HSNi Cares supports the Alzheimer’s Association with the Rita Hayworth Collection and campaign

From May 1-10, HSN Cares will donate 10 percent of the purchase price from all items in the HSN Cares Rita Hayworth Jewelry Collection, inspired by Hayworth’s favorite jewelry, to the Alzheimer’s Association. Shoppers will be invited to give at checkout; they’ll receive $10 in HSN Ka$h for contributions of $10 or more and can donate tickets in the HSN arcade to unlock an additional $2,500 to benefit the Association. Customers of HSNi brands Ballard Designs and TravelSmith may also donate at checkout, from April 23 to May 25 and April 23 to May 16, respectively. On May 8, from 7-9 p.m. EST, Maria Carrillo, the Association’s chief science officer, will join HSN to guest host the program featuring the Rita Hayworth Collection and to share facts about Alzheimer’s disease.

HSNi Cares, the philanthropic arm of HSNi, dedicated to empowering women and helping families in times of need, is again supporting the Alzheimer’s Association® with proceeds from the HSN Cares Rita Hayworth Jewelry Collection and a larger campaign. From May 1 – 10, 2015, HSN is donating 10% of the purchase price from all items in the collection inspired by Hayworth’s favorite jewelry. Shoppers are also invited to add a donation at checkout at HSN from May 1- May 10, 2015, and in doing so, they will help advance the care, support and research efforts of the Association, moving us closer to a World Without Alzheimer’s^® disease.

Customers who make a donation of $10 or more to the Alzheimer’s Association at HSN from May 1 – May 10, 2015 will receive $10 in HSN Spendable Ka$h to be redeemed from June 1 – June 21, 2015.Throughout the campaign, customers can also donate tickets in the HSN arcade to unlock a donation of $2,500 to the Alzheimer’s Association.

HSNi brands Ballard Designs and TravelSmith are also participating in the campaign. Ballard Designs’ and TravelSmith’s customers are invited to make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association at checkout, both online and over the phone, from April 23 – May 25, 2015 and from April 23 – May 16, 2015 respectively.

Additionally, Maria Carrillo, the Association’s chief science officer, will join HSN to guest host the program featuring the HSN Cares Rita Hayworth Jewelry Collection and to share the facts about Alzheimer’s disease on May 8, from 7-9 p.m. EST.

Visit HSN.com and search “HSN Cares” to learn more.

*100% of your donation through HSN Cares will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. HSN customers who make a donation of $10 or more to the Alzheimer’s Association at HSN from May 1 – May 10, 2015 will receive $10 in HSN Spendable Ka$h to be redeemed from June 1 – June 21, 2015. Maximum value under this promotion per customer is a $10 Spendable Ka$h. Spendable Ka$h under this promotion will expire if not used by June 21, 2015. HSN will donate 10% of the purchase price from all items in the Rita Hayworth Collection, up to $35,000, to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association, from May 1 – May 10, 2015. HSN will donate $2,500 to the Alzheimer’s Association when 5,000,000 tickets are redeemed on the HSN arcade for this cause at HSN.com/Rewards from May 1 – May 10, 2015. 100% of your donation through Ballard Designs from April 23 – May 25, 2015 and TravelSmith from April 23 – May 16, 2015 goes directly to the Alzheimer’s Association.

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CSA Educational Webinars
Navigating the VA Healthcare System
According to the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, there are about 22 million Veterans in the United States, roughly 7% of the total population. It is inevitable that you will work with Veterans as professionals who work with aging populations. It is important to know the benefits available to Veterans, and more importantly the process of accessing those benefits. This webinar will focus on the process of enrollment and engaging the supportive healthcare benefits available through the VA (including caregiver support, respite, in home health etc). We will also touch on compensation and pension, loans and the many other support options available to Veterans. This presentation will give you practical steps to help you understand, direct and walk alongside your Veterans who are seeking healthcare and additional benefits through the VA. Register now!

