CAREGIVERS USA NEWS

Vol. I, No. 18
March 10, 2003

LUKEWARM RESPONSE TO LATEST BUSH PLAN
Insurers and drug companies are aglow and doctors leapt to their feet to applaud as President Bush proposed limiting malpractice awards as part of his Medicare overhaul. But aging service organizations, consumer groups and labor representatives denounced the plan as another attempt to privatize Medicare.

WHAT WOULD YOU TELL PRESIDENT BUSH?
President Bush has sketched a slightly-refined version of his proposed overhaul of Medicare. Like his first proposal, the latest one would encourage seniors to join an HMO. Those in traditional Medicare would get only minimal prescription drug coverage. What would you tell President Bush if he asked you how Medicare should be restructured? Post your comments in the Forum now.

MEDPAC PROPOSAL SPARKS OUTRAGE
Home health care agencies, nursing homes and other health care providers would get no increase in Medicare reimbursement under a payment plan recommended by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). Providers expressed outrage but others said many of the providers' problems stem from low Medicaid, rather than Medicare, payments.

KAISER STUDIES LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE
A new Kaiser Family Foundation report studies who should buy long-term care insurance. The report draws on dta from several studies on consumer finances and medical expenditures to explore the feasibility of long-term care insurance for people of average means. The report also studies the affordability of LTC insurance for older adults.

An accompanying Kaiser Family Foundation report focuses on consumer protections for individuals buying LTC insurance in the current market. It describes how LTCI works and how it is regulated and examines how well existing federal and state regulatory mechanisms address issues, including suitability in choosing a policy, policy replacement, benefit triggers and other coverage issues, and post-claims underwriting.

RETIREES FACING HIGH HEALTH CARE COSTS
Think you've saved enough for retirement? An issue brief from the Employee Benefit Research Institute presents this sobering illustration: A 65-year old retiree without employment-based insurance may require up to nearly $1.5 million to prefund lifetime medical expenses (assuming death at age 100 and medical inflation of 14 percent annually). The study provides a number of Web-based planning tools that individuals can use to determine what their personal retirement health cost liability potentially will be.

NEW SOCIAL SECURITY MATERIAL AVAILABLE
Along with the new year comes a slew of new information. If you're using an old publication from 2002 to get your Social Security information, you may be getting the wrong information. Each year Social Security updates the information in its publications and on its website, such as payment amounts and earnings limits. All revised publications are now available on the Social Security Administration Web site.

IN THE FORUMS ...
Help! My husband had a stroke! Chris of Evanston, IL, is in the panicked early stages of being a caregiver. Her husband had two strokes in two weeks and the family has just learned that his employer's health insurance no longer covers him. Chris seeks advice and support. www.atsh.org/phorum/read.php?f=3&i=12&t=12