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Having just tried to find more cost effective health insurance and long term care insurance, I can tell you how frustrating it is to get good data. 

The Dartmouth Atlas Project has documented glaring variations in how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States. 

This interactive US Atlas of Health Care shows you various information by local areas... the best, the growth, by hospital referral region.

As you can see, the Los Angeles region has a bit of a difference in prices and cost increases than counties north and south of it.  Hmmmm....

The cost of providing health care to seniors is rising more than twice as fast in Dallas as in San Diego, and Medicare now spends nearly three times more to care for its enrollees in Miami than it does in Honolulu.

Nationally, Medicare spent an average of $8,304 per enrollee in 2006, and national spending grew at a rate of 3.5 percent annually from 1992 to 2006. Among states, New York was tops in spending per enrollee, at $9,564. Hawaii was lowest, at $5,311.

Where Medicare spending per enrollee grew at an annual rate of 5 percent in Miami, the rate was less than half, at 2.4 percent, in San Francisco. Medicare spent $16,351 per enrollee in Miami in 2006, almost twice the spending of $8,331 in San Francisco.

The researchers project that, at current spending rates, Medicare will be $660 billion in the red by 2023.

But by reducing the annual growth in per capita spending from 3.5 percent, the national average, to 2.4 percent, the rate in San Francisco, Medicare could save $1.42 trillion and turn the deficit into a healthy surplus.

Small Differences Make a Huge Savings

Small differences, because of compounding, can make an enormous difference.

The authors call on physicians to lead an effort to reform how the U.S. delivers and pays for health care to bring spending under control.

Systems of Quality Care

They write: "Payment systems could then shift from purely volume-based payments to systems ... that foster accountability for the overall costs and quality of care, allowing physicians to align their work more closely with the values that brought them to health care. "

Read more at:  SolutionsForYourHealthCare.com 

Baby boomers may be popularly portrayed as whiners, complainers and narcissists, but a new study by University of Massachusetts Amherst psychology Professor Susan Krauss Whitbourne says the 50-somethings are getting a bad rap.

Connection to Younger Generations...Social Conscience

"It's wrong to say baby boomers are selfish and only care about staying young," says Susan Krauss Whitbourne. "They have a feeling of connection to younger generations and a social conscience."

Whitbourne's findings, based on three decades of data from two groups of baby boomers, were published in the September issue of the journal Developmental Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.

The study began in 1966 at the University of Rochester in New York, when a group of students participated in a research project on personality development. Similar studies of successive generations of students at Rochester as well as follow-up surveys with participants in the earliest groups have yielded 34 years of information about the life changes experienced by leading edge boomers, who were in their mid- to late 50s, and trailing edge boomers, who were in their mid-40s, at the time of the most recent survey.

Boomers in Midlife

"What's most interesting is seeing what happened to baby boomers in midlife," says Whitbourne. "Some became more fulfilled, others became despairing, and yet others remained relatively stable. My research design allowed me to suggest which changes in their lives were most closely connected with a growth in fulfillment. 

• More fulfilled
• Despairing
• Relatively Stable

According to Whitbourne, the results suggest that personality growth doesn't follow a ladder model where one stage succeeds another, but more closely resembles a matrix, in which issues associated with early stages of life are continuously revisited through life.

Matrix of Early Life's Issues

For Whitbourne, the study illustrates that we are not locked into a narrowly defined life by the time we are of college age. "I've seen people overcome social deficits over the course of the study," she says. "This really shows that you don't have to give up on yourself. People can change through their entire life."

Fulfillment Beyond the Workplace

Since the last study, the boomers have found fulfillment beyond the workplace, says Whitbourne. In the 1980s, the "me generation" was working hard and making a lot of money, but something was missing from their lives. At the time, Whitbourne said the results were shaped by Reagan-era social values.

Volunteerism

By the '90s, however, the volunteerism of the Clinton years seems to have taken root among those unfulfilled boomers, she says. "There is a real concern about social well-being that goes back to the core values they developed in college."

Industriousness

Another change Whitbourne notes concerns "industry," a personality trait associated with the work ethic. The oldest boomers in the study had measured far lower on industry than other age groups in earlier surveys, but the latest data show they've caught up with their peers.

"It would appear from the present analyses that the very lowest industry scores were obtained in college from participants who, in early adulthood, had jobs with extremely low prestige," says the study. "However, they managed to exceed their peers in industry scores throughout the course of the study."

Self-confidence and Determination in Women

For midlife women, the results also support other studies that found gains in self-confidence and determination through the workplace, says Whitbourne. "It is possible that for these leading-edge baby boomer women, feelings of competence were suppressed in college, when it seemed as though their careers would play an important role in their future success," she writes.