Events

Navigating the VA Healthcare System

Thursday, May 21, 2015 with Carilyn Ellis at 2:00 PM ET, 1:00 PM CT, 12:00 PM MT and 11:00 AM PT

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, there are about 22 million Veterans in the United States, roughly 7% of the total population. It is inevitable that you will work with Veterans as professionals who work with aging populations. It is important to know the benefits available to Veterans, and more importantly the process of accessing those benefits. This webinar will focus on the process of enrollment and engaging the supportive healthcare benefits available through the VA (including caregiver support, respite, in home health etc). We will also touch on compensation and pension, loans and the many other support options available to Veterans. This presentation will give you practical steps to help you understand, direct and walk alongside your Veterans who are seeking healthcare and additional benefits through the VA.

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The Growing Long Term Care Funding Crisis Requires Understanding Private Pay Alternatives
Not all Medicare Advantage Plans are created equal. A little-known option may appeal to those approaching retirement. Click here to read blog post.

The growing long term care funding crisis requires understanding private pay alternatives

Statistics show that the majority of people do not understand the various forms of long term care, the different means to pay for it, and most do not plan for long term care until they are hit by a health care crisis.  Today, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are all in the red and creating havoc for government budgets at the federal and state levels.   State budgets have been impacted particularly hard by shrinking tax dollars and growing Medicaid enrollment brought on by an aging population.  Over 10 million Americans now require long term care annually, and Medicaid is the primary source of coverage. 

Seniors and their families are already struggling with the costs of everyday living, if you add the costs of long term care to the picture it is a back breaking scenario for most Americans.  The simple fact is more responsibility is going to be placed back on the individual and their families to find the resources necessary to handle the costs of long term care.  Understanding the growing array of alternative private pay solutions is a critical part of long term care planning for any senior care advisor and provider.

The Solution

Twenty years ago the only real alternative to Medicare and Medicaid was long term care insurance.  Today, a variety of private pay options exist in the market that can help a person remain financially independent, preserve assets, maintain more control of the type and location of care they access, and will go a long way towards preserving dignity for an individual and their family when confronting the need for care. 

Among the options that a senior care advisor and provider should have familiarity with, are:

• Veterans’ Aide & Attendance Benefit: A monthly benefit for low income veterans (and their spouses) who served at least one day during a wartime period.
• Converting life insurance into a Long Term Care Benefit Plan: A Long Term Care Benefit Plan is the conversion of an in-force life insurance policy into an irrevocable, FDIC-insured Benefit Account that is professionally administered with tax-free payments made monthly on behalf of the individual receiving care.
• Reverse Mortgages: A reverse mortgage is a loan that enables senior homeowners, age 62 and older, to convert part of their home equity (primary residence only) into tax-free income without having to sell their home, give up title to it, or make monthly mortgage payments.
• Viatical/Life Settlements: A life or viatical settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy to a third party for more than its cash surrender value, but less than its net death benefit.
• Senior Living Loans: Senior Care Bridge Loans are designed to help seniors and their families with the cost of assisted living, home care or skilled nursing on a short term basis.  The loan is unsecured with up to 6 co-signers permitted instead of collateral and the loan payments are made directly from the loan account to the care provider.
• Single Premium Immediate Annuities (SPIA): An immediate annuity is a contract with an insurance company under which the consumer pays a certain amount of money to the company and the company sends the consumer a monthly check for the rest of his or her life. In most states the purchase of an annuity is not considered to be a transfer for purposes of eligibility for Medicaid, but is instead the purchase of an investment.
• Long Term Care Insurance: Long-term care insurance is designed to cover a wide range of long-term care services. Most long-term care services are NOT covered by any other kind of insurance, including health insurance, long-term disability insurance, Medicare, or Medicare supplemental coverage.

Conclusion

When it comes to private pay financial solutions for long term care it is not about selling a product; rather, it is about providing information and access to resources that will allow for effective long term care financial planning.  Advisors should be focused on understanding the crisis situation we are dealing with as a country and the variety of resources that can help people both plan for the future and react to an immediate situation.  The seven private pay funding solutions presented in this article are all viable alternatives to going onto Medicare and/or Medicaid. It is the responsibility of every advisor to be familiar with how they can benefit a family confronting the realities of long term care.

