LTC Bullet:  LTC Tour Financial Update 

Thursday, October 25, 2007 

Seattle-- 

LTC Comment:  Support for the Center's 2008 National LTC Wake-Up Tour is surging.  When costs are covered, fundraising ends, and we'll focus exclusively on the mission.  So, get on board now!  Details after the ***news.*** 

*** CREW cut.  A few of you have brought to our attention a letter from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) requesting that he "investigate the activities of the Seattle-based Center for Long-Term Care Reform and the Center's director Stephen Moses."  The letter claims I'm a "shill" for the LTC insurance industry.  Truth is, our goal is to save Medicaid as a safety net for the poor by encouraging middle-class and affluent people to plan responsibly for long-term care.  But, this isn't the first time my words have been "twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools."  It won't be the last.  

In the meantime, we welcome all the new "eyeballs" attracted to the Center's website by CREW's misguided attack.  Friends and enemies alike will find solid research, hard evidence, and indisputable reasoning at www.centerltc.com.  That's what always carries the day in the end.  And we owe CREW special thanks for encouraging Senator Grassley and the Senate Finance Committee to review and consider the Center for Long-Term Care Reform's findings and recommendations on long-term care policy.  That kind of attention is difficult to attract and we welcome it. 

Finally, as master salesman Tommy Hopkins used to say:  "Nobody tries to shoot down someone who already is."  So we must be doing something right! *** 

*** 2008 INTERCOMPANY LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE CONFERENCE.  It's on for March 16-19, 2008 in Jacksonville, Florida.  This is the premier LTC insurance industry conference with intensive sessions on many topics, including a track on Policy and Providers.  I'll be there with the "Silver Bullet of Long-Term Care," on the premises if they'll let me.  We need to ask.  Registration will be available soon at the conference website:  www.iltciconf.org.  Government employees get a discounted registration rate.  I hope to see you all there. *** 

*** LTCI PRODUCERS SUMMIT.  And don't forget the other great LTCi conference.  The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) offers the 7th LTCi National Producers Summit February 24-26, 2008 at the Omni Hotel at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.  The 3-day conference features outstanding sessions with many of the nation's leading LTC experts.  Early registration is an affordable $295 (all attendees must be Association members, which is only $49 for one year).  Complete information including the program and registration information is available online at http://www.aaltci.org/2008summit or by calling the Association at (818) 597-3227.  I'll be there too and we're negotiating now with the hotel for the possibility of positioning the "Silver Bullet of LTC" prominently. *** 

*** Do you get the impression we're proud at the Center for Long-Term Care Reform to be advocates for private long-term care insurance as a means to save Medicaid for the needy?  Good, we are! *** 

 

LTC BULLET:  LTC TOUR FINANCIAL UPDATE 

LTC Comment:  Center members and readers of our LTC Blog know I'll be on the road full time next year playing "Paul Revere" on the long-term care financing issue. 

For all the details, see the four LTC Bullets about the National Long-Term Care Consciousness Tour at the top of www.centerltc.com

While you're there, click on the "Silver Bullet of Long-Term Care," a picture of the Titanium-Metallic FJ Cruiser and Airstream trailer combination that will carry this "Lone Ranger of LTC" (if you prefer that metaphor tagged on me my a magazine once) from place to place and provide my habitation throughout 2008. 

We've asked dozens of companies and individuals to support the "LTC Tour," and so far the response has been spectacular.  

Interest in becoming a Regional Representative of the Center in local areas is high and increasing rapidly.  We're asking Regional Reps to pledge $500 payable two months before I visit their region.  That guarantees I'll work with the Reps to plan events in their town; that I will visit their town with the Silver Bullet of LTC; and that we'll work together while I'm there to raise public awareness about the LTC issue and hopefully protect a lot more people against that risk and cost. 

Invitations to speak at events when I'll be in their neighborhood are pouring in from individuals, organizations and companies across the country.  Some of these invitations come with funding to cover costs.  Others are invitations in search of funding for which we're seeking sponsors.  Instead of the usual $5,000 flat fee to bring me in from Seattle for a speech, we're offering an 80% discount if you can schedule your event while I'm traveling through anyway.  

Here's my general itinerary.  

