Long-term-care insurance: Right for some, but not all ? Health ...

In the last years of Martin Privot?s life, his family had to start selling his assets to pay for his nursing home costs. ?He needed 24-hour care and couldn?t be left alone,? recalls his daughter Toni Footer. ?My biggest fear was we would run [through his money] and wouldn?t be able to provide the care that he needed.?

Privot died in 2008, from post-surgical complications and other ailments, before all his assets were depleted. Yet Footer, 61, says her dad?s experience ?reinforced my already strong feelings that long-term-care (insurance) is a necessity.? The Rockville, Md., resident says she pays about $2,500 every year for such coverage for herself. ?It?s expensive ? in fact, it?s gone up twice ? but it?s worth every penny. It provides a peace of mind that my family won?t have to struggle to find money to pay for my care.?

Mary McClelland came to the opposite conclusion after seeing how her mother?s expenses were often deemed exempt from coverage.

Her mother, Ruth Mezick, purchased long-term-care, or LTC, insurance in 1990 at age 78 when she was in fairly good health, paying an annual premium of $2,827 until she died 11 years later. In her mid-80s, her health began to deteriorate and she spent time in a nursing home, at home with help and in assisted living. But her policy ? which promised to pay $100 a day ? failed to cover much of those expenses because it kicked in only after she had been in one institution more than 100 days.

?She was never in one place long enough to qualify. She ended up getting about 10 days? coverage, worth about $1,000,? says McClelland, who lives in Arlington, Va. ?That was a lesson to me; I decided it doesn?t always pay off.?

The question of whether to get LTC insurance bedevils consumers and their advisers. Unlike medical insurance, it is intended primarily to cover people who need assistance with so-called activities of daily living ? for example, the care of a dementia patient or someone recovering from a broken hip. It can be expensive: Premiums range from $1,000 to $5,000 a year, depending on the age, sex and health of the purchaser as well as the extent of the coverage. And policy details can be confusing.

Even advocates acknowledge that it isn?t for everyone. Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, an industry group, sums it up well: ?Long-term care is a universal issue facing all Americans who are getting older. But long-term-care insurance is not a universal solution.?

So how great is the need for such coverage? It depends on how you look at the data. ?One in two Americans are likely to need long-term-care services sometime in their lives,? says Amy Pahl, a consulting actuary for Milliman Inc, a leading actuarial and consulting company. However, Pahl adds, of those who might need long-term care, about a third will not meet the most common deductible period of 90 days because they will either die or recover before then.

To determine if a long-term-care policy makes sense for you, it is important to understand how the coverage works and what?s available.

Medicare is not the answer

Most standard health insurance plans do not cover long-term care. Nor does Medicare or insurance policies that supplement Medicare.

Medicaid, however, is the largest source of coverage for long-term care. The program pays for more than two-thirds of nursing home residents, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

But Medicaid comes with significant limitations. The choice of facilities that accept Medicaid is narrow, and the program is restricted to people with extremely limited income and virtually no resources, which forces middle-income consumers to spend down their assets if they want to qualify.

?Medicaid is supposed to be a safety net, but unfortunately it rests just about a half-inch off the floor,? says Tom West, a Northern Virginia financial adviser and long-term-care expert.

Yet Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger cautions that LTC policies may not be a good investment for some people. ?It?s mostly a policy to protect your assets (so you don?t have to sell everything to pay for care) in case you get sick. If you don?t have assets to protect, then you shouldn?t be buying it.? Unfortunately, that can leave those consumers with limited flexibility if they do need long-term care.

How the coverage works

Typically, a policy pays a fixed daily benefit ($150 is common) for a certain period of time (often three to five years) starting at a specified time (90 days is common) after the beneficiary becomes disabled. The policy covers nursing home expenses, assisted living charges or less costly in-home-care bills.

Many policies also allow the initial fixed daily benefit to rise 3 or 5 percent annually to keep up with health-care costs. The policyholder agrees to a premium that can increase only if the change is approved by state regulators. Such increases have occurred frequently in recent years and, as a result, once-flat premiums have risen sharply. So have nursing home costs, which averaged about $214 a day ? or more than $78,000 annually ? for a semi-private room last year, according to a national survey by the insurer MetLife.