• Read the expanded article by Chris Orestis covering Private Pay Options for Long Term Care in-depth in the spring edition of the CSA Journal.

About the Author

Chris Orestis, CEO of Life Care Funding, is an 18-year veteran of both the insurance and long-term care industries.  A former Washington DC lobbyist, he is a nationally known senior care advocate and author of the Amazon best-seller book “Help on the Way”, a legislative expert, featured speaker, columnist and contributor to a number of insurance and long term care industry publications.  Chris is a frequent guest about senior issues on national radio programs; and has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Fox Business News, and PBS.

Founded in 2007, Life Care Funding was the first to pioneer the concept of converting a life insurance policy into a Long Term Care Benefit Plan.  Since the company’s inception, they have built a national network of agents, attorneys, and advisors as well as over 5,000 Homecare, Assisted Living and Nursing Home companies that offer the Long Term Care Benefit policy conversion option to families directly across the United States.

His blog on senior living issues can be found at www.lifecarefunding.com. He can be reached at 888-670-7773 x 6623 or corestis@lifecarefunding.com.

• Watch the recent webinar, Private Pay Options for Long Term Care, presented by Chris Orestis, CEO of Life Care Funding.

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Lifestyle Trends
Stay Healthy, Keep Gardening

Aging doesn’t mean you have to give up gardening, which can keep you physically and mentally healthy. You just need to use the correct tools. Also, consider gardening with raised beds or containers, which can be easier on older bodies. Click here to view article.

LIFESTYLE

Stay Healthy, Keep Gardening

Michael Taylor started his first garden, in a small Chicago backyard, when he was 13. Later, as a father and husband raising seven children, he maintained a large garden behind his suburban home, growing tomatoes, green beans, sweet corn, radishes, peas, green peppers, basil and dill. After he moved to a senior retirement complex, in his 80s, he had a small plot in the shared gardens space, growing a few tomatoes, green peppers, dill and basil. It was only at the age of 91 that he decided to retire from his lifetime pursuit of gardening.

For many older adults, like Michael, gardening has been a lifelong hobby, especially for those who grew up planting “victory gardens” to aid the war effort. But many seniors worry that they will have to give up gardening as they get older and cannot easily bend, kneel and squat to dig, weed and prune. For others, moving to an apartment/condo means the loss of yards and gardens.

Aging doesn’t mean you have to give up growing your own tomatoes or roses. Using the correct gardening tools and taking advantage of garden innovations such as raised beds or containers can make it easier for older bodies. In fact, many assisted living communities are offering raised garden beds as an amenity. You can also take advantage of community gardens or sign up with the local garden club to beautify public

Health Benefits of Gardening

Beyond the pleasures of growing our own food or other plants, gardening stimulates all the senses, gets us outdoors and provides many health benefits, both physical and emotional. Studies have shown that gardening relieves stress, eases depression, boosts self-esteem, increases heart health and reduces the risk of stroke. It also improves hand strength and dexterity, increases brain health, decreases Alzheimer’s risk and regulates the immune system.

When practiced regularly, gardening can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and prevent diabetes and osteoporosis. It gives all major muscle groups a good workout including your legs, arms, buttocks, stomach, neck and back. Digging up soil, setting plants or carrying water can increase heart rate and tone the body.

Gardening is also an excellent way for aging bodies to get “moderate cardiovascular exercise,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Institute of Health recommends 30-45 minutes of gardening 3-5 times a week to combat obesity.

Raise Up Your Garden

To prevent having to bend over constantly, and to avoid back strain and knee problems, you can raise the level of your garden.

Raised bed. Create raised beds with lightweight plastic landscape timbers or other materials at the height you need, including wheelchair height, and just add dirt. Make sure you can reach the middle of the beds from either side.

Container gardening. Those who don’t have large yards, or have limited mobility, can use containers on balconies or small spaces. Place them at the right height for you, and consider wheeling them around on castors to catch (or avoid) the sunlight or rain. (See sidebar for tips on container planting.)