Intimacy and Relationships are Not the Only Change Agents

The study also reinforces the idea that individuals can overcome early issues with intimacy and relationships, notes Whitbourne, and "catch up" with their psychologically more fortunate peers.

According to the data, participants who were not in a committed relationship early in adulthood showed continued gains throughout the period of the study and moved toward an increasingly favorable resolution that exceeded those peers who were in a committed relationship in early adulthood.

Later Parenting

"Enhanced development gains" were also noted for boomers who became parents after the age of 31. By waiting until their careers were established, those study participants may have been "best able to enjoy their new parenthood status to the fullest," says Whitbourne.

What Midlife Crisis?

Whitbourne says the study also lays to rest the myth of the midlife crisis. Based on the interviews and surveys, she says, "My study confirms others in the empirical literature that despite its popularity in the pop culture, the majority of adults don't freak out in their 40s or 50s."

That's not to say the study participants haven't had their ups and downs, says Whitbourne, but individuals grapple with their problems in a variety of ways. "People may experience depression in midlife, but it's too glib to write that off as a midlife crisis. Other factors must be considered."

The study is co-authored by Joel R. Sneed of Queens College, City University of New York, Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and Aline Sayer, visiting associate professor of psychology at UMass Amherst.

Source: Newswise

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) praised the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) for their study that shows defined benefit plans play a critical role in reducing the risk of poverty and hardship among older Americans.

In the NIRS report -- The Pension Factor: Assessing the Role of Defined Benefit Plans in Reducing Elder Hardships - said that pension income among Americans in 2006 helped avoid nearly $7.3 billion in public assistance expenditures and kept 4.7 million households out of poverty or near poverty.

"This study validates what we have always known, defined benefit plans like CalPERS significantly contribute to society and our economy every day," said Anne Stausboll, Chief Executive Officer.  "Pensions protect Americans, especially the elderly, from poverty, material hardships and reliance on public assistance."

The Pension Factor finds that pension income among older American households can be attributed to 1.7 million fewer poor households and 2.9 million fewer near poor households; 560,000 fewer households experiencing a food hardship; and 320,000 fewer households struggling with health care, among other contributions.  A copy of the report can be found on the NIRS Web site at www.nirsonline.org.

CalPERS is the nation's largest public pension fund with assets of more than $187 billion.  It administers retirement benefits for 1.6 million active and retired State, public school, and local public agency employees and their families and health benefits for 1.3 million members. 

According to the AARP, the lowest cost reverse mortgages are public loans.

The least expensive reverse mortgages are the ones offered by state or local governments. But these "public sector" loans generally can be used for only a specific purpose, like home repairs. Many are only available to persons with low to moderate incomes. But the low cost can make these loans very attractive.

Energy Efficiency and Weatherization

Remodeling projects or home maintenance projects of significant sizes, such as major plumbing upgrades, or energy efficient window replacement or a new roof, can warrant using equity in your home.   These major home renovations can improve the quality of life for a senior at the same time they reduce monthly energy bills and improve the value of the home. 

Deferred Payment Loans (DPLs)

Many local and some state government agencies offer "deferred payment loans" (DPLs) for repairing or improving your home. This type of reverse mortgage gives you a one-time, lump sum advance. No repayment is required for as long as you live in your home.

Property Tax Deferral (PTD)

Some state and local government agencies offer "property tax deferral" (PTD) loans. This type of public sector reverse mortgage generally provides annual loan advances that can be used only to pay your property taxes. No repayment is required for as long as you live in your home.

According to a 2007 AARP study, some type of PTD program is available in parts or all of the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.

AARP does not endorse any reverse mortgage lender or product -- so do your homework and ask a trusted financal advisor for help in analyzing your situation and the reverse mortgages available to you.

Read more at AARP about Low-Cost Public Loans

Housing is one of the primary concerns ... and largest financial decisions ... made by seniors.

Reverse mortgages are relatively new financial tools being used to help seniors pay healthcare costs, relocate to senior community housing, or downsize to a more energy efficient home.

The AARP (American Assoc. for Retired Persons) has a "Reverse Mortgage Education Program" that helps seniors weigh the advantages and costs of reverse mortgages.

"5 Questions to Ask Before Considering a Reverse Mortgage" explores the following key questions:

1.  Do you really need a reverse mortgage? There are wise reasons to use reverse morgages and not so wise reasons!

2.  Can you afford a reverse mortgage?  These loans are very expensive and the amount you owe grows over time. The younger you are...the more the compound interest will grow.

3.  Can you afford to start using up your home equity now?  Timing is important to plan for your long term use of your equity.

4.  Do you have less costly options?  Other financial resources might make more sense than a reverse mortgage.

5.  Do you fully understand how these loans work?  Do you homework and understand this unique type of loan thoroughly.