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. ------------ 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. |