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Editor’s note: In the hard copy version of the Senior Scene and the online version, we ran an article from Ingrid McDonald, Washington’s Advocacy Director for AARP.  This is a follow up with additional information about the effect of the proposed cuts and AARP’s response and suggestions.

Urgent Advisory: The 2011 Special Session and Risk of Deep Cuts to Long Term Care Services

To address a $1.4 billion budget deficit, the Governor has asked state agencies to submit proposals for reducing spending by in the 2011-13 biennium.  These proposals will form the framework for a budget proposal that state lawmakers will consider in a Special Session beginning November 28th 2011.

Current proposals would completely eliminate long term care services for more than 17,000 people, a 29% cut from current levels. This proposal turns the clock backwards on decades of progress towards providing client centered long term care services, consumer choice and cost containment through rebalancing.  A recent AARP report rated Washington’s long term care system 2nd best in the nation. That status is now clearly at risk.

The mechanism for this proposed cut is a change in the functional ability eligibility requirement for Medicaid funded long term care services. According to the proposal, only people who require extensive assistance with most daily activities and are medically complex, including people with major cognitive issues, will retain services.  Beneficiaries who need intermittent assistance, or who need supervision rather than hands-on assistance, will no longer be eligible.

Services would be eliminated for the following people:

  • 11,700 people will lose homecare assistance
  • 1,000 people who live in Adult Family Homes
  • 2,700 people living in assisted living facilities
  • 1,000 people living in boarding homes
  •  450 people living in nursing homes

In addition to these cuts, 1,000 people would be impacted by the elimination of Adult Day Health.  By definition, with very few exceptions, the people who qualify for these Medicaid funded services have less than $2,000 in assets and less than $2,022 per month in income. They already contribute on a sliding scale to their own care. They cannot afford to cover the full cost of their care on their own. Where will they go and what will they do?

What will happen if Washington asks vulnerable adults to fend for themselves?

  •  Family caregivers will not be able to pick up the slack. Many long term care clients have no family or have only long distance support.  A recent AARP report found that the average caregiver is a 49 year old woman who is still working and who also spends 20 hours per week providing unpaid care to her mother for nearly five years.
  • There will be more calls to law enforcement, 911 and Adult Protective Services. People who can sometimes get out of bed but not always or who can’t walk up and down the stairs in front of their house or who can’t cook – are not safe in their own homes and are at risk of injury and self neglect. Without supportive housing or home care help many will find themselves in crisis, and when friends or neighbors notice they will respond by calling  911 or APS.
  • People will decline faster and utilize more expensive health care services. Without appropriate support, the health status of this population will decline. Washington will see an increase in expensive emergency room visits and hospitalizations and more people qualifying more quickly for higher levels of care.
  • Thousands of caregivers will lose jobs. For every person who loses home care assistance, a home care worker loses income and in the event that was their only client, loses their job. With fewer paying residents, some long term care facilities will lay off their employees or shut their doors. In this recession, keeping people employed must be a top priority.

What is the alternative? Raise revenue.

AARP agrees with the many organizations urging the legislature to send a referendum to the people so the citizens of our state can decide whether they want to close tax loopholes or otherwise raise revenue to avoid painful cuts.  In addition, we are urging the legislature to fully explore all possible options to offset long term care cuts by maximizing federal funds or raising fees – here are some examples:

  •  Community First Choice (CFC) – Washington State is eligible to receive a 6 percent increase in the federal matching percentage (FMAP) for home care services that is available through Section 2401 of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Department of Social and Health Services included CFC in their budget proposal to the Governor but due to federal rules they will not be able to pursue this option if the functional ability cut is enacted. Washington should aggressively pursue this option which could generate tens of millions of dollars in new revenue.
  •  Adult Family Home License Fee – Adult Family Homes should pay for the full cost of their oversight as all other long term care providers do. Last year the legislature moved in this direction by increasing the license fee from $100 per home to $100 per bed in FY 2012 and $175 per bed in FY 2013 plus initial fee of $2,700. The legislature should accelerate this increase so that these providers are fully funding their own oversight and savings can be used to mitigate cuts.
  •  Maximize Safety Net Assessments – Last year the legislature passed a nursing home safety net assessment. To mitigate cuts, the legislature should consider upping this assessment to the federal maximum and look at what other providers, including home and community based long term care providers, could be similarly assessed.

