The Pennsylvania chapter of powerful senior lobby group AARP recently launched a campaign to sign up more seniors for food stamps but Fox Business host Stuart Varney has dismissed it as an effort to “buy votes” to benefit President Barack Obama. …read more
Source: The Christian Post
This guest post was written by Dr. Kavita Patel and John Rother. Patel is managing director for clinical transformation and delivery at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution and a practicing primary care internist. She also served in the Obama Administration as director of policy for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement in the White House. Rother is the President and CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care, a coalition of major businesses, labor unions, insurers, providers, state based benefit programs, and consumers promoting an affordable, sustainable, and fair health system. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President for Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs at AARP. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Health
By Morgan Brennan, Forbes Staff
At the AARP conference in May, an attendee came over to Barbara Floyd Jones’ booth and shared a unfortunate tale of financial woe. A fake company masquerading as a government-affiliated housing agency had swindled the unsuspecting homeowner out of $10,000 amid promises to modify the mortgage. After coughing up cash for phony “processing fees”, the victim was left five figures poorer with no mortgage relief in sight. It wasn’t the first time Floyd Jones had heard such a tale nor will it be her last. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Filed under: Taxes, U.S. Government, Barack Obama, Social Security, Economy
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
WASHINGTON — Advocates for seniors say President Barack Obama is breaking his promise to protect Social Security, while conservatives say he is breaking his promise not to raise taxes on the middle class.
Obama’s budget proposal includes a mix of tax increases and benefit cuts in an effort to reduce government borrowing and spark the still-fragile economy. Obama says it is the kind of balanced approach that is necessary to tame runaway budget deficits.
But advocates from across the political spectrum are reminding the president of his past campaign promises.
“Clearly it will be up to members of Congress to set fiscal priorities that actually represent the needs of the average citizens they were elected to represent,” said Max Richtman, head of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. “The president’s budget is not the balanced plan promised to Americans before November’s election.”
Obama‘s budget blueprint would increase taxes by $1 trillion over the next decade. Most of the tax increases would target wealthy households and corporations, though some, including a tax increase on cigarettes, would hit low- and middle-income families, too.
At the same time, Obama‘s plan would trim benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare while adding new spending on infrastructure and early childhood education.
The most sweeping proposal is to adopt a new measure of inflation for the government, which would gradually reduce benefits and raise taxes at the same time.
Called the chained Consumer Price Index, the new measure would show a lower level of inflation than the more widely used Consumer Price Index. The change could have far-reaching effects because so many programs are adjusted each year based on year-to-year changes in consumer prices.
Starting in 2015, Social Security recipients, military retirees and civilian federal retirees would get smaller benefit increases each year. Taxes would gradually go up because of smaller annual adjustments to income tax brackets, the standard deduction and the personal exemption amount.
Most of the savings would come from Social Security. On average, the new measure would reduce annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, by 0.3 percentage points. This year, the COLA was 1.7 percent. Under the new measure, it would have been about 1.4 percent.
Obama rarely mentioned Social Security during his re-election campaign in 2012. But four years earlier, he was more forthcoming, and some liberal groups have been circulating the video evidence.
In a 2008 speech to AARP, Obama laid down this marker: “John McCain’s campaign has suggested that the best answer for the growing pressures on Social Security might be to cut cost-of-living adjustments or raise the retirement age. Let me be clear: I will not do either.”
On Wednesday, Obama said he was compromising.
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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/11/obama-budget-cuts/
LOS ANGELES, April 9 (UPI) — Actor Michael J. Fox jokes about how his successful career, which took off in the 1980s, has landed him on the covers of magazines from Teen Beat to AARP.
By Brandy Betz, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
UnitedHealth Group leads the health-plan market. But with increasing competition from WellPoint and an industry that’s reinventing itself around the Affordable Care Act, does the Dow component could have a shaky future?
Becoming a behemoth
Acquisitions have been the catalyst for UnitedHealth’s growth, increasing membership and the company’s geographic reach. Two significant acquisitions took place in the past year: The purchase of XLHealth brought in a relatively small group of plans tailored toward dual eligible Medicare patients, and a deal with Amil created a Brazilian presence and brought in roughly 5 million new beneficiaries.
The company organized its steady growth with a streamlining of segments into two categories: Optum, which includes a pharmacy benefit manager, and UnitedHealthcare. The latter accounted for about 95% of 2012 revenues and breaks down into these sub-segments:
The first two have the most bearing on UnitedHealth’s future. The health-insurance exchanges for the ACA will plump up the Employer & Individual segment as the currently uninsured join the market. The company should also benefit from Medicaid expansions. Medicare Advantage could see rate cuts, but UnitedHealth’s size means that small losses here and there won’t capsize the boat.
