News to Use for Agents in the Senior Market

A Publication of Senior Marketing Specialists
Week of May 29, 2017

  The AP-NORC Center’s 2017 Long-Term Care Poll

Five Things You Should Know from The AP-NORC Center’s 2017 Long-Term Care Poll. Among adults age 40 and older:
1. Two-thirds feel the country is not prepared for the rapid growth of the older adult population.
2. More than half believe that Medicare should be responsible for paying the costs of long-term care.
3. More than 3 in 4 favor tax breaks for family caregivers, to encourage savings for long-term care, and for purchasing long-term care insurance.
4. As in prior years, a majority (67 percent) say they have done only a little or no planning at all for their own care needs.
5. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents support paid family leave programs and other policies to help caregivers.
See more at: http://www.longtermcarepoll.org/Pages/Polls/Long-Term-Care-in-America-Views-on-Who-Should-Bear-the-Responsibilities-and-Costs-of-Care.aspx

Medicare ID Numbers Are Changing in 2018!

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, requires CMS to remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards by April 2019. A new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will replace the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) on the new Medicare cards for Medicare transactions like billing, eligibility status, and claim status.
What’s the Social Security Number Removal Initiative (SSNRI)?
https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/SSNRI/Index.html
Here’s how the new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will be formatted:

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/SSNRI/MBI-Format-PDF.PDF 

For an on-the-go and printable version, try the talkingMEDICARE Dowloadable Edition!