the Milbank Foundation for Rehabilitation.
Check
out many of Steve's published articles at www.centerltc.com.
The Center for Long-Term Care Reform published 69 LTC
Bullets so far in 2006 and distributed them to all manner of public
policy makers, reporters, academics, LTCi producers, reverse mortgage
lenders, and other long-term care stakeholders.
Check out the LTC Bullets archives at www.centerltc.com. The Center published 126 LTC E-Alerts so far
in 2006 and saw these "one-a-day mental vitamins" on long-term
care elicit ever-increasing interest and feedback.
Check out archives of the LTC E-Alerts in the members-only
zone at www.centerltc.com. The Center was referenced and Steve Moses was
quoted in numerous published articles including pieces in the Wall
Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Dallas Morning
News, the New York Daily News, Kiplinger's Personal
Finance, Kiplinger's Retirement Planning magazine, and the CQ
(Congressional
Quarterly) Researcher. Reporters from many prominent news outlets continue
to interview Steve Moses on long-term care financing issues and he made
several radio appearances in 2006 including an interview on National
Public Radio's "All Things Considered" show.
Check out our media section at www.centerltc.com. Steve gave eleven speeches in 2006 to a wide range
of conferences and organizations including long-term care providers,
LTCi producers, public policy think tanks, Congressional testimony,
public welfare attorneys, Medicaid managed care companies, a Notre Dame
law school symposium on aging. Check
out examples of Steve's speeches at www.centerltc.com. He gave less formal "briefings" on
long-term care financing, with a focus on the Deficit Reduction Act's
potential impact, to dozens of organizations and to many influential
legislators and policy makers. The Center for Long-Term Care Reform conducted
major state-level studies of Medicaid and long-term care financing in
Kansas (with the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy) and in Texas
(with the Texas Public Policy Foundation.)
Check out many of the Center's formal long-term care studies at www.centerltc.com. Finally, we recognize the Center's Administrative
Coordinator Damon Moses for his yeoman's work editing and sending all
our publications, keeping up the Center's huge and ever-growing website
at www.centerltc.com, and for
managing the Center's membership lists and financial support. His dedication and hard work contributes critically to the
Center's ability to hang on financially and continue to pursue our
common mission. So here's to a hugely successful 2006 and a highly hopeful 2007 with your help and support. |