What You Can Do

 1)      E-mail the Governor to express your concern

Click here or paste this into your browser: http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/default.asp

 2)      Call your state lawmaker

Call the Toll Free Legislative Hotline:1-800-562-6000

 3)      Share your story

Help us share the people behind the numbers, e-mail your story to aarpwa@aarp.org


Contributing Author by — October 4, 2011 in Everything Else

At the end of the 19th and turn of the 20th century, Tacoma was rich with department stores.  Gross Brothers, built in 1889 at the current site of the Pantages Theater, was the first.  Peoples Store followed six years later at the southeast corner of 11th and Pacific, and then Stone-Fisher-Lane on the corner of 11th and Broadway in 1905. The new Rhodes Brothers department store, modeled after Philadelphia’s Wanamakers and Chicago’s Marshall Fields, opened on Nov. 8, 1903.

Rhodes Brothers began as Rhodes delivery wagons, with Albert, William, Henry and Charles Rhodes delivering tea and coffee throughout Pierce County, and taking orders for the next week’s deliveries.  Before moving to the address most people recall, at 950 Broadway, Rhodes Brothers was at four other addresses.

Rhodes’ grand opening lasted three days during which an orchestra played continuously. In recognition of the store’s horse and buggy days, one of its fixtures was a chandelier made from three old wagon wheels. Other than that, mahogany and large plate glass were the main features for both the building and the display cases.

The new building had three 120 feet by 110 feet floors.  A mezzanine between the first and second floors was divided with a ladies’ lounge/rest area on one side and an eight-person cashiers’ cage on the other.  Lawson’s cable carriers connected the cashiers to the various departments.  The first floor was dress goods, men’s wear, some domestics, candy department and Bargain Square.  The entire north side was the tea and coffee department, personally handled by Henry Rhodes.  Four electric mills ground coffee beans under the attention of “uniformed nurses.”  Saturday shoppers received complimentary cups of coffee.

Kitchenware, infants’ wear, a suit department, and fitting rooms were on the second floor.   Seamstresses had space on the third floor and handled alterations.  They shared the floor with furniture, art and framing, and a large basket department.  All totalled, the store employed 100 people, of whom 15 were delivery men.  It also owned four delivery wagons from which pairs of men made daily deliveries. Cars replaced the wagons in 1912. The clerks were well-screened and trained in efficiency and courtesy. The females wore dark dresses with white collars and cuffs in the fall and winter and dark skirts with white blouses in spring and summer. The men dressed in suits.

Thanks to hundreds of signs reading “All Roads Lead to Rhodes,” almost everyone in south central Puget Sound knew about Tacoma’s new department store.  The signs, which included the number of miles to Tacoma, were placed as far south as the Columbia River and east to the Grays Harbor area.  The Rhodes signs were Washington’s first highway signs.

Rhodes Brothers was definitely the place for upscale shopping, but to stay on top Rhodes continually made improvements:  1905, a sprinkler system, 1907, the first expansion, 1908, a tearoom, 1911, a major addition that doubled the store’s size.  The top floor now had a dining room that sat 300. The tables were covered with white, linen tablecloths and napkins, and crystal vases held fresh flowers. Lunch was served daily, and dinner served 1-2 nights a week. Favorites on the menu were broiled crab, mulligawney (sic) soup, clam chowder and Rhodes’ cheesecake.  In 1914, the store added a rooftop garden just off the Sixth Floor Tea Room. Lunch was served daily from 11:30 until 2 p.m.; afternoon tea daily from 2 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. and evening dinner was served on Saturdays from 5:30-7 p.m.

One of the department store’s most interesting features, though, was its date book.  Every morning for many years, a lady named Marguerite Darland set out pencils and replaced the paper in an appointment register where people could leave messages.  Wives left word for their husbands as to where the car was parked, women left short groceries lists, girls broke dates, shoppers arranged to meet friends.  Some notes were in code, others in a foreign language.  One squabbling couple left messages that became ever less vitriolic until they eventually made up.  Newspapers called it an index of life.

In 1920, the Rhodes Brothers, in need of more floor space, purchased the Judson Building across the alley, created an annex, and built a sky bridge between the two buildings.

Henry Rhodes retired in 1925, but that didn’t stop the progress. In 1936, Rhodes became one of the few department stores in the country to have a library annex.  On the building’s sixth floor a librarian took care of seven thousand books, many about etiquette, gardening, cooking and home making, and answered dozens of questions daily.  “How can I test this fabric to see if it is pure silk?”  “What would be a good name for our new baby?”  “Do you have instructions on how to build a cottage?”  When the beleaguered librarian wasn’t advising about hats at a wedding, she was answering questions or finding books for people on banking, finance, salesmanship and any number of other things.

Another favorite feature at Rhodes was the miniature Milwaukee Railroad train, the “Hiawatha”. Throughout the Christmas shopping season, children could ride the “Hiawatha” to the North Pole to visit Santa.

During World War II, Saturday Evening Post made a sixty-four paged, pocket-sized versions of its magazine.  They were called Post Yarns, except by the servicemen who called them dehydrated Saturday Evening Posts.  Post Yarns were available at Rhodes, which also had a special Post Yarns mailing center, and provided free delivery for the miniature magazine plus a personal note from the sender.

Western Department Stores Inc. eventually bought Rhodes and changed the name to Rhodes Western.  And then Amfac Company bought all the stores except those in Tacoma and Lakewood.  They were sold to Frederick and Nelson, which went out of business in 1992.

Karla Stover by — October 4, 2011 in Everything Else

Retirees who lost more than $1 million to an unscrupulous insurance agent will be repaid, under an agreement reached between the insurance company and state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler.

Bankers Life and Casualty, one of the companies that the independent agent worked for, has agreed to replace the money allegedly stolen by the agent.

An investigation by Kreidler’s office found that several of Jasmine Jamrus-Kassim’s clients repeatedly cashed out large portions of their annuities with Banker’s Life and Casualty from late 2007 to late 2009. The money was then pocketed by Kassim.

Jamrus-Kassim, of Kent, was arrested in March 2011 and charged with 21 counts of first-degree theft. Her trial is pending in King County Superior Court.

“I commend Bankers Life for stepping up and making these victims whole, to the extent possible,” said Kreidler. “I’m deeply saddened that one victim, stripped of his life’s savings, has already passed away. In his case, restitution will go to his estate.”

The victims, who ranged from age 74 to 90, typically made out their checks to “S.A. Saad” and gave them to Kassim. Several said they believed that S.A. Saad was an insurance company official. They thought their money was being reinvested.

In reality, Kassim has two daughters, both with the initials and surname “S.A. Saad.” Most of the money was deposited briefly in the girls’ accounts, then moved to Kassim’s personal credit union account. Kassim’s financial records show thousands of dollars spent on clothes, jewelry, and a trip to Mexico. They also show large payments to online psychic advisors, including $20,000 in charges from one psychic website in one month.

The victims live in Bellevue, Renton and Seattle. The payment amounts are:

  • $512,112
  • $488,071
  • $116,070
  • $65,321
  • And $929

Bankers has also agreed to pay interest.

Press Release by — October 4, 2011 in Everything Else

From the Office of the Insurance Commissioner:

Hundreds of thousands of people who were led to expect more interest than they got from annuities are eligible for a multi-million dollar class-action settlement – if they sign up on time.

“Consumers across the country were misled, and I’m very glad to see this case finally resolved with restitution,” said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. “I urge anyone who qualifies to sign up for their share of the settlement.”

The settlement involves Northern Life Insurance Company’s marketing of tax-sheltered fixed annuities, primarily to teachers, starting in 1995. (The company, which was based in Seattle, merged with Minnesota-based ReliaStar Life Insurance Co. in 2002.)

The annuity documents, Kreidler said, misrepresented to consumers the way that interest would be calculated over the life of the annuities. Instead, Northern Life paid a high interest rate only in the first year of the contract, reducing the rate during all the remaining years.

Under the settlement, Northern Life has agreed to pay $29 to $40 for each $10,000 in value of a person’s annuity. The settlement provides up to $31 million for the payments. A King County Superior Court judge recently approved the mediated settlement, in which Northern Life did not admit wrongdoing.

Northern Life has notified 406,000 account holders that they are potentially affected by the settlement. An estimated 20,000 of those people are in Washington state.

“People are naturally skeptical of mailings,” said Kreidler, “but don’t just toss this one in the trash.”

The one-page claim form, also available at www.curtissettlement.com, must be mailed back or before Oct. 17, 2011. (It can also be scanned and emailed by that date.) Under penalty of perjury, signers must certify that they owned a fixed annuity issued by Northern Life sometime between Jan. 1, 1995 and the present time.

Typical payments are likely to range from $60 to $80, although some will be significantly larger.

Private attorneys in the 10-year court case, which involved more than 1 million pages of documents, represented the claimants. Kreidler’s office investigated the issue and filed an amicus brief in the case, saying that misleading marketing had substantially harmed consumers.

Press Release by — September 30, 2011 in Everything Else