As people?s needs have changed, LTC policies have expanded to cover assisted living and home care; some new policies are flexible enough to anticipate technologies that don?t yet exist, such as robotic care.

?The policies have become very innovative,? says Slome. ?Today you can go in and design coverage for particular needs and desires; you can even buy long-term-care insurance to enable you to get your care on a cruise line if you want it ? and can afford it.?

Today?s policies can also allow couples to share benefits, so a husband and wife can each buy a shorter-term policy, for example three years of benefits. About 70 percent of coverage today is sold to couples, Slome said. If it turns out that the husband needs more than three years? coverage, he can tap into his wife?s benefit pool. And in some policies, if the husband completely exhausts the couple?s coverage, the wife may still receive some nominal benefits if she needs care, too.

At the end of 2010, about 7 million Americans had LTC insurance, according to LIMRA, an association of life insurance and financial service companies. About 422,000 new policies were written in 2010.

The 2010 health-care law has a provision creating a voluntary program of LTC insurance. However, in October, the Obama administration announced it would not implement the provision because it was financially unsustainable.

According to Slome, the average age of the buyer is 57, with three-quarters of the policies written when purchasers are between 45 and 64.

When buying insurance, the younger the consumer, the lower the annual premiums. Today, according to Slome?s association, a 55-year-old couple in generally good health can expect to pay $2,675 a year for $338,000 of benefits; that figure would grow to $800,000 by the time they reach 80 if the policy contained a 3 percent annual compounded escalation clause. If they are 65, however, that same policy would cost $4,660 a year and grow to only $527,000 in coverage when they are 80.

Steep rate increases

One of the key concerns among consumers is the rise of premiums.

?It?s probably the most frequent complaint I hear,? says Praeger, who heads the National Association of Insurance Commissioners? health and managed care committee. ?The problem is, the older policies weren?t priced right to begin with. Companies expected about 8 percent of customers to stop paying their premiums, when, in fact the lapse rate is closer to 2 percent.? That meant the insurers had to cover more beneficiaries than they expected at a time when the economic downturn has meant less return on their investments.

Praeger acknowledges that rate increase requests have posed a dilemma for insurance commissioners. ?If we don?t give them the rate increase they need, the insurance carriers could become financially impaired, and that doesn?t help people,? she says. In fact, in recent years, a number of companies have stopped selling policies. As a result, she adds, it?s hard to turn the increases down.

The policies can be very complicated, and Praeger advises consumers to consult with their accountant, attorney or other trusted financial adviser before purchasing a policy.

This article was produced in collaboration with Kaiser Health News. KHN is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health-policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/25/health/long-term-care-insurance-right-for-some-but-not-all/

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Lego okays Minecraft set, landscaping love-in ends in marriage

Lego okays Minecraft set, landscaping love-in ends in marriage
The block-building stylings of Minecraft bares a more than passing resemblance that timesucking hobby from our childhood. Now Lego and Minecraft look set to symbolize their love of all things block-based in a forthcoming set. The idea was suggested through fan submission site, Lego Cuusoo, which offers the chance for new user-submitted building sets -- provided there's enough interest -- to reach retail. The Minecraft project is the latest to make it through, claiming over 10,000 supporters and managing to pass through the toy-maker's requirements. Lego is now readying a concept that "celebrates the best aspects of building with the Lego system and in Minecraft." We've been promised more details soon -- until then, we're getting back to the digitial mining.

Lego okays Minecraft set, landscaping love-in ends in marriage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/lego-minecraft-set-incoming/

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Clijsters overcomes injury to beat Li in 3 sets

Belgium's Kim Clijsters falls over during her fourth round match against China's Li Na at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/John Donegan)

Belgium's Kim Clijsters falls over during her fourth round match against China's Li Na at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/John Donegan)

Belgium's Kim Clijsters receives treatment from a trainer during her fourth round match against China's Li Na at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/John Donegan)

China's Li Na makes a forehand return to Belgium's Kim Clijsters during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/John Donegan)

Belgium's Kim Clijsters makes a forehand return to China's Li Na during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/John Donegan)

China's Li Na takes a ice towel during a break in her fourth round match against Belgium's Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

(AP) ? Down four match points and hobbling on an injured left ankle, defending champion Kim Clijsters somehow rallied for a dramatic 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over Li Na at the Australian Open on Sunday.