Sizing up the competition
WellPoint stands as UnitedHealth’s greatest competitor because of its similar number of covered customers. The company’s acquisition of Amerigroup last year was a solid play for a Medicaid presence. If WellPoint continues the smart purchases, UnitedHealth could lose its throne.
Here’s a side-by-side of metrics for the top five health-plan companies.
|
Company |
Market Cap |
P/E Ratio |
EPS |
MLR |
Covered People* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UnitedHealth |
$58.64 billion |
10.84 |
5.28 |
80.4% |
40.925 million |
|
WellPoint |
$20.14 billion |
8.10 |
8.18 |
85.3% |
36.130 million |
|
Aetna |
$16.77 billion |
10.63 |
4.81 |
82.2% |
18.242 million |
|
Cigna |
$17.83 billion |
11.12 |
5.61 |
80.2% |
14.045 million |
|
Humana |
$10.94 billion |
9.25 |
7.47 |
83.7% |
9.103 million |
Sources: Company 10-Ks and Yahoo Finance
*Medical coverage only. Excludes other categories such as prescriptions and dental.
What’s MLR?
Before the ACA, the most important metrics for health-insurance companies were medical loss ratios, or MLR, and EPS. MLR represents the percentage of …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Every so often, a politician or advocacy group floats the idea of instituting driver’s tests for older drivers. Such ideas have never gained much traction. Maybe that’s because organizations like the AARP carry massive political weight. Or maybe it’s because younger people don’t like the idea of telling their parents, grandparents, aunts, and… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at The Car Connection
By Kurt Ernst
2013 Lincoln MKZ
When you’re counting on a single model to sustain the life of your brand before other new products hit the pipeline, getting the launch right is absolutely essential. Supplier delays can kill momentum, and nothing can cool demand for a luxury sedan quicker than quality issues (real or perceived) with the initial batches delivered.
It’s no secret that Ford’s Lincoln brand is struggling to find an identity, if not struggling to even survive. Its Town Car was once the darling of livery fleets from coast to coast, but that’s been put out to pasture and the MKT really hasn’t caught on with car services. Its Mercury equivalent, the Grand Marquis, was the poster car of the AARP set, but Lincoln hasn’t managed to convert these buyers into MKS sedans, either.
When the MKZ was first shown in 2012, it was clear that Lincoln intended to draw in a whole new demographic with its stylish midsize sedan. Everyone, journalists included, wondered when they could get behind the wheel of one. Lincoln even blew the bank on advertising, going long with a wasted Super Bowl spot that left viewers scratching their collective heads. Perhaps it was a good thing that dealers didn’t have MKZ models to drive, since the ad was hardly a call to action to test drive an MKZ.
Last month, Ford admitted that final inspection backlogs at its plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, were partly responsible for MKZ delivery delays. In an effort to speed up delivery, Ford shipped completed MKZ sedans from Mexico to its plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, for the final quality inspection. Inventory was then trucked to dealers rather than shipped via rail, which would have taken longer but cost less. Put another way, Ford has spent a great deal of money on each MKZ, ensuring that quality is up to par and delivery to dealerships is prompt.
Last week, Automotive News (subscription required) reported that Ford has worked through the backlog of final inspections, and that inventory of MKZ sedans at Lincoln dealers should reach normal levels by month end. While that’s a good thing for customers patiently awaiting delivery, we can’t help but wonder if it’s too little, too late. Lincoln’s costly Super Bowl ad blitz is now a distant memory, and we wonder how much more the brand will need to spend to attract customers into Lincoln showrooms.
There are other new products in the Lincoln pipeline, but none are scheduled to appear in 2013. If buyers decide the MKZ isn’t right for them, what are the odds that Lincoln can up-sell them into an MKS or MKT? (Hint: we wouldn’t take those odds.)
Getting the MKZ in the hands of dealers (and ultimately, customers) is an important first step for Lincoln. As to whether or not it’s too little, too late, only time will tell.
As one who is in the media a good deal through my Forbes, Huffington Post and AARP writing, and through speaking and coaching, I’m approached literally every day by scores of strangers hoping to connect, speak, get free advice, or inquire about my coaching services. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
The Employee Benefit Research Institute released a study that shows what almost everyone already knows. Americans have too little money to retire, and they know it. The solution is not quite as clear as the problem, but most economists believe people will have to work until they are much older. This may block young people from getting work in jobs that might have been theirs in generations past.