Vertical garden. Grow your garden upward, with trellises that can hold cucumbers, squash, melons, beans and other vegetables that have vines. You can also use tomato cages, bamboo stakes, fences, walls or arbors as supports. These will help cut down on bending and stooping, and they’ll make harvesting easier.

Gardening Aids

To help avoid physical strain, look for the right tools at your local garden center, nearby hardware store or online website.

To avoid knee pain, use a kneeler stool, which has a thick foam pad that’s comfortable on the knee joints, plus hand grips that make it easier to get up from a kneeling position. Once you’re up, flip the kneeler over to convert it to a comfortable stool. Similarly, a garden seat with wheels provides stability, and some can hold tools.

Choose tools that are longer and made of aluminum rather than steel. Aluminum tools are lighter, and longer tools help prevent over-stretching and provide more leverage. For less strain, buy ergonomically designed handles and tools. If your vision is poor, use tools that have brightly colored handles, or add your own bright colors with colored tape.

Other tips for making gardening more comfortable:

• Choose padded gloves, which will provide protection for your hands when you are leaning on them.
• Select a spinning compost bin so you don’t have to reach into the bin to turn it over.
• Use watering wands or coiled hoses rather than straining with heavy watering cans.
• Opt for two-wheeled wheelbarrows to avoid having a heavy load shift.
• Punch small holes in the lid of a jar, mix seeds inside and sprinkle them on the soil from a standing position. This prevents you from having to bend over to plant your garden.
• Add foam grips to existing tools to soften the handles and add traction, or include “grabbers” or extension poles. These tricks are especially useful if you have a condition, such as arthritis, that makes holding tools painful or impossible.

Join a Garden Club

If you don’t have any soil to call your own, consider joining a community garden, which gives you a small plot of land in a larger, shared space. Usually, the local government or a nonprofit runs community gardens and charges a fee for the land use. Many senior living facilities also provide shared spaces for residents to grow vegetables and flowers. One of the pleasures of a community space is sharing tips: which nutrients to add to the soil, how much to water or when to harvest your winter squash.

In fact, the American Community Gardening Association ascribes all kinds of positive attributes to participating in community gardens. The association claims that community gardening “improves people’s quality of life by providing a catalyst for neighborhood and community development, stimulating social interaction, encouraging self-reliance, beautifying neighborhoods, producing nutritious food, reducing family food budgets, conserving resources and creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education.” The association provides a “Find a Garden” option that locates community gardens near you.

Similarly, garden clubs provide a social aspect to gardening. Today’s clubs do much more than plant flowers around the Civil War statue in the town park. According to the National Garden Clubs, they teach gardening skills to developmentally challenged high-school students; plan, plant and maintain healing gardens in nursing homes and veterans hospitals; provide gardening education and encouragement to prison inmates; work to re-landscape hurricane-damaged public areas; help Habitat for Humanity homeowners establish low-maintenance, environmentally friendly gardens; and rehabilitate parks and vacant lots. The National Garden Clubs can help you find a club near you, or you can check your local media or ask at nearby gardening centers.

Sources

“6 Unexpected Health Benefits of Gardening,” Sept. 19, 2015 Earth easy

“Today’s Garden Clubs Are Globally Focused and Locally Grown,” National Garden Clubs

“Growing Community Across the U.S. and Canada,” American Community Gardening Association

“Gardening’s Surprising Health Benefits,” May 30, 2014, Next Avenue

“Adaptive Gardening Tools: Tools That Make Gardening With Limitations Easy,” Gardening Knowhow

Gardens For Senior Citizens: Creating An Easy Care Senior Garden, Gardening Knowhow

“Easier Gardening for Seniors,” DIY

“Growing Connections: Gardening with Seniors,” Agingcare.com

“Tips and Techniques for the Senior Gardener,” Agricultural Extension

Tips for Container Gardening

Gardening with containers looks easy, but you need to take some precautions.