Clijsters was in pain from the ankle she twisted in the seventh game. Li was just a bundle of nerves. The French Open champion failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, but then led 6-2 in the tiebreaker.

On Li's fourth match point, Clijsters played a poor drop shot, the Chinese player tentatively returned the ball almost straight back to her opponent, and was lobbed.

Clijsters won six straight points to take the tiebreaker and the first four games of the deciding set. She then overcame a wobble of her own, losing her serve at 5-2, before finally closing out the fourth-round match on her second match point.

Playing at her last Australian Open before she retires at the end of the season, the 28-year-old Clijsters said she didn't want to bow out in Melbourne with a retirement.

"A couple of times it went through my mind," she said. "On the other hand, I thought I don't want to quit in my last time at the Australian Open.

"I said in my mind, 'Keep fighting. You never know what happens on the other side of the court.'"

No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal dealt with his own injury problems Sunday. Playing with his right knee heavily strapped, the 2009 champion had his left ankle taped during the first set against Feliciano Lopez. He won the match 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and afterward said he was "fine."

Clijsters was hurt in the first set while serving at 3-all and 30-all. As she hit a forehand, her left foot got stuck on the surface and the ankle twisted awkwardly.

She got up to finish the point but then immediately called for the trainer and had the ankle strapped.

Clijsters' movement was clearly slowed when she resumed. But the injury seemed to affect Li just as much. The 29-year-old Li, the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title, looked increasingly stressed as the match progressed.

She looked desperately at her husband, also her coach, in the stands more and more regularly.

After 2 hours, 23 minutes, Li netted a backhand to put Clijsters through to a match against either top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki or Jelena Jankovic.

Victoria Azarenka was the first player to reach the quarterfinals when she beat Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-2.

The third-seeded Belarusian is yet to drop a set at the tournament and will next meet eighth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Julia Goerges of Germany 6-1, 6-1.

With the win, 22-year-old Azarenka stayed in the hunt for the No. 1 ranking. Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova can also claim the top spot from Caroline Wozniacki.

"I would be a liar if I said I didn't care about it," Azarenka said. "It's in the back of my head and we'll take it day by day, I guess."

Nadal, who bizarrely hurt his knee while sitting in a chair the day before the tournament began, is one win away from a possible semifinal against old rival Roger Federer after beating his friend Lopez for the ninth time in 11 matches.

"Feliciano is one of my best friends on tour. That's the game. That's the sport," said Nadal, who hasn't dropped a set in four matches. "You understand that's only a game. You understand that everybody wants to win; everybody wants to finish the match with the best result."

On a sunny day with the temperature rising to 91F, both players sat with ice towels around their necks during the changeovers.

Nadal needed treatment from the trainer for a left ankle problem after three games of the first set. By that time, he had already broken serve and he did the same early in the next two sets to maintain control against Lopez.

"I am fine," Nadal said. "It was a very, very hot day. I think it's positive to keep winning in straight sets."

Nadal plays Tomas Berdych next, hoping to avoid a third straight quarterfinal loss in Melbourne. Defending the title in 2010, the Spaniard retired with a knee injury against Andy Murray. A year ago, he was hampered by a hamstring problem in a straight-sets loss to David Ferrer.

"Hopefully not happen this time," Nadal said. "I had a bad experience last two years here. It's tough have to go out of a tournament like Australia in quarterfinals."

Berdych beat Nicolas Almagro of Spain 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2).

Federer was to play 19-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic in the first match of the night session later Sunday. The 16-time Grand Slam champion hasn't been beaten by a teenager since 2006, when he lost to Andy Murray at the Cincinnati Masters.

In Saturday matches, Serena Williams routed Greta Arn 6-1, 6-1 for her 17th straight win at the Australian Open. Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova also won in straight sets.

On the men's side, No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic was equally ruthless in a 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 win over injured Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. He will play Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round Monday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-22-TEN-Australian-Open/id-135b8e593ec64fc4a861b1b181b676ee

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Non-public Cash Investing-how To Get The Greatest Use Out Of This ...

