Long-Term Care Assistance Act of 1988: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, One Hundredth Congress, Second Session, on S. 2305, May 27, and June 17, 1988, Volume 4U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989 - 349 pages |
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AARP adult day adult day care afford Alzheimer's disease American assets Assistance Act believe beneficiaries benefits bill Blue Cross Bourque Brookings Institution catastrophic Chairman Committee Congress consumer Consumer Reports Consumers Union copayment cost cover coverage custodial deductible disabled elderly eligibility employers exclusionary period expenses financing funds going health insurance hearing HIAA home health hospital income increase individuals insurance policies issue legislation limited Long-Term Care Assistance long-term care insurance long-term care policy long-term care services mandated Medicaid Medicaid program Medicare Medigap million nursing home stays offer options percent persons population premium private insurance private long-term private sector problem proposal protection reimbursement require respite respite care retirement risk role Senator Baucus Senator CHAFEE Senator MITCHELL Senator PACKWOOD SHEARER skilled nursing Social Security spouse statement SUBCOMMITTEE term care insurance Thank TRESNOWSKI U.S. SENATOR
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Page 116 - The need for better consumer education is the responsibility of both the private and public sectors. It is virtually impossible to sell a product to someone who already believes they have it. However, this is where we find ourselves with long-term care insurance. Education should begin early, so that working age people can plan for their potential...
Page 112 - ERISA workforce" participates in pension plans. This situation didn't occur overnight. It evolved, mainly after World War II, as the nation's growth and productivity increased national income and allowed people to look beyond cash income to securing themselves against premature death, unexpected illness or disability, and planning for retirement.
Page 215 - ... company spokesperson says that this rejection rate could drop as John Hancock agents acquire more experience selling the policy. The most popular policies sold by Bankers Life and Casualty and its subsidiaries. Bankers Multiple Line, Certified Life, and Union Bankers, offer coverage for care in all three types of facility, and the policy specifically says Alzheimer's disease is covered. But these policies ranked somewhat below the top companies because of their relatively low daily benefit ($50),...
Page 216 - ... high costs of a catastrophic illness. The report focused attention on the financial consequence of stroke, heart attack, and other medical catastrophes. The reaction to the report spurred Congress to pass bills expanding Medicare to include coverage for catastrophic illnesses of limited duration. But none of the bills do anything to help families pay for long-term care — the greatest source of economic catastrophe. Eighty percent of health-related costs that exceed $2000 a year are due to nursinghome...
Page 209 - Once you have this policy, you're covered for everything." Everything? The policy specifically says it does not provide benefits for six months if a nursing-home stay results from a preexisting condition. A competitor also had trouble explaining coverage. The agent from Bankers Life and Casualty said that intermediate care was the same thing as "convalescent care" and that skilled care meant that "they do a little more medical than the others.
Page 111 - Bruce L. Boyd, Vice President, of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund. I am manager of the Group Insurance Operations Division which provides over 1,800 group disability, life, and medical plans to colleges, universities and other educational institutions for their employees, and insures over 400,000 people.
Page 216 - Federal expenditures for nursinghome care grew tenfold from 1965 to 1980 and will quadruple by 1990. For years, health economists and socialservice planners have seen the shadow of these costs looming. But long-term care for the elderly has only recently won a place on the national agenda — as a seemingly intractable problem for the debtridden Federal government, as a giant financial headache for state governments that share the cost of the Medicaid program, as a painful crisis for more and more...
Page 209 - Gerber salesman touted his policy as the best because he said it paid benefits for "eight continuous years." And he knocked the American Progressive policy. But as you can see from the Ratings, the Gerber policy was hardly the best, ranking near the bottom. The American Progressive policy ranked close to the top. What's best is a combination of features. To help you figure out which policy is best, ask for answers to all the questions listed in the box on page 4. If you get answers that are vague...
Page 216 - It was horrible," says Mary Ann. "There's still anger in me. Nobody can understand until they've experienced it. A lot of people today don't know what they have in store." Indeed they may not In the year 2030, people over 65 will make up 21 percent of the population, up from 12 percent in 1985. The fastestgrowing age group is the "old-old,
Page 224 - President of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The Association is the coordinating organization for the 73 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans throughout the nation. Collectively, the Plans provide health benefits protection for more than 80 million Americans.