Home Health & Hospice Week

Reverse mortgages may become more popular as financial institutions focus resources on raising awareness of them. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners age 62 and older to tap into their home's equity without having to sell or make loan payments. They can continue to live in their home without having to repay any of the loan until they sell, move out or die. Seniors can use reverse mortgage funds to pay for home care services ranging from private duty nursing to having a wheelchair lift installed. The number of federally insured reverse mortgages issued nationally jumped 39 percent in fiscal 2003, to 18,097, reports The Boston Globe. During the first four months of the current fiscal year, 8,700 federally insured reverse mortgages were issued -- a 76 percent increase over the same period last year. Top lenders aren't waiting for seniors to find out about the mortgages on their own, reports the trade publication The American Banker. They are reaching out to financial advisers, insurance agents and other trusted intermediaries to spread the word. Irvine, CA-based Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp., a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers Bank, has announced a seven-employee division focused solely on assisting nonlender financial intermediaries and developing affinity relationships related to reverse mortgages, the Banker says. At least a few states are coming to their senses about home care. New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey (D) has signed an order directing the state's Department of Health and Senior Services to develop a plan to improve and create alternative long-term care programs for the elderly -- namely home care, reports The New York Times. The move was in response to an AARP report calling for seniors to be able to use their long-term care dollars in their setting of choice, reports The (Bergen County, NJ) Record. And Rhode Island will end up paying more for seniors' care if the state fails to fully fund home care programs, driving seniors into nursing homes, RI Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty (D) said in an address to seniors March 22. The state's Department of Elderly Affairs put a freeze on its home care program for low-income seniors as part of government cost-cutting measures, reports the Associated Press. Sending beneficiaries to nursing homes costs up to $53,700, compared to the $2,505 subsidy for home care, Fogarty said. Powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) will hold an April 7 hearing on President Bush's New Freedom Initiative -- the push to allow elderly and disabled people to stay in their homes and communities. "Since folks want to stay in their homes and communities for as long as possible, government programs should help them do that," Sen. Grassley says in a release. The [...]