Container. Choose a container with good drainage. Be aware that containers made from clay and other unglazed pottery are porous and tend to dry out more easily than other materials.

Water. Container gardening requires special attention to watering because plants can’t get water from the soil, only from you. Water plants frequently, especially when it’s hot.

Plant. Although almost any kind of plant is suitable for a container garden, the plant’s root length will determine the container’s required depth. Plants with long roots will need deeper containers, whereas plants with shorter root lengths will do fine with more shallow containers.Sunlight. Adequate sunlight is essential to any successful garden, and container gardening is no different. Keep in mind you may need to move your plants from one location to another to follow the path of sunlight.

Source: “Novice Container Gardening Tips,” Gardening Knowhow.

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Your Money Don’t Let Your Hospital Bill Cause a Heart Attack
Just when you’re starting to recover from your hospital stay, you get the bill, and those chest pains start to come back. But you don’t have to feel like you have no control over your health care expenses. You can take steps—both before and after a hospital stay—to ensure the best possible financial outcome. Click here to view article.

Don’t Let Your Hospital Bill Cause a Heart Attack

Just when you’re starting to recover from your hospital stay, you get the bill, and those chest pains start to come back. But you don’t have to feel like you have no control over your health care expenses. You can take steps—both before and after a hospital stay—to ensure the best possible financial outcome.

Admitted vs. Observed

One good way to make sure you’re not paying unnecessary costs is to pay attention when you first enter the hospital. Is the hospital classifying you as an admitted patient or just for observation? The difference can mean that you end up paying for your rehabilitative care.

Because Medicare considers hospital observation an outpatient service, it won’t pay for rehabilitation. Current Medicare law requires a patient to be in the hospital, admitted as an inpatient, for three days in order to receive coverage for rehabilitation in a skilled nursing facility. After that, Medicare pays for the first 20 days of rehab or other care. Conversely, if a patient has been under observation—for all or part of that time—he is responsible for the entire cost of rehab.

Because hospitals provide observation care on an outpatient basis, patients must usually pay co-payments for their doctors’ fees and each hospital service. In addition, patients must pay out of pocket for any medications the hospital provides for pre-existing health problems. Medicare drug plans are not required to reimburse patients for these drug costs because Medicare covers outpatient costs under Part B rather than Part A. This can mean paying more out of pocket for prescription drugs.

Because Medicare has strict criteria for hospital admissions and usually won’t pay anything for admitted patients who should have been observation patients, hospitals in recent years have increased their share of observation patients. Yet, a government investigation found that observation patients often have the same health problems as those who are admitted (Kaiser Health News).

Growing Trend

More Medicare beneficiaries are entering hospitals as observation patients every year. The number rose 88 percent over the past six years, to 1.8 million nationally in 2012, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which helps guide Congress on Medicare issues (Kaiser Health News). At the same time, Medicare hospital admissions stayed about the same.

The Center for Medicare Advocacy filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government in an attempt to abolish the observation status—or at least for patients to be notified and given the opportunity to make a swift appeal against the decision. However, a federal court judge in Hartford, Conn., dismissed the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of 14 Medicare beneficiaries who were denied nursing home coverage.

The trouble is that hospitals don’t necessarily tell you how you are classified when you first come to the hospital (and Medicare doesn’t require this). So you need to be proactive to make sure you are admitted rather than observed. (See sidebar, “How to Avoid ‘Observation’ Status” for actions to take.) To counteract the overuse of observation status, in August 2013 Medicare introduced a new regulation that will require physicians to admit patients whom they expect to be in the hospital for longer than two midnights. However, the so-called “Pumpkin Rule” has gotten so much resistance from hospitals that its implementation has been delayed.

Steps to Control your Hospital Bill

In addition to inquiring about your status when you enter the hospital, you can take steps to lower health costs before and after going to the hospital.

Plan ahead. If you have the luxury of planning a procedure or surgery (that is, it’s not an emergency or you’re not restricted to certain hospitals), you can find out which hospital is the least expensive for your procedure (and is within your insurance network). Surprisingly, some of the higher-rated facilities offer the least expensive procedures. Using the billing code (available from your doctor) known as CPT (current procedural terminology), you can check Internet sites, including FAIR Health, Healthcare Blue Book andNew Choice Health for rates local hospitals charge for your procedure.