Personal cash investing involves coping with real estate firms, leisure, retail and several other different businesses. It mainly entails events: the borrower and the lender. The lender becomes the investor.

The borrower receives money based on the value of actual property owned by him. Private individuals, trusts and pension funds can attempt their luck on personal cash investing. Substantial knowledge and experience of belief deed investing is required and mostly particular person buyers are good at it.

Everyone desires their cash to develop and because of this this form of investing is such a fascinating type of investing now. First, their funding in real property will all the time pay off. Secondly, it would give common income derived from the month-to-month dividend distribution scheme and thirdly, greater outcomes than those available from investing in shares and bonds. There?s something called investor eligibility that you want to meet for this type of investing, and that is determined when you meet the minimal web value requirements.

Non-public money investing includes many technicalities i.e. the lending course of, funding and underwriting that one have to be conscious of. Strategies of investments: Fractional methodology, Mortgage fund investment, Fairness possession etc.

Issues to consider before venturing out into personal cash investing:

The amount of investment that is being asked, the worth of the property that is pledged, description of the property, negotiation of suitable terms from either occasion and the usage of funds whether to construct the property or to renovate. This eventually is a risky business so it is very important associate your investment with known construction brands.

Before lending money, a number of issues are taken into account and one among it?s to calculate the value of the real estate piece. The liquid value of the collateral minus debt and liabilities is what investors take a look at whereas utilizing personal money investing.

Again, it can?t be emphasized enough: concentrate on one area of investing, and stick with that. For example, both focus your efforts on actual estate, the stock market, mutual funds, etc. do not try to study every thing about all of them. Observe these important ideas, and if you have decided to use personal money investing, you?ll make a fortune with your investing efforts.

If you need further facts in relation to P/E, visit Jennie J. Keageras?s website soon.

Source: http://www.articlepodcat.com/2012/01/21/non-public-cash-investing-how-to-get-the-greatest-use-out-of-this-kind-of-investing/

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Gina Carano compares sex and MMA on ?Conan?

We've had a lot of Gina Carano coverage lately, as the onetime Strikeforce title contender has been making the rounds to promote her movie "Haywire." This might be considered piling on, but during her appearance on Conan O'Brien's show, she talked about why she got into MMA and how fighting is like sex. It's not quite NSFW, but definitely PG.

[Yahoo! speaks with Gina Carano about Haywire]

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/gina-carano-compares-sex-mma-conan-180940511.html

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Romney tries to sidestep tax furor he ignited (The Arizona Republic)

Britain accuses Argentina of "colonialism" over Falklands (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Britain accused Argentina of "colonialism" in its claim to the Falkland Islands on Wednesday, as the 30th anniversary of their conflict over the British-ruled territory approaches.

A day after Britain's National Security Council discussed the Falklands' defenses, Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament Britain was committed to protecting the South Atlantic islands and added that people there should be allowed to decide their own nationality.

Cameron said he was determined that the islands' defenses were in order and that islanders' wishes were paramount. "We support the Falkland islanders' right to self-determination," he said.

"What the Argentineans have been saying recently I would argue is actually far more like colonialism because these people want to remain British and the Argentineans want them to do something else."

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez described Britain last June as a "crass colonial power in decline" for refusing to hold talks over the islands, known as Las Malvinas in Spanish, and Argentine officials were quick to hit back over Cameron's remarks on Wednesday.

"It's totally offensive," said Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo, while Foreign Minister Hector Timerman described Britain as "a synonym for colonialism."

"Evidently at a time when only scraps of colonialism linger, Great Britain ... has decided to rewrite history," Timerman told the state news agency.

London has controlled the islands, about 300 miles off the Argentine coast, since 1833. Its two-month war with Argentina in 1982 resulted in the deaths of 255 British and about 650 Argentine soldiers.

The British government says it will only agree to sovereignty talks if the territory's 3,000 residents ask it to, and that the islanders want to remain British.

Tensions have risen in recent years over offshore oil exploration, and have gained steam before the April anniversary of the conflict as well as the planned tour of duty on the islands by Britain's Prince William, an RAF helicopter pilot, later this year.

