By Caroline E. Mayer

Determine if you qualify financially

Washington state has prepared a guide to buying long-term care insurance

Don’t buy if the out-of-pocket cost for the coverage would be more than you can afford. Consumer Reports advises people that if their net worth, excluding their home, is below $300,000, long-term care insurance is not a good buy for them.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners also recommends that consumers spend no more than 5 percent of their income on a long-term care policy.

If you need long-term care but have few financial resources, Medicaid should quickly kick in to pay, although that will probably limit your choices for care.

On the other hand, if you have a lot of resources (some financial advisers put that threshold at $2 million), you may be able to self-insure and pay the costs as they arise, thereby eliminating the need to buy a policy.

Shop around.

Unlike car insurance where you can switch carriers easily, it can be expensive to change long-term care policies because the premiums increase as you age and you lose the investments already made. Comparison shopping is critical.

Some companies and associations (such as alumni groups and AARP) offer group policies with relatively liberal eligibility, making it easier to obtain coverage if the policyholder has any health issues.

However, these policies may have more limited benefits than individually purchased plans.

If you are young or in excellent health, a group plan may also be more expensive; you may end up paying more to subsidize your less healthy peers.

And if you are certain you want LTC insurance, the younger you are, the better. Your annual premiums will be smaller, and you have less chance of being denied for health reasons.

Know what’s covered.

Policies differ greatly so know what you are buying:

• What services are covered?
• How long is the disability period before benefits kick in and what happens if you move from one facility to another?
• How much does the policy pay per day for nursing home care, home-health care and assisted living?
• How long will benefits last?
• Is there an inflation adjustment that anticipates rising medical costs as you age?
• How long are benefits extended (one, three or five years, or indefinitely)?
• Who determines benefit eligibility — your doctor, or the insurance company’s doctor — and on what basis?
• Are preexisting conditions excluded?
• Does the policy cover mental or nervous disorders, alcoholism, drug abuse or self-inflicted injuries?

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners advises consumers to look for policies that include at least one year of nursing home or home health care coverage, including intermediate and custodial care; coverage for Alzheimer’s disease; inflation protection; a guarantee that the policy cannot be terminated because you get older or your health deteriorates; no requirement that the beneficiary has to first be hospitalized to receive benefits and a 30-day cancellation period after purchase.

Check out the insurance company.

Review a carrier’s record with your state insurance commissioner’s office. Find out how long it has been in business its complaint record and history of raising rates. Stick with a company that has an A financial rating.

Also, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance have consumer guides on their Web sites.

The Department of Health and Human Services provides extensive information on it’s website, longtermcare.gov.

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Viewers will be able to watch a deep brain stimulation surgical procedure, accompanied by a live web chat led by Drs. Ryder Gwinn and Ron Young of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute.

Essential tremor is a common condition whose cause is unknown. It is more common in the elderly but can occur at any age. The tremor sometimes runs in families, in which case it is called familial tremor.

In some cases, essential tremor can occur with other brain and nervous system disorders, such parkinsonism.

Essential tremor usually consists of small, rapid movements that typically affect the hands but can also affect other parts of the body, including the head and face.

The shaking can cause serious disability, making it impossible, for example, to perform such simple tasks as writing and eating.

In deep brain stimulation surgery, an electrode is placed in part of the brain called the thalamus and then connected to a pacemaker-type device that is implanted under the skin.

When successful, electrical stimulation from the device stops the tremor. The pacemaker device can be turned on and off, as needed, by the patient with a hand-held magnet.

Viewers of tomorrow’s live stream will be able to submit questions about essential tremor and deep brain stimulation surgery and any other essential tremor treatment options, during the live stream using an embedded chat feature or via Twitter using the hashtag #SwedishDBS.

Dr. Jennifer Witt, a movement disorders neurologist with the institute, will also be joining the conversation to discuss the medical management of essential tremor.

WHEN:

Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

WHERE:

The webcast can be viewed online at www.Swedish.org/DBSLive.

Those interested may also join the conversation via Twitter by using the hash tag #SwedishDBS.

To learn more:

• Visit the National Institute for Neurological Diseases and Stroke’s webpage on tremor.

• Visit the National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus page on deep brain stimulation.

Special supplement on Parkinson’s disease

Nature has made a special supplement on Parkinson’s disease free online for a limited time.

In the introduction Michelle Grayson writes,

As this Nature Outlook reveals, we might be on the brink of a revolution in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The frustration of failing to find a simple or single cause is giving way to the hope that the complex web of gene and protein interactions might be starting to untangle. Candidate biomarkers for earlier diagnosis are emerging, and many new and exciting treatments are working their way into the clinic.

The supplement includes articles on research on the causes of Parkinson’s and new diagnostics and treatments.

To learn more:

• Go to natureoutlook

Global Health Education

USAID’s Global eLearning Center offers free online courses on a range of global health topics. According to USAID site aims to:

• Provide useful and timely continuing education for health professionals
• Offer state-of-the-art technical content on key public health topics
• Serve as a practical resource for increasing public health knowledge

And, according to USAID, the site offers:

A flexible learning program for busy professionals

Each course is authored by a subject matter expert or a team of experts, is highly focused, and can be completed in about one to two hours. Although courses are designed to be taken online, a printer-friendly format allows you to download course materials for further study.

A blend of technical and programmatic content

The courses combine technical content with program principles, best practices, and case studies. They are intended to provide concrete examples and to stimulate your thinking about ways you can use the principles you have learned in the course to solve problems in the field.

Among the courses offered:

• Antenatal Care
• Maternal Health
• Antimicrobial Resistance
• Cervical Cancer Prevention
• Family Planning and Reproductive Health
• Commercial Private Health Sector Basics
• Diarrheal Disease
• Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care
• Essential Newborn Care
• Fostering Change in Health Services
• HIV Basics
• Human Resources for Health Immunization Essentials
• Logistics for Health Commodities

To learn more:

• Visit the USAID Global Health eLearning website

3/20/2010

Bellevue, Washington

Dr. Monique Giroux, MD, Sierra Farris, PAC, Dr. Jan Fite, PhD and Dr. Martha Glisky, PhD and learn how self-care tools like the NWPF’s virtual Wellness Center can help you set and track your own personal wellness goals.

Presentations will include:

• Nutrition – Learn to make healthy food choices for Parkinson’s and obtain practical advice on vitamins and supplements

• Exercise and Fitness – Learn about your body’s physical changes with Parkinson’s and aging, the benefits of exercise and motivational tips to keep you going.

• Stress Management and Emotional Health – Learn how stress affects your body and symptoms, simple techniques you can do to reduce stress and the power of positive thinking.

ADMISSION AND PARKING IS FREE with a COMPLIMENTARY BOX LUNCH

WHEN:

Saturday March 20, 2010

REGISTRATION:

9:30AM – 10:00AM

CONFERENCE TIME:

10:00AM – 3:00PM

LOCATION:

Hilton Hotel Bellevue Conference Center

Grand Ballroom

300 112th Avenue SE

Bellevue, WA 98004

REGISTRATON REQUIRED:

Online www.nwpf.org or call 1-877-980-7500

This program is generously supported by educational grants from Teva Neuroscience, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals and Amgen with additional support from Medtronic and Aegis Living.