For the Second
Year in a Row...
Others may have to look to Med-
_ icaid to provide long-term care
mibe nefits for a nursing home, said
Mr. Konop.
Seniors who prefer not to en-
ter a nursing home do not count
on Medicaid. Nearly all of Michi-
gan's $1 billion Medicaid bud-
get is allocated towards state
approved nursing homes. Pro-
viding adult daycare and other
home-based services can be
emotionally and financially de-
manding for families without
outside assistance.
"The system needs to accom-
modate both home health care
and adult day services, instead
of favoring a bias to one style,"
said Mr. Conners. "There needs
to be a people-centered form of
long-term care that is based on
quality, not cost."
A recent study, "Doing With-
out: The Sacrifices Families
Make to Provide Home Care"
sponsored by the Families USA
Foundation, said two out of
three patients receiving long-
term care at home can't afford
to pay friends and family for-as-
sistance.
Among those unable to pay
for care at home, the average
amount of service amounted to
27 hours per week, leaving
many hours without necessary
supervision and assistance.
Lisa Landsman, social work
director at the new Marvin and
Betty Danto Center in West
Bloomfield, said the ones who
"adjust the best are the ones
who had some control over com-
ing here."
Mr. and Mrs. Bloom hope
their long-term care package
will enable them to remain at
home for as long as possible.
Their policies provide funds to
train a family member to care
for them and receive a wage for
their time. The policy benefits
are indexed to grow with infla-
tion and cannot be canceled re-
gardless of any changes in the
Blooms' health.
Differences between seem-
ingly obscure details among bet-
ter long-term care insurance
contracts are the deal-breakers
when selecting an appropriate
insurance carrier. Joel Garfield
of Garfield Insurance Group
suggests asking friends what
features motivated them to
choose a particular company
and style of policy.
Elite contracts cover Alz-
heimer's disease and offer flexible
designs for home and nursing
home benefit schedules. Mr.
Garfield also recommends paying
attention to which specific cir-
cumstances trigger a benefit to be
paid.
The insurance industry ac-
knowledges six Activities of
Daily Living (ADLs): eating,
bathing, dressing, toileting and
basic mental and ambulatory
functioning linked to the
lifestyles of most fully function-
ing individuals. Companies vary
over how many ADLs an illness
or injury must wipe out before
a benefit is paid. Understand-
ing the subtle nuances spelling
out when and how benefits are
paid are just as important, if not
more so, than focusing solely on
how much a policy costs when
shopping for an insurance car-
rier, said Mr. Garfield.
Policy premiums vary de-
pending on the amount of cov-
erage, age, health and how
many years coverage lasts.
Mr. Conners is still skeptical
about long-term care insurance
because many of the first poli-
cies were poorly written and few
claims have been paid since the
product emerged 18 years ago.
However, part of the new Med-
icaid legislation makes a portion
of long-term care policy premi-
ums tax-deductible after a for-
mula calculating age, income
and total medical expenses. ❑
Teva Medical
In Joint Venture
Jerusalem (JPFS) — Teva Med-
ical, Israel International Fund
and Taoz announced plans to in-
vest $4.5 million in a joint ven-
ture to establish community
medical centers internationally.
Using Teva Medical's devel-
opments, the centers will pro-
vide dialysis treatments for
people suffering from kidney ail-
ments.
According to international fig-
ures, 500 out of every one mil-
lion people worldwide suffer from
kidney problems and require
dialysis treatments two or three
times a week.
The six-month-old, $30 mil-
lion fund, a joint venture be-
tween Bank Discount and Great
Britain's Hambros Bank, invests
in Israeli firms whose products
mostly go for export.
Teva Medical, a subsidiary of
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
based in Ashdod, manufactures
and markets medical devices. In
addition to dialysis treatments,
it makes products used in blood
transfusions, blood banks and
home treatments.
Taoz is a local private compa-
ny that provides medical ser-
vices.
The joint venture's first cen-
ter is scheduled to open in an
undisclosed European country
soon.
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