The resulting underemployment among these young will remain high. Of course, this means they will be unable to make the money they need to retire. America has become a nation in which people will work until they die.
The new data show that:
The percentage of workers confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement is essentially unchanged from the record lows observed in 2011. While more than half express some level of confidence (13 percent are very confident and 38 percent are somewhat confident), 28 percent are not at all confident (up from 23 percent in 2012 but statistically equivalent to 27 percent in 2011), and 21 percent are not too confident.
These data cannot be set against the number of people who will retire in the next two decades because that method would be too inexact, but the population that cannot retire certainly stretches into the tens of millions.
Among the by-products of these problems is the notion that people will need Social Security and Medicare more than ever. This belief comes at a time when many politicians have come to believe what most economists say: entitlements are too expensive and Social Security payments will need to be cut or delayed until people are older. Old people tend to vote more than young people do. The armies of AARP members who make up much of the population over 50 will gang up on politicians who want to curtail their retirement benefits. After all, these people did pay into the system for decades.
Beyond, and perhaps more important than, the fight over the social safety net will be the explosion of old people who will work at McDonald’s Inc. (NYSE: MCD) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). They will be forced to work in these places because of their lack of retirement savings. Many will work for the minimum wage because the old are not attractive to employers, as many studies have shown.
America will become a nation of old people who do not live terribly high above the poverty line, working until they die.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Economy, Labor Tagged: MCD, WMT
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Filed under: Elder Care, Home Health Care, Nursing Homes, Retirement Homes, Long Term Care Insurance, Retirement Living
In the world of insurance products, long-term care insurance is a relative newcomer. It was introduced in the late 1970s, but in recent years, it has become a much more important element of retirement planning thanks to twin rises in health care costs and longevity. (Life expectancy in 1930 was just 59.7; in 2010 life expectancy for Americans was 78.7.)
Many people associate long-term care insurance with nursing homes, but it also pays for in-home care and assisted living facilities. According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, 50 percent of long-term care insurance benefits in 2011 went to pay for in-home care, 31 percent for nursing home care, and 19 percent for an assisted living facility.
How Long-Term Care Insurance Works
Each long-term care insurance policy is slightly different, but most benefits kick in based on a similar definition of “disability”: either you have severe cognitive impairment or you need help with at least two daily living activities. These activities include bathing, dressing, eating or using the bathroom.
In other words, you don’t just automatically receive the benefits when you think you could use some help or when you move into a retirement community. Policies are typically purchased with fixed daily benefits for a fixed period of time such as three years or five years.
Can You Cover These Costs Without It?
On an hourly, daily and monthly basis, the cost of the kinds of services covered by long-term care insurance really add up.
A 2012 MetLife Survey of Long-term Care Costs found:
While many people recognize the value of having insurance coverage to help pay for their care when they age, not everyone purchases it.
A 2012 Generational Research project by Financial Finesse showed that just 10 percent of people age 45 to 54 have purchased long-term care insurance, and only 16 percent of people age 55 to 64 have it.
Why are people forgoing coverage? It comes down to cost, according to the AARP.
How Much Does Coverage Cost?
Long-term care insurance can vary widely depending on your age at the time of purchase, the length and amount of coverage, and policy characteristics including whether your benefits are adjusted for inflation and the length of any waiting period before benefits are paid, among other things.
According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, the average annual premium for long-term care insurance in 2012 for a policy for a …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Alamy
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at AOL
By Janet Novack, Forbes Staff Nearly every week, some think tank, lobbying group or financial service company reports what sad shape Americans are in, or think they are in, when it comes to retirement. This week, for example, AARP, the lobby for those 50 and up, released a collection of research reports showing that if current trends continue, the living standards of middle class retirees are in for a big decline. (The papers were produced in cooperation with reputable academics, but are being used by AARP as part of its campaign against any Social Security cuts, including a change in the way the annual cost of living benefits boost is calculated.) Meanwhile, financial advice firm HelloWallet was generating buzz (including on Forbes here and here) with a new report detailing how a quarter of folks have been “breaching” their retirement accounts and incurring tax penalties and fees that could have been avoided if they’d built up emergency funds first, instead of stuffing all their savings into 401(k)s. (For help with that, see 11 Ways To Tap Retirement Cash Early Without A Penalty.)
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Rosenthal, Gregg Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher plans to return to the NFL. He just may be getting circulars from AARP in the mail before that happens.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at NFL
