Dateline: Thu, 16 Jul 2009
freeNewsArticles Story Summary: “KIRKLAND, Wash. (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Long-term care is getting a lot of exposure in the current health-reform discussions, but we ain’t seen nothin’ yet, according to Denise Gott, Chairman of the Board of LTC Financial Partners LLC (LTCFP) – one of the nation’s largest and most experienced long-term care insurance agencies. ‘Wait until the most-affected individuals get wind of what’s in store for them; all hell could break loose,’ she says.”
A R T I C L E:
KIRKLAND, Wash., July 16 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Long-term care is getting a lot of exposure in the current health-reform discussions, but we ain’t seen nothin’ yet, according to Denise Gott, Chairman of the Board of LTC Financial Partners LLC (LTCFP) – www.ltcfp.com – one of the nation’s largest and most experienced long-term care insurance agencies. “Wait until the most-affected individuals get wind of what’s in store for them; all hell could break loose,” she says.
And who are those individuals? The millions who succumb to longer-lasting illnesses and injuries, requiring help with eating, toileting, dressing or moving around?“No,” says Gott. “It’s the women who end up caring for them. They’re the ones suddenly forced to provide 24/7 assistance to their husband, parent or other loved one who can’t function on their own anymore.” A majority of women will eventually need long-term care themselves, “but they tend to live longer than men, and social norms still consign females to the care giving role. So they’re the ones who have to sacrifice their futures when they’re still relatively young and fit, with years of productive, enjoyable life still to live.”
Long-term care insurance would free women from this forced care giving, since it provides funds for professional nursing home or in-home care, “but the vast majority of women have no long-term care buffer. No policy for their husband or mother or father, let alone for themselves.” Ordinary health insurance doesn’t cover long-term care, nor does Medicare. Medicaid does, but only for the less affluent who lack assets.
The media’s recent attention to long-term care centers around the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act of 2009, which would create a public insurance program for adults who become functionally disabled. “But the benefits would be less than half of those provided by a typical private policy, and they wouldn’t kick in for five years,” Gott says. “This could be better than nothing for lower-income people, but inadequate, in my opinion, for the middle class. Women would still be saddled with significant care giving chores.”
A better solution would be “significant new tax incentives to help people buy private LTC insurance on their own, tailored to their needs,” Gott attests. “Women should be screaming about this to their representatives in Congress. Their futures depend on it.”
Also, the talk shows should be talking it up, Gott says. “I’m surprised Oprah, The View, and 60 Minutes aren’t all over this.”
Forced care giving has an economic as well as lifestyle downside. “Household income dwindles whenever a woman has to give up her job for unpaid care duties,” says Gott. “Multiply that by the millions of women affected, and think of the drain on the economy. It extends into the billions.” Tax breaks for long-term care insurance, “would be a great federal investment, helping us pay for other aspects of health reform.”
More information: http://www.ltcfp.com.
All trademarks and service marks are the property of the respective parties.
###
Copyright © 2009 by LTC Financial Partners LLC and Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope® – all rights reserved. Information believed accurate but not guaranteed. Sourced on: freeNewsArticles.com.
• Story Title: Long-Term Care: The Next Big Women's Issue? Denise Gott, Predicting New Waves of Protest, Calls for Reform
• REFERENCE KEYWORDS/TERMS: womens health issues, , , Community Living Assistance, Women's Interests, , , .
IMPORTANT NOTICE: some content which is considered “old” or “archival” may reference an event which has already occurred; some content possibly considered “advertorial” may also reference a promotion or time-limited/sensitive offering, and in all of these instances certain material may no longer be valid. For notably stale content, you should directly contact the company/person mentioned in the text (LTC Financial Partners LLC); this site cannot assist you with information about products/services mentioned in the news article, nor handle any complaints or other issues related to any person/company mentioned or promoted in the above text. Information believed accurate but not guaranteed as of original date of story [Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:29:07 GMT].
USE THIS CONTENT FOR FREE: To use this content in your newspaper, broadcast outlet, news portal, blog/ezine or similar, free of cost, CLICK HERE to learn how.