Long Term Care Insurance Association Extends Consumer Awareness Campaign

The latest extension of the national campaign to heighten awareness of the importance for long-term care insurance planning focuses on smart and affordable ways to plan in the “new economy”.
          

The special insert appears in the current issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine according to Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long Term CareInsurance responsible for the Fresh Perspectives on Long-Term Care Planning awareness campaign.
          

“We must recognize that we live, work and sell in a new economy and that doing things the same old way simply won’t generate desired results,” declares Slome.  “It is vital to educate consumers that taking advantage of alternate policy design strategies can make this important protection far more affordable than many people think.”
          

One million Americans will see issues of the national personal finance magazine during August and September according to Slome.  “We believe a campaign focused on those individuals who are most likely to actually plan for long term care is a far more effective use of limited dollars,” Slome a leading long term care insurance expert explains.  With support of leading long term care insurers the Association has been placing a series of consumer education inserts into leading publications.  “Each insert has a highly targeted message designed to educate and generate interest in learning more about LTC insurance,” Slome adds.  Reprints of the inserts have been made available by supporting insurers.
          

The current insert suggests consumers consider leaving off traditional inflation protection.  “The old five percent compound inflation standard makes coverage more costly than many are willing to spend,” Slome notes.  “Our belief is that some coverage is always better than none and if selecting a different option or purchasing a higher daily benefit and foregoing inflation protection may make sense for some consumers.”

           

The Association plans to run one additional consumer insert during November’s Long Term Care Awareness month.

Smoking And Weight Tied To Future Brain Shrinkage, Increased Long Term Care Insurance Need

Smoking, having high blood pressure or diabetes and being overweight during your middle years may cause brain shrinkage and lead to cognitive problems up to a decade later.

According to a new study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology these factors appear to cause the brain to lose volume.  Some 38.7 million Americans age 65 and older reported having one or more cognitive disorders according to the 2011 Long-Term Care Insurance Almanac published by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

Health conditions increased the development of lesions secondary to presumed vascular injury, and also appeared to affect its ability to plan and make decisions as quickly as 10 years later.  The findings provide evidence that identifying these risk factors early in people of middle age could be useful in screening people for at-risk dementia and encouraging people to make changes to their lifestyle before it's too late.

The study involved over 1,300 people without dementia with an average age of 54.  Participants had body mass and waist circumference measures taken and were given blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes tests. They also underwent brain MRI scans over the span of a decade, the first starting about seven years after the initial risk factor exam. Participants with stroke and dementia at baseline were excluded, and between the first and last MRI exams, 19 people had a stroke and two developed dementia.

Researchers found that people with high blood pressure developed small areas of vascular brain damage, at a faster rate than those with normal blood pressure readings.  They also had a more rapid worsening of scores on tests of executive function, or planning and decision making, corresponding to five and eight years of chronological aging respectively.

People with diabetes in middle age lost brain volume in the hippocampus at a faster rate than those without diabetes. Smokers lost brain volume overall at a faster rate than nonsmokers and were also more likely to have a rapid increase in white matter hyperintensities.

"Unhealthy habits come back to haunt millions at older ages," explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the long term care insurance association.  "It creates an increased risk of needing long term care in your 80s and 90s a reason why planning prior to retirement is a must especially for those still in good health."