Long Term Care

The Baltimore County Department of Aging is offering a long-term-care awareness workshop from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. today at the Seven Oaks Senior Center, 9210 Seven Courts Drive. The free presentation is on strategies for planning for financial needs and is to include information on advance directives, financial resources and long-term care insurance. Social Security Administration and the Maryland Department of Aging representatives are to attend. Information: 410-887-2059.

Jerry Bailey can look back on a Hall of Fame jockey career that featured 5,892 victories but also the searing memory of 17 fractures, including a broken back, jaw and collarbone, and several busted ribs. Yet Bailey considers himself lucky. He never sustained an injury that kept him off the track more than several months. And unlike many jockeys, he could afford disability insurance designed to fill the gap between what riders need after life-altering accidents and what they receive from racetrack policies.

John Malejan is among a tiny minority of Americans who own a long-term-care insurance policy, and he considers himself pretty smart for it. He should know. A decade ago, Malejan, of Farmington Hills, Mich., bought policies for himself and his wife, Louise. Four years later, when Alzheimer's plunged her into darkness and forced Malejan to place her in a nursing home, her policy kicked in, covering tens of thousands of dollars' worth of care until her death 2 1/2 years later. Premiums for Louise's policy amounted to $8,800 over the four years, or the cost of about 2 1/2 months of her nursing care.

John Pittas' mother spent six months in a Pennsylvania facility recovering after an auto accident, then moved to Greece to be with her other children. Left behind: $93,000 in unpaid care bills. The facility sued to collect - from John Pittas. A court sided with the care facility last year and ordered the son, who runs a diner in Schnecksville, Pa., to pay up. The basis of the lawsuit is a so-called filial support law, which requires adult children to be responsible for the care of indigent parents.

At a time when state budgets across the nation are under enormous strain, it is refreshing to see that Maryland's lawmakers are focusing on solutions and taking important steps to protect the quality of care for our nation's most vulnerable citizens. The March 7 op-ed, "Tax us to help us," illustrates the importance of stable funding to quality nursing home care. To fully understand why the "quality assessment" tax cited in the article would be benefit Maryland's seniors and those most in need, as well as the state budget, you must look to its roots.

About $14.3 million generated by the 2011 state alcohol tax will be used to expand long-term care services to frail seniors and adults with disabilities, officials said Wednesday. The money will mean the seniors and disabled people will be able to stay in their homes or communities, rather than moving to nursing homes or other facilities. "Keeping seniors and those with disabilities in their communities and closer to their families leads to a higher quality of life," said Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown, in a statement.

We've all heard a lot about the nation graying, which is what makes the recent news about long-term care insurance even more troubling. MetLife, citing "financial challenges" facing the industry, said it would soon stop selling insurance to cover nursing homes and other long-term care costs, although it promised to honor existing policies. Meanwhile, other players that vowed to stay in the market are seeking stiff premium increases from insurance regulators across the country.

The Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union will offer a free educational seminar from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the credit union's Home Loan Center, 321 S. Main St., Bel Air. "Understanding Long Term Care Insurance" will include the basics of long-term care insurance, who will need it, costs associated with it and what Medicare will cover. Registration is required. Information: 410-893-7359.

New York -- If you're wondering about nursing-home insurance for yourself or your parents, you're not alone. About 140 insurance companies are gearing up for a brand new market, the first generation of Americans to be fearful not of dying too soon, but of living too long.Here are the answers to some of your questions about long-term care (LTC):* What are the odds of needing nursing-home care? One in four people over 65 will enter a nursing home for at least a year, and one in 10 for five years or more.

Martin P. Wasserman, state health secretary, has named a committee to begin studying how to reform the most costly aspect of the Medicaid program -- long-term care. Recipients are disabled and chronically ill, and many are in nursing homes.The 15-member advisory group, chaired by Richard Bennett, executive director of long-term care at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, will hold several public hearings. The group is scheduled to issue a report in the fall.The effort is similar to the strategy used to draft a plan for the state's first phase of Medicaid reform, which calls for moving about 200,000 women and children into health maintenance organizations next year.