Southeast:  FL, GA, AL, MS, SC, NC, TN  (7 states:  January, February) 

Southwest:  TX, NM, AZ, CO, UT, OK, AR, LA (8 states:  March, April) 

Central East:  VA, WV, MD, DE, PA, NJ, DC (7 states:  May, June) 

Northeast:  NY, CT, RI, MA, VT, NH, ME  (7 states:  July, August) 

Midwest:  IL, IN, OH, IA, MI, KY, MO, MN, ND, SD, KS, NE, WI  (13 states:  September, October) 

West:  CA, NV, OR, WA, ID, MT, WY, AK, HI  (9 states:  November, December) 

Precisely when I will be where depends on who sponsors the Tour and/or schedules an event.  For now, we know for sure I'll be in Tampa, Florida the first week of January 2008 to hook up the new Airstream trailer.  

Additional events have already been scheduled in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and New Jersey.  As more plans firm up, we'll provide specifics on when I'll be where.  But by then, newcomers to the Tour will have to plan around the set schedule.  Right now is the only time virtually the whole calendar year is open. 

Those of you good friends of the Center who know me and support our common mission understand I hate fund-raising and would do nothing but research and advocacy if that were possible.  In other words:  "It's the mission, not the money.  But, alas, no money, no mission."  So here's where things stand on the financial front. 

The Center for Long-Term Care Reform's total annual budget is usually between $200,000 and $225,000.  That includes everything:  salaries, travel expenses, professional fees, taxes, the works.  Next year, I think we need to raise a total of $250,000 to cover normal expenses plus extra costs incidental to the "LTC Tour."  

If our primary financing sources, which include corporate and individual memberships in the Center, remain the same in 2008 as they were in 2007, we'll have a base of $136,000 on which to start. 

I can't count our other major source of funding, roughly $60,000 per year from contracts for my consulting, speaking and writing, because I won't be available for major, time-consuming projects in 2008.  We'll have to make this funding up next year through Tour pledges and event fees. 

So, here's the bottom line:  assuming we can count on corporate and individual membership support at 2007 levels, we need an additional $114,000 ($250K minus $136K) to cover the tour.  We've already garnered $17,500 in pledges and event fee commitments in the first few days of fundraising.  So that leaves less than $100,000 to close the gap. 

$100,000:  That's our goal for now.  We already have the funds saved to purchase the Airstream trailer.  I cut my salary in half last February to build a capital fund for that purpose.  I'll also cover the upfront cost for the tow vehicle for the "Silver Bullet."  That is my personal financial commitment to the success of the LTC Tour.  That and the risk I'm taking if others don't come through.  A small risk, I'm confident, but scary nonetheless. 

Now here's our "ask": 

Look at the general schedule above.  See if you can schedule and fund an event ($1,000) in those time frames.  Let me know at smoses@centerltc.com.  We'll put you on the itinerary. 

Or, pledge $500 payable two months before I visit your area.  That guarantees we'll work together to plan mutually beneficial activities while I'm in your area.  We may, and hopefully will, do more but we will at least spend a day in your area beating the drum for LTC planning and hopefully helping you protect more people against the risk and cost of LTC. 

Another option available to companies and organizations is to sponsor the LTC Tour at levels from $1,000 to $10,000 (or more).  That'll get you signage recognition on the "Silver Bullet of LTC" and an equivalent amount of my time to work with your representatives around the country on training, public presentations, briefings, etc. 

Fair warning:  as soon as I'm confident we've raised all the money needed to cover costs of the LTC Tour, I'll be doing no more fund raising.  We'll add no more sponsors or Regional Representatives.  The whole focus from that time on will be to fulfill the LTC Tour's objective:  to raise public awareness about the importance of long-term care planning and protect an extra 1000 people from the risk and cost of LTC. 

Frankly, that's when the fun begins.  Here's a list of possible activities, but don't feel limited to it.  If you sign on to work with me on the Tour, we'll brainstorm together and, by Webinar with all other Tour sponsors, to think up great ways to achieve our goals. 

Consulting 

Teaching the LTC Graduate Seminar in person AND online 

Writing Op-Eds and newspaper articles for local media 

Meeting with local reporters and/or newspaper editorial boards 

Addressing estate planning councils 

Collaborating with financial planners, CPAs, and estate planning attorneys 

Working with LTC providers (nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health agencies and the state affiliates of their national trade associations, such as AHCA/NCAL, AAHSA, ALFA) 

Encouraging reverse mortgage lenders to consider long-term care funding and LTCi premiums in