In December, the South American trading bloc Mercosur - including associate member Chile - agreed that vessels sailing under a Falklands Islands flag would be banned from docking at any of its ports as an act of solidarity with Argentina.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, visiting Mercosur's economic powerhouse Brazil, discussed the Falklands in Brasilia on Wednesday, but the Brazilian government said it backed Argentina in the dispute and would apply the shipping ban.

Hague said differences over the Falklands did not prevent a "vastly productive relationship and growing friendship" with Brazil, whose economy is now the size of Britain's.

"He knows that Brazil, and all Latin American and Caribbean countries, support Argentine sovereignty over the Falklands," Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota told reporters.

"We have to abide by Mercosur's resolutions," Defense Minister Celso Amorim told Reuters after meeting with Hague. Besides, he added, "Argentina is our number one strategic ally."

(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft in London, Helen Popper in Buenos Aires and Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_nm/us_britain_falklands

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Buffett's first debt donation match - Fortune Finance - CNN.com

By Carol Loomis, senior editor-at-large

Scott Rigell

Rep. Scott Rigell

FORTUNE -- After Howard Buffett, a deeply conservative Republican whom his son Warren revered, was elected to the House of Representatives for three terms in the 1940s, Congress voted itself an annual pay raise from $10,000 to $12,500. Judging the raise unseemly, Howard Buffett refused to take it.

Today, Democrat Warren Buffett finds himself suddenly dealing with a freshman Republican Congressman whose strong principles inevitably -- and agreeably -- remind him of his father's. The legislator, 51, is Scott Rigell (pronounced RIDGE-ull) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, though he was formerly a resident of Florida, where he operated a Ford dealership in Titusville. Rigell ran for Congress in 2010 as the Republicans' establishment candidate, beating a Tea Party rival.

Rigell emerged last week on Fox News as the first (and so far, only) person to take up Buffett on his just-announced offer to a) match any contribution made by a Republican member of Congress to the Treasury to pay down debt and b) triple the match if the giver is Senator Mitch McConnell, a frequent critic of Buffett for wanting to raise tax rates on the rich. Buffett's offer was disclosed in an interview with Time, Fortune's sister publication.

A key point about Rigell is that he got to this issue before Buffett did. He had, on his own, moved in 2011 to give 15% of his Congressional salary to the Treasury for the very purpose of paying down debt. He acted, Rigell told Fox, to provide "leadership by example." This man is tough as well -- Howard Buffett would cheer! -- on governmental expenses broadly. For example, he'd like to see perks for members of Congress cut sharply and their pensions turned into 401k plans.

Rigell has strong wishes, too, about Buffett's matching offer, and he put them in a letter that reached Buffett in Omaha yesterday (read the letter here). Rigell said he would be making a 15% gift to the Treasury this year, but also hoped that Buffett would retroactively match his 2011 contribution. The amounts would be about $23,000 for 2011 (when some clerical errors resulted in the full 15% not being reached) and about $26,000 for 2012.

Buffett whipped an admiring letter back within the day (full letter below). He would indeed match both amounts, Buffett said, and was as well "heartened by both your contributions and your thoughts" -- particularly because they preceded Buffett's matching offer. To the Congressman's question about what documentation he should send to prove his payments, Buffett said don't bother: "Your word's good enough for me."

Buffett said he would send his matches to the Treasury around April 20th, waiting until then to see whether other members of Congress might join in. Buffett hopes, in fact, that an "intramural rivalry" between Republicans and Democrats might develop -- to see who can give the most.

That's the kind of Congressional rivalry, Buffett said, the American people would appreciate.

If the Congressman hasn't been in Omaha, he now has an invitation. Said Buffett, "If you are traveling near Omaha, I would enjoy getting together with you." That may not be what Rigell was expecting to hear from a Democrat yet, but conservative Congressmen who know firmly what they stand for definitely have a head start in the eyes of Buffett.

Fortune senior editor-at-large Carol Loomis, who wrote this article, is a long-time friend of Warren Buffett's and a shareholder in his company, Berkshire Hathaway.

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/18/warren-buffett-scott-rigell-match/

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