Will New Tool Help Dementia Patients and Their Doctors?

A new tool may help doctors predict life expectancy with dementia to enable patients and families to make important, informed decisions on long term care.

Researchers think that a new tool for dementia patients could help these individuals, as well as their care providers better communicate about the disease and risk of death and develop future care plans as it progresses by predicting life expectancy with dementia.

Dementia is a non-specific clinical syndrome that involves cognitive impairments with the level of severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning.  The disease involves at least two areas of affected cognition – memory, language, reasoning, attention, perception, or problem solving.  Memory loss by itself isn’t necessarily dementia, because there can be many causes of memory loss. Some of the most common types of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia and vascular dementia.  Dementia may require substantial long term care, and life expectancy with dementia would be helpful for families to plan appropriately.  See here for more details.  https://galligan-law.com/elder-law-questions/

McKnight’s Long-Term Care News’ recent article entitled “New tool predicts life expectancy of dementia patients” reports that almost half (48%) of residents in nursing homes have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“In those cases, a tool like this can be an incentive to start such a conversation, which should be held before there are too many cognitive obstacles.” said Sara Garcia-Ptacek, a researcher at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.  She went on to note that this discussion could be about where someone would prefer to live, at home or in other accommodation, or anything else that needs planning.

The tool uses four characteristics to predict life expectancy: sex, age, cognitive ability and comorbidity factors.

In the intensive research, investigators tested the tool using data from more than 50,000 patients who were diagnosed with dementia between 2007 and 2015.  These researchers found that that the tool was able to predict three-year survival following a dementia diagnoses with “good accuracy.”  The new tool also found that patients who were older, male and had lower cognitive function at diagnoses were more likely to die during that time period.

Although dementia is always a difficult situation, both for the patient and the family, this tool predicting life expectancy with dementia will help everyone make more better, more informed decisions about long term care and caregiving.

Reference: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News (Jan. 26, 2020) “New tool predicts life expectancy of dementia patients”

 

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Elder Financial Abuse Is Increasing

A recent study shows elder financial abuse is rising in retirement planning. Working with trusted advisors, other professionals and family can help.

A September 2018 Forbes report said that elder financial abuse would only get worse as we age. With 10,000 people turning age 65 every day for the decade, the demographics include a growing pool of potentially fragile retirees and the elderly, many of whom are susceptible to financial exploitation.

alphabetastock.com’s recent article entitled “Elder Financial Abuse Is Rising” says that, although the criminals are out there, a lot of elder financial abuse actually begins in the retirement system, because individuals must accumulate and handle a large amount of money designed to last an entire lifetime. With $14.5 trillion in self-directed retirement accounts in the U.S., it’s a big, enticing target for financial predators.  This is on top of other forms of elder financial abuse that come from scams online, via phone calls or sometimes even from family.

Elder financial abuse includes all of the frauds and scams targeting seniors and because it’s a hidden crime, many victims opt not to report it. Those that do report the crimes, frequently don’t prosecute.

However, when it comes to trying to promote real changes that will provide some material protections, the investment, insurance, and financial services industries directly or indirectly have been showing some reticence about the potential compliance expense. Some of these companies are lobbying to maintain a status quo—one that’s on a course to see a steady rise in elder financial exploitation.

Many retirement investors think their professional financial advisors are fiduciaries who are legally bound to act in their best interests. However, that’s not always so. Many professional financial advisors need only adhere to a lower legal standard of behavior. They can’t outright tell you a lie—but they can make recommendations that don’t put the customer’s best interests as a top priority.

A GAO study found elder financial abuse to be a growing epidemic. Rather than being able to live out their golden years in safety and financial security, the lack of financial safeguards are leaving an entire (and growing) group of older Americans at risk. These seniors are often left on their own and confused as to how the advisors they entrusted with their financial security are permitted to make moves that are motivated by high commissions and self-interest. These so-called professionals aren’t required by the law to place interests of their clients ahead of their own.

Theft and illegal behavior is one small component of the elder financial exploitation. A bigger part comes from abusive financial practices, such as higher fees and complex and unsuitable advice and recommendations from professional financial advisors who aren’t fiduciaries.  It is helpful to occasionally have your financial picture reviewed by another advisor or your friends and family.  More eyes may reduce financial elder abuse.

Be sure that you are working with a financial professional who is trustworthy and has your best interests at heart.  At The Galligan Law Firm we have worked with many excellent advisors and would be happy to make a recommendation.

Reference: alphabetastock.com (January 11, 2020) “Elder Financial Abuse Is Rising”

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Long Term Care Insurance in your Retirement Plan

Include long term care insurance in your retirement plan to protect your legacy from rising costs such as the nursing home, assisted living and in-home care.

Roughly 60% of those turning 65 can anticipate using some form of long term care in their lives, according to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. It may be a nursing home, assisted living, or in-home care.  Long term care insurance is a great way to cover those costs.

CNBC’s recent article, “Not having long-term care insurance can be ‘the single biggest devastator’ of your financial plan,” reports that over 8 million Americans have long term care insurance. However, the cost of that insurance is rising. This increase is because of several factors, including the fact that companies underpriced their policies for years and misjudged how many would drop coverage.

Because of those rising premiums, some individuals may choose self-insurance. That means saving a pool of money to earmark for long term care. Coverage is also available through Medicaid, which has eligibility requirements.

Even with these increases, you should consider purchasing some form of coverage. This is because not being insured can be the biggest devastator of a financial plan.

The rule of thumb has been to buy LTC coverage at age 55. However, it really depends on your situation. The big unknown is health, and the odds of being able to qualify for coverage at age 60, compared to age 30 or 40 is vastly different.  See here for a fuller description.  https://galligan-law.com/when-should-i-consider-long-term-care-insurance/

A traditional LTC policy will cover the costs of care for a certain period of time, generally up to six years. The amount of coverage is based on the average cost of care for your location. Most insurers offer it in the form of a monthly benefit, and possibly with some inflation protection.

There’s also a hybrid policy that covers long term care costs but becomes life insurance paid to heirs, if it’s not used. Of the 350,000 Americans who purchased long term care protection in 2018, 85% chose the hybrid coverage. It’s also called combo or linked-benefit. The big difference is price: you’ll pay more for the hybrid policy.

Medicaid is another option, particularly if you don’t have a way to save. To be eligible, you must meet financial guidelines.  Medicaid also looks back five years into your finances, so if you have given away any money during that period of time, it may be subject to penalty.

Long term care insurance is a great tool to address rising long term care costs in your retirement.  If you don’t have or can’t get a policy that’s right for you, an elder law attorney can help explore Medicaid or other benefit options to cover your long term care needs.

Reference: CNBC (October 14, 2019) “Not having long-term care insurance can be ‘the single biggest devastator’ of your financial plan”

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