Insurance Expert Warns of Looming Crisis
By Kelli M. Donley
 Brant Watson, vice president
of Heffernan Insurance Brokers in Walnut Creek, Calif., offers his advice to
senior living community administrators who are researching insurance.
Q: Please describe the insurance crisis facing the nursing and assisted
living home industries:
A: The nursing home and assisted living home industries are facing an
insurance crisis that has resulted in an alarming increase in the number of
uninsured facilities. For example, two years ago, the average cost of liability
insurance for nursing homes in California was about $125 per bed for $1 million
in coverage. In 2001, it averaged $650 per bed. This year, premiums have soared
to $1100 per bed. In Florida, premiums have hit an all time high of $7000 per
bed. Although assisted living facilities do not pay the same premiums, there is
an upward trend in insurance premiums for those facilities as well.
Q: What solutions do you propose?
A: Insuring assisted living facilities has become a very specialized
operation with very few affordable options. Seek an insurance professional who
understands the unique characteristics of assisted living facilities and has a
proven track record in the industry. If your facility has both skilled and
assisted living units, consider splitting up the coverage if at all possible.
The market will soften and more players will eventually come back to the plate.
Until then, assisted living facilities should protect their insurability by
understanding the factors that influence a facility's ability to secure
affordable insurance. In today's difficult marketplace, this includes the
percentage of ambulatory versus non-ambulatory residents in a given facility,
past loss experience and the quality of the annual state survey.
Q: How should the government help in this process?
A: To date, state governments have been focused on increased state regulation
rather than tort reform. Because of this, it is very important for assisted
living facilities to band together through their local and national associations
to convince government to take more of a partnership approach in their oversight
and regulation of the assisted living industry. Unfavorable surveys and
complaint investigations now more than ever can impact a facility's insurance
costs. As a result, fair and feasible regulations and objective surveying are
very important to the industry as a whole.
Q: What should individual facility owners be aware of?
A: The three factors that most affect whether a facility can get or keep
affordable insurance in our program stem from three areas: the percentage of
ambulatory versus non-ambulatory residents in a given facility, past loss
experience and the quality of the annual state survey.
For the complete article, visit: www.alsuccess.com
For more information about Heffernan Insurance Brokers, visit: www.heffgroup.com
Conference Confronts Nursing Home Challenges
By Kelli M. Donley
 OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Officials
at the Pioneer Network met with senior housing officials in August to discuss
the disparities in caring for the elderly. The experts gathered at a sold-out
conference in Oak Brook, Ill., called "Becoming a Champion of Change:
Transforming Eldercare and Our Own Aging."
The conference tackled tough industry topics, such as: the staffing shortage,
poor quality care and malnourishment of seniors.
"We should all be ashamed of ourselves -- the way our society cares for
our elders has become a national disgrace," says Rose Marie Fagan,
executive director of the Pioneer Network. "By bringing these leaders
together to learn about culture change, we have a real opportunity to make
substantive change in the way our society views aging and elders."
Experts who have successfully made culture changes within their facilities
shared trade secrets with participants.
"Our nation's long-term care services were built on an archaic system
that has created depersonalizing and inhumane environments," says Bill
Keane, conference coordinator. "Unfortunately, our society views aging as a
process of diminishment, so our elders enter a new phase of living in a world
that is often uninterested in them as individuals and unreceptive to their
unique gifts and needs. By changing our culture, we can put an end to this
disgraceful practice."
Presenter Jitka Zgola discussed preventing malnourishment among nursing home
residents. Author of "Bon Appetit! The Joy of Dining in Long-Term
Care," Zgola says there is no excuse for poor nutrition in senior living
communities.
"The level of malnutrition and dehydration in some nursing homes is
similar to that found in many poverty-stricken, developing countries," she
says. "Meals are the single most accessible, effective, health-promoting
activity we have to offer residents, and a failure to eat well is the
single-greatest threat to residents' physical and emotional health."
Linda Hollinger-Smith, PhD and director of research for the Mather Institute
on Aging, presented a model program to improve staff retention called "LEAP
for 21st Century Long-Term Care Workforce." The LEAP program gives nursing
staff tools to improve their leadership abilities, communication and teamwork.
The education program is a 15-hour course for nurses and a 14-hour course for
certified nursing assistants.
"Developing high qualified, dedicated and effective long-term care staff
will directly benefit the quality of life and well-being for residents,"
she says.
The Pioneer Network, which was featured in the July issue of Assisted Living
Success ("10 To Watch: Philanthropists Creating Waves of Change in Senior
Care Industry" www.alsuccess.com/articles/271feat1.html),
is a nonprofit grassroots organization that focuses on changing the culture of
aging in America.
For more information about the Pioneer Network, visit: www.pioneernetwork.net.
|
Providing More Information
Check out the Assisted Living Success Web site (www.alsuccess.com)
for Internet exclusive articles including "The Silver Lining of
Marketing for Seniors."
The next issue of ALS will feature: an in depth interview with expert
futurist Ken Dychtwald, PhD, Five Outstanding Activity Directors, Software
Update, and A Legal Year in Review: Where ALS is Headed.
Look for this super issue November 1. |
|