Broadmead, a continuing-care retirement community in Hunt Valley, has "been so much than just a place to work," said retiring CEO Rich Compton. He has served as the company's leader for almost three decades. During that time, his parents came to live at Broadmead and his children worked their first jobs there. He's seen the aged-care business transformed into a highly regulated business. He's also witnessed how the different expectations each generation has for a retirement facility shape how they are marketed and run. As he prepares to leave Broadmead at the end of June, The Baltimore Sun asked him to share his thoughts on the state of the continuing care industry and its future.

At Baltimore County's animal shelter this week, dozens of animals were waiting for someone to adopt them. Among them were Cisco, a year-old pit bull terrier, a bulldog named Ivan and Sugar Pie, a tricolor cat. But judging by shelter statistics, potential pets are more likely to be put down than placed in a home. Now, under pressure from animal advocates and some lawmakers, county officials are looking for an animal-oriented nonprofit to take over the shelter. "Much like most animal-control agencies, their focus is really on protecting people from animals," said Ron Lambert, a board member of the Maryland Feline Society.

He sits quietly in a wheelchair at a long-term care facility in his native Guelph, Ontario. Aldo Guidolin doesn't talk - multiple strokes have robbed him of his speech - but his brown eyes follow ice hockey games on TV and the movements of those who call on the aging defenseman. At 80, life is a struggle for Guidolin, whose brawling 17-year career included four seasons with the New York Rangers and six as a popular player and coach with the Baltimore Clippers of the American Hockey League.

Baltimore-based Remedi SeniorCare, which provides pharmaceutical services to long-term care facilities, has bought an Ohio company in a deal that expands its Midwestern customer base. With its acquisition of Cornerstone Pharmacy in northeast Ohio, Remedi now serves more than 15,000 long-term care residents from pharmacies in Cleveland and Troy, Ohio. That adds to the 31,000 residents across nine states and Washington, D.C., that Remedi already counted as clients. Cornerstone President Brad Pinkerton joins Remedi as president of the Midwestern region.

Nearly 70 elderly patients and vulnerable adults must find new homes because of the planned closure of Harborside Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Baltimore, a sprawling facility with numerous fire hazards uncovered in a recent state inspection. The nursing home - the first in Maryland to accept AIDS patients in 1985 - will shut down within the next month after Medicaid and Medicare stop paying for patient care. The federal health care programs decided to cut off funding after a March inspection by the state found more than 30 safety violations, primarily due to structural problems.

The Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System is expanding its Loch Raven complex with a long-term care center and an exercise and robotics center that will allow research into rehabilitation for wounded and aging veterans. The $13 million project is scheduled to open later this year on the nearly 15-acre campus at the intersection of Loch Raven Boulevard and the Alameda in the Original Northwood neighborhood of Baltimore. "Where we have room to grow, we must continue to grow so we can provide our veterans with the best care," said Nancy Quailey, associate director of operations for the health care system.

THE SENIOR circuit is buzzing about the new tax deductions for long-term care. That perks up the ears of middle-agers, too.The write-offs come in two flavors. First, there's a tax deduction for buying long-term care insurance. Second -- and even better -- people already receiving care, at home or in a nursing home, get to deduct uninsured costs.These new tax breaks both took effect this year. But as usual, there are some angles to consider. Here are the rules:If you buy long-term care (LTC)

LONG-TERM insurance is growing ever more complex. As the population ages, larger numbers of people are purchasing coverage. Meanwhile, the industry hopes to reach younger, more affluent buyers by combining long-term care (LTC) with life insurance. A basic LTC policy covers the potentially catastrophic cost of a long-term stay in a nursing home. It pays for people with severe mental impairment, such as Alzheimer's disease, or those who can't handle two of their essential physical needs (typically, bathing, dressing, eating, continence and moving around)

About $14.3 million generated by the 2011 state alcohol tax will be used to expand long-term care services to frail seniors and adults with disabilities, officials said Wednesday. The money will mean the seniors and disabled people will be able to stay in their homes or communities, rather than moving to nursing homes or other facilities. "Keeping seniors and those with disabilities in their communities and closer to their families leads to a higher quality of life," said Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown, in a statement.

Regarding columnist Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s commentary on the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, it's worth noting the success of the Healthcare for All law enacted by Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts ("Constitutional - but contemptible," July 8). With 98.1 percent of its citizens covered, Massachusetts has the highest rate of medically insured residents in the nation. And due to preventive care for patients with preexisting conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, there are fewer emergency room visits by patients who were using emergency care for routine matters.