Also, when planning ahead, you may need pre-authorization, so be sure to check with your insurance company.

A freestanding ambulatory surgery facility, which is less costly than the hospital, can do some elective procedures. Check with your doctor and insurer. If you need an anesthesiologist, find out if they are in the network, because they bill separately. However, if unknown, most plans will bill at the in-network rate.

Stay on top of bills. After the surgery and once you start getting bills from the hospital, make sure you stay organized. For example, you could have bills coming from the hospital, various doctors, the lab and the ambulance. Some won’t come from the hospital itself, but from the provider who performed a service.

Check all the bills for errors. For example, if the hospital discharged you in the morning, protest if the hospital is charging a full daily-room rate for the date you left. Similarly, make sure there are no charges for medications you brought to the hospital. Also, the hospital daily-room charge should include fees for routine supplies, such as gowns, gloves and sheets, and not be extra.

Negotiate bills. If you think your bill is out of line, you can check other hospitals’ rates for the same procedure and use that data to try to convince the hospital to lower your fees. You can also use Medicare rates as a guide. Even though the government program typically has the lowest reimbursement rate for hospitals and medical providers, the Medicare fees indicate the government value of that hospital service and provide a good starting point for negotiating.

Also, many hospitals are willing to work with you if you can’t pay the bill, either giving you extra time or lowering their fees. Most hospitals have generous financial-assistance programs to help trim large bills even if your household income is above the poverty line. If the hospital can’t help, public, private and nonprofit programs are available to help. The federal government’s website Healthcare.gov and the nonprofitNeedymeds.org offer information on patient assistance programs.

Get professional help. If you think you were overcharged, and you’re unable to make any headway with the hospital, you can get assistance from a medical or patient advocate. These often experienced medical billing professionals can step in and look for errors and overcharges in your bill and ultimately negotiate a lower rate. Typically, there is no upfront cost. The advocates charge anywhere from 15-50 percent of the money they save you, and some put a cap on their fees.

Some state governments, including Connecticut, Rhode Island and California, provide medical advocates. There are also nonprofit groups, like the Patient Advocate Foundation, that will negotiate on your behalf for free or a small fee. You can also find patient and medical billing advocates through the National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants or the Alliance of Claims Assistance Professionals.

How to Avoid “Observation” Status

To prevent having to pay for skilled nursing rehabilitation after your hospital stay, AARP and Kaiser Health News recommend taking proactive steps:

• Ask about your status each day you are in the hospital, as it can be changed (from inpatient to observation, or vice versa) at any time.
• Ask your doctor whether observation status is justified. If not, ask her to call the hospital to explain the medical reasons why you should be admitted as an inpatient. However, even if the doctor agrees, the hospital may be able to overrule that decision, or Medicare can change it later when reviewing the claim.
• After discharge, if you learn that Medicare won’t cover your stay in a skilled nursing facility, ask your doctor whether you qualify for similar care at home through Medicare’s home health care benefit or for Medicare-covered care in a rehabilitation hospital.
• If you have to pay for services at a skilled nursing facility, but you believe those services should have been billed as inpatient, you can try formally appealing Medicare’s decision. When you receive your quarterly Medicare Summary, follow the instructions to challenge the charges from the hospital listed under Part B of the notice. If this is denied, you can go to a higher level of appeal, following instructions on the denial letter. Also challenge any charges from the nursing home for outpatient services such as physical therapy.
• If you are billed for care in the nursing home, ask the nursing home to submit a “demand bill” to Medicare. When it is rejected, you can appeal. The Center for Medicare Advocacy’s online “self-help packet” offers more details about how to challenge observation status.

  Source: “Medicare: Inpatient or Outpatient?” AARP; and “FAQ: Hospital Observation Care Can Be Costly For Medicare Patients,” June 18, 2014, Kaiser Health News.

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