Carla Houston

Medicare, Medicaid and other resources can help minimize the high cost of long-term care. Odds are high that someone in your family will need a nursing home sooner or later. Someone turning age 65 today has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care, and 20% of people will need it for longer than five years, according to LongTermCare.gov. The average cost of nursing home care is so high that the cost of that care can financially cripple a family. But there are steps you can take – whether a nursing home is needed now, next month or next decade – to minimize the financial strain of nursing home costs. There are many ways to cover the costs of long-term care, including savings, investments, assets, long-term care insurance, state LTC Partnership programs, the Federal LTC Insurance Program and tax advantages. Care Conversations, an initiative led by the American Health Care Association, the National Center for Assisted Living and America's Skilled...

Identify the triggers that could impact what you'll pay for medical treatment in retirement. While many Americans are aware that health care expenses will be significant during retirement, it can be tough to decipher exact amounts to set aside for medical treatment. Four out of five workers have not calculated how much they will need for health costs in retirement, according to a 2018 Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald & Associates survey. Among retirees, six out of 10 have not estimated what they will need for medical bills, the survey found. Understanding the realities of health care costs can make the budgeting process easier. Here are common myths about medical expenses in retirement, as well as the truth behind them. Medicare will cover drug prescriptions. It may seem at first glance that Medicare will take care of most of your health expenses, but you should know what is not covered to avoid surprises. “The basic plans of a governm...

As Democratic presidential candidates debate the merits of Medicare for All, a Green New Deal or free college, a chorus of scolds from across the political spectrum will chime in to tell you we can’t afford it. All these ambitious policies of course will come with a hefty price tag. Proposals to fund Medicare for All have focused on raising taxes. But what if we could imagine another way entirely? Over 18 years, the United States has spent $4.9 trillion on wars, with only more intractable violence in the Middle East and beyond to show for it. That’s nearly the $300 billion per year over the current system that is estimated to cover Medicare for All (though estimates vary). While we can’t un-spend that $4.9 trillion, imagine if we could make different choices for the next 20 years. We’ve identified more than $300 billion in annual military savings alone that we could better invest in priorities like Medicare for All, working with a national grassr...

In recognition of National Small Business Week, we’ve put together some tips to help your company grow. Read on to learn how you can make positive steps toward putting your small business in position to thrive. The health care choices you make today can impact your profit margin for years to come. Your business can save significantly by using a little research and creativity to pick one of many cost-effective health plans available to you. Businesses with 50 to 99 employees face unique challenges when it comes to picking cost-effective health plans. According to a Fox Business report, these firms have too many employees to qualify for government subsidies, but you can still save money while providing your employees with affordable, compliant health care plans. Here are a few options that can help. Defined Contribution Plans Your business may not be able to afford plans with low deductibles, but you can still offer affordable basic plans while giving your employ...

When your business was starting out, a simple small business benefits package — some free food, a little paid time off and the chance for employees to buy health insurance from a group plan — might have been enough. But as you transition from a small business to an emerging growth company, at some point it’s probably a good idea to reassess what you’re offering. Not only could your expanding business face different requirements, but a more attractive package could help you compete with larger companies for the workers who are essential to fueling your growth. Here are five benefits considerations to keep in mind as your company grows. 1. Meeting Health Insurance Requirements As your workforce grows, your first priority should be making sure your business meets any requirements for health insurance. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), every business with at least 50 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees must offer health insurance to their full-time employees. W...

The nation’s hospitals have been merging at a rapid pace for a decade, forming powerful organizations that influence nearly every health care decision consumers make. The hospitals have argued that consolidation benefits consumers with cheaper prices from coordinated services and other savings. But an analysis conducted for The New York Times shows the opposite to be true in many cases. The mergers have essentially banished competition and raised prices for hospital admissions in most cases, according to an examination of 25 metropolitan areas with the highest rate of consolidation from 2010 through 2013, a peak period for mergers. The analysis showed that the price of an average hospital stay soared, with prices in most areas going up between 11 percent and 54 percent in the years afterward, according to researchers from the Nicholas C. Petris Center at the University of California, Berkeley. The new research confirms growing skepticism among consume...

A deep-blue state’s failure to enact a single-payer system shows why a national version is unlikely to succeed. It was in Vermont that Senator Bernie Sanders learned to love single-payer health care — what he now calls Medicare for All — and it was in Vermont that American single-payer faced its greatest test so far. Under Gov. Pete Shumlin, a Democrat and avowed supporter of single-payer health care, the state worked to create a groundbreaking plan, called Green Mountain Care, to cover all its citizens.  Following the Affordable Care Act’s 2010 passage, state lawmakers enacted legislation intended to put Vermont “on a path to a single-payer system.” No state-based single-payer effort ever made it as far, and Mr. Shumlin positioned the plan as a test case for the nation. Yet despite strong support from the legislature and the governor’s office, not to mention Mr. Sanders himself, the effort failed. That failure demonstrates why any similar...