Why Use a Referral Agency for Your Clients? Using CayCare for Medicaid Support and Contacting Your State Representative

Referral Agency, Use of Support of Medicaid Clients and Most Importantly, Changing the Coverage Through Your Own Voice

We will discuss CayCare's process, then how we work with you and Medicaid Client and finally encouraging YOU to contact your STATE representative.

Every client that comes through your building and needs placement has many decisions to make. What would help that client make the very best decisions as much as possible the first time? Medicare really started asking that question several years ago when they discussed pay for performance, later the Affordable Care Act. 

Many care transition programs within the Aging Network are able to ... implement evidence-based care transition strategies and provide increased access to critical long-term services and supports post-discharge. -NAPGCM

Referral Agencies can really contribute to the cause of post discharge support. It may seem easy to just contact our agency but here is what those busy worker bees are doing. Come inside and take a look....

1. First, a referral comes in to our office or the family contacts us to start the process of receiving assistance.
2. Our Intake staff really perform a thorough intake using the basics required by the referral agency law with the addition of our clinical components to help identify any unforeseen concerns.
3. The intake staff triage which part of the CayCare team will work with the client. We have specialists who assure the client's experience is the very best. (A client will virtually meet their Placement Navigator when the appointment is set via pictures.)
4. An appointment to meet is set whenever possible. (The exception is with Emergency Placement and at times Medicaid Clients)
5. The client is assisgned a Placement Navigator to meet and tour with them. Our Navigators are assigned geographical specialty areas to respond quickly and effectively. These navigators can fold in the personality and quality of life of the client along with the clinical needs making the results overall more effective. (A free service)
6. The client is assigned an Elder Care Advisor when home care is the preference. The Elder Care Advisor will include a Family Care Plan This plan includes simple education towards caring for someone at home. (A free service)
7. Once a facility or agency is chosen CayCare doesn't stop supporting the client. We provide Care Coordination including a Tool to the client, the facility/agency and to you. 
8. Follow up has been developed to get results. We follow up when the clients most typically need the additional support. 
9. Additionally, a survey to hear about the facility/agency and how they did as well as our own QA follow up allows the client to support the next client's results. We have feedback from 1000's of clients. You will see that our infrastructure has been developed from that targeted approach. 

Have a Medicaid client? We aren't just pulling a name out of a hat to give you something. We have a facility reporting system in place for openings. The facility has to be willing and able to take a client. This is why we ask for the details so we are matching reported openings to your needs. Since these clients are not often as easily placed we use strategies to support your needs without over burdening our own small department's.

Our team does research and reviews options for hundreds of clients. We provide a summary to our contacts to help them find the right place.

Make your voice is heard and tell your state representative what problems you are facing. The most difficult piece about Medicaid right now is that the facilities are filling up and there are still so many in need. We are working with other referral agencies to track the clients we are serving to hopefully make a difference in the rates facilities are compensated. This single act we hope will help the future clients we serve. We need to make your voice count as well. Please let your state representative know of the struggles you face with placement at your own job.

House Amends Budget to Address Safety Net Assessment

I wanted to take a quick moment to thank you for extraordinary work over the past two days. You generated over 1,000 email messages and countless phone calls to your legislators – and that impact paid off. The House budget proposal for FY14 was amended this afternoon in the Appropriations Committee to include safety net assessment dollars. The House plan mirrors the Senate proposal by driving dollars to direct care and the low wage earner add-on. We congratulate the Senate and the House on maximizing on existing resources to protect quality of care and access to services for the seniors we serve in skilled nursing facilities.

I wish we could say the same about assisted living Medicaid funding. Our frustration over the failure of the legislature to provide rates relief for our assisted living providers cannot dissuade us from continued and strong communication regarding this problem.

Regardless of the outcome during this supplemental budget period, you have my word that we will continue to work to identify every option for leveraging real movement on a decades-old rates impasse for our assisted living providers. -Washington Health Care Association

Contact Your House Members Today	Take Action!
Stand with the Governor & Senate on Seniors
We are in the final days of the 2014 legislative session -- and Governor Jay Inslee and the State Senate proposals include funding for Medicaid rates in skilled nursing facilities through the safety net assessment. The House Budget contains no concessions for Medicaid rates for state clients in skilled nursing and assisted living centers. Please make it a priority to communicate to your Representatives that SENIORS MATTER. Make sure and take a moment next session. Take a stand that makes a difference.

New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus

New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus

When it comes to financial goals, achieving peace of mind is seven times more important than accumulating wealth to adults age 45 and older, according to a recent Merrill Lynch study, conducted in partnership with Age Wave. The study found that retirement has been redefined, with people expecting to live and often work longer than any preceding generation, and taking different approaches to preparing for and living their best life during these years.

“Boomers have always paved their own way, and are once again pioneering new territory,” said Andy Sieg, head of Global Wealth and Retirement Solutions for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “They share a strong view that retirement is not an end but a beginning, an opportunity for reinvention. Their perspectives, concerns, goals and how they plan to achieve them are different. What they seek is clarity and confidence about what is possible in the context of their hopes and myriad uncertainties.”

The study was based on a nationwide survey of more than 6,300 respondents age 45 and older. Key findings were published in a report titled “Americans’ Perspectives on New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus,” which reveals new insights into people’s approaches to and thoughts about retirement, including:

Reinvention: Today’s retirees are largely not retiring. They view the “longevity bonus” as a chance to explore new options, pursue old dreams and live life to the fullest. Fifty-seven percent of Americans age 45 and older consider retirement a whole new chapter in life. Many view it as an opportunity for career reinvention, with 51 percent of pre-retirees who plan to work in retirement indicating they want to launch into a different line of work altogether.

Family Interdependencies: Another key finding was the potential financial impact of supporting family members across multiple generations. Within many families, one or more individuals may be struggling financially. Balancing an individual’s or couple’s retirement needs with the needs of parents, siblings, children and grandchildren is a growing and complicated challenge. Fifty-two percent of parents expect to provide their adult-age children with some form of ongoing support—be it financial, healthcare, housing or education—and 35 percent believe they will need to support their grandchildren in such ways.

Connections: People find comfort, meaning and safety in connections with family, friends, communities and trusted guides during their later years. For many, work can play a significant role in maintaining a social network. Although pre-retirees think a reliable income is what they will miss most about leaving their career, retirees find that it is actually the social connections they miss most.

Traditional Values: Today’s retirees are defining happiness not in terms of dollars but in terms of new experiences, peace of mind, helping family and making a difference. When asked what is most important to pass on to future generations, respondents indicated their top priorities are values and life lessons, which are viewed as more than twice as important as financial and real estate assets.

“Americans have mixed feelings about living longer and transitioning into retirement,” said Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Age Wave, a firm that provides research and insight on the aging population and its impact. “While they welcome the extra time to pursue new interests and spend more time with family and friends, they are concerned about outliving their assets and experiencing a serious health disruption. Even those who have saved adequately can be anxious and often overwhelmed by this complexity and the unknowns they face.”

The study also offered new insights about sources of concern and the need for guidance, including:

Health Disruptions: Although many people consider early retirement a sign of financial success, the number one reason that people retire early is actually the loss of health. The cost of healthcare tops these adults’ list of retirement worries—even more so among the affluent (37 percent and 52 percent, respectively).

Falling Short: Not knowing how long one is going to live causes insecurity about the ability to support a long life. Serious health problems, being a burden on one’s family, and outliving assets ranked among respondents’ top concerns when asked about their views on living a long life (72 percent, 60 percent, and 47 percent, respectively).

Home and Community: Whether it is the nearly half of Americans looking for help deciding the best place to live during retirement, the 38 percent who expect to provide housing support for family members (including inviting them to move in), or finding ideal housing or eldercare for parents, decisions about living arrangements are among the most important when it comes to retirement planning.

“Most people understand that retirement planning is not a ‘once and done’ proposition,” said David Tyrie of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “Where guidance is needed most is helping people understand how all of these variables and decisions work together over time.” He ex[plains, "We are developing a new approach to help people carefully consider nearly all aspects of their life when planning for and living in retirement, including health care costs, family, giving, home, work, leisure and finances."

Read the entire "Americans' Perspectives on New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus" report on the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management site [add link to:http://wealthmanagement.ml.com/publish/content/application/pdf/GWMOL/2013_Merrill_Lynch_Retirement_Study.pdf 

www.caycare.com

CayCare is a full service Referral Agency assisting in placement and home care coordination. We also provide Geriatric Care Management. 

866-337-1176

email: contact@caycare.com