LTC Bullet:  LTC Tour Touches LTC Providers 

Friday, February 1, 2008 

Knoxville, TN-- 

LTC Comment:  LTC providers are a key ally in our fight for responsible long-term care planning and rational LTC public policy.  Providers and the LTC Tour after the ***news.*** 

*** LTC VIDEOS.  The Biltmore mansion in Asheville, North Carolina is the biggest private residence in the United States.  It inspired me to make this video comparison between the Silver Bullet of Long-Term Care and that imposing house:  Click Here.  Please excuse the poor production values and corny message.  Just having some fun. *** 

*** KUDOS TO CHATTANOOGA REGIONAL REP Gail Lindsey for getting this article about the LTC Tour into her local newspaper a full week before the Silver Bullet arrives:  "Long-Term Health Care Expert Visits Chattanooga," The Chattanoogan, February 1, 2008:  http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_121119.asp.  Here's a clip:  "Stephen Moses is coming to Chattanooga on Feb. 11 and 12, and he's bringing a silver bullet with him. It has nothing to do with guns or vampires, and everything to do with smart planning.  Mr. Moses's Silver Bullet is an Air Stream trailer purchased specifically for its attention-getting value in the 2008 National Long-Term Care Consciousness Tour he started last month." *** 

*** HERE IT COMES.  Yesterday's LTC E-Alert observed that the LTC insurance market will take off when public financing of retirement income (Social Security), acute care for the aging (Medicare) and long-term care (Medicaid) retrench due to unfunded liabilities.  Read the piece on our LTC Blog at www.centerltc.com.  Evidence that the process is starting already came in a New York Times article yesterday:  "Bush Seeks Surplus via Medicare Cuts," by Robert Pear.  Here's the lead:  "In his new budget, to be unveiled Monday, President Bush will call for large cuts in the growth of Medicare, far exceeding what he proposed last year, and he will again seek major savings in Medicaid, according to administration officials and budget documents."  With a new recession looming, and huge new budget shortfalls imminent, the days are gone when government could remove the burden of long-term care planning from the middle class and affluent. *** 

 

LTC BULLET:  LTC TOUR TOUCHES LTC PROVIDERS 

LTC Comment:  Nursing homes are heavily dependent on Medicaid which pays them too little to ensure quality care.  Home health care providers are heavily dependent on Medicare which has whipsawed them between generous and penurious coverage.  Assisted living facilities are 90 percent private pay, but they're hurt by government subsidies of nursing home care and tempted by Medicaid's low reimbursements for beds that would otherwise remain empty.  In a nutshell, the entire LTC provider profession needs responsible LTC planning and rational long-term care policy.  

With Medicare and Social Security under fiscal duress and state Medicaid budgets pressed by new recession worries, all LTC providers will be more anxious than ever to find full private-pay residents.  One logical choice for providers to make is to encourage and support the Center's National Long-Term Care Consciousness Tour.  We have a common mission to enhance private financing alternatives for long-term care as a means to preserve and improve the government safety net for people unable to pay for their own LTC.  

The LTC Tour reaches out to long-term care providers.  Steve Moses spoke last week to 300-plus members of the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association at its annual convention.  Two weeks ago, the John Locke Foundation published the Center's latest state-level report which focuses on helping LTC providers find adequate funding:  Click Here.  We're reaching out to LTC providers across the country with an offer to speak at their state and national meetings.  LTC providers are showing their appreciation with invitations to speak and publicity about the LTC Tour. 

Following is a story in the current issue of Assisted Living Executive magazine, a publication of ALFA, the Assisted Living Federation of America.  We thank ALFA for covering the Tour and look forward to working with ALFA chapters in the states. 

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Anya Martin, "Silver Bullet Hits the Road With an LTC Message," Assisted Living Executive Magazine, January/February 2008 

The Silver Bullet of Long-Term Care vehicle will tour United States this year as part of the National Long-Term Care Consciousness Tour. 

When Stephen A. Moses, president of the Seattle-based Center for Long-Term Care Reform, saw the Airstream trailer, he knew he had found more than a cost-effective combination of transportation and lodging for the quote "National Long-Term Care Consciousness Tour."  The iconic, sleek aluminum trailer has become the "Silver Bullet of Long-Term Care," to bring attention to the grassroots campaign that takes place throughout this year. 

"The public needs to look at long-term care through the windshield, not through the rearview near," Moses says.  "The reality is that the [Medicaid] safety net will not be there." 

During the tour, Moses will not only engage in advocacy, but also educate and consult with key stakeholders about how non-Medicaid-based long-term care financial planning results in better care for most seniors.  He will meet with long-term care providers, insurers, reverse mortgage specialists, financial advisors, think tanks, political officials, media representatives, local businesses serving seniors, and senior advocates. 

Being primarily private-pay, assisted living communities are in a unique position to benefit when seniors don't divest themselves economically to qualify for Medicaid and instead utilize such methods as long-term care insurance and reverse mortgages, Moses says.  Communities that are able to educate consumers about long-term care insurance and reverse mortgages will have a leg up in driving occupancy, he explains.  

Throughout 2008, Moses will spend two months each in six regions, starting in the Southeast in January/February; Southwest in March/April; Central/East in May/June; Northeast in July/August; Midwest in September/October; and West in November/December. 

Moses is funding initial expenses for the trip out-of-pocket, including $75,000 to purchase the Airstream and a silver FJ Cruiser to pull it, but also is seeking sponsors who will both partner in his efforts and receive valuable consulting, education, and networking for pledging a dollar amount for each of the 10,000 total miles Moses estimates he'll cover on the tour. 

"What we do and how we do it depends on what sponsors seek to achieve," Moses says.  "We'll work together for months in advance to plan events and presentations." 

To find out more about the National Long-Term Care Consciousness Tour, arrange a visit by the Silver Bullet Of Long-Term Care, or become a tour sponsor, contact the Center for Long-Term Care Reform at 206/283-7036 or e-mail Moses at smoses@centerltc.com.