Hybrid Long-Term Care Insurance Gaining Interest
The New York Times examines the increasing popularity of this type of insurance policy. Also, the Times looks at how much retirees should save for medical costs.
The New York Times:
Hybrid Long-Term Care Policies Provide Cash And Leave Some Behind
There’s a good reason to have long-term care coverage in your wealth management plan. If you need to go to a nursing home, it can cost more than $90,000 a year for a private room, according to a survey by Genworth Financial, an insurance company. The costs, especially for longer stays because of Alzheimer’s disease, can deplete your estate. The financial impact of prolonged long-term care expenses concerned Brian Cassell, 55, a veterinarian in Denver, and his wife, Linda. Although they had looked at several stand-alone policies for long-term care, they didn’t like them because they were expensive and the premiums could rise. They wanted something more flexible. Working with financial planners, the Cassells looked at a relatively new option, hybrid policies that package coverage for long-term care with a universal life insurance policy or a fixed annuity. (Wasik, 3/4)
The New York Times:
On Eve Of Retirement, Savings For Medical Costs Can Fall Short
William Seavey, 69, does not fret about paying future medical expenses. He and his wife, Eleanor, are healthy. And they both have Medicare and Medigap policies, which can help pay many health costs. So they have not put any money aside in a medical savings account. If they do need cash, said Mr. Seavey, they can sell one of their three homes. Or they can go to Mexico for cheaper medical treatment. Various studies show that people in or nearing retirement have not saved nearly enough for medical expenses, which rise substantially with age. (Gustke, 3/4)
In other national news —
The New York Times:
A Biotech Evangelist Seeks A Zika Dividend
In the expanding realm ruled by Randal J. Kirk, sliced apples don’t brown. Salmon grow twice as fast without swimming upriver to spawn. Beloved cats are reborn. And male mosquitoes are unleashed with the sole mission to mate, pass on a gene that kills their offspring, and die. A few decades ago, the foods and creatures nurtured by Mr. Kirk would have been found only in dystopian fantasies like those written by Margaret Atwood. But Mr. Kirk’s company, Intrexon, is fast becoming one of the world’s most diverse biotechnology companies, with ventures ranging from unloved genetically engineered creatures to potential cancer cures and gene therapies, gasoline substitutes, cloned kittens and even glow-in-the-dark Dino Pet toys made from microbes. (Pollack, 3/5)
The New York Times:
Heroin Epidemic Increasingly Seeps Into Public View
With heroin cheap and widely available on city streets throughout the country, users are making their buys and shooting up as soon as they can, often in public places. Police officers are routinely finding drug users — unconscious or dead — in cars, in the bathrooms of fast-food restaurants, on mass transit and in parks, hospitals and libraries. Nationally, 125 people a day die from overdosing on heroin and painkillers, and many more are revived, brought back from the brink of death — often in full public view. (Seelye, 3/6)
STAT:
Shut Out For Decades, Veterans Slowly Gaining Access To Innovative Cancer Treatments
Veterans have less access to cutting-edge cancer treatments today than at any point in recent history, but a new initiative aims to change that. A major cancer research group is seeking to enroll veterans in clinical trials of experimental therapies. The initiative is in its early stages, and so far only patients with lung cancer can participate. (Tedeschi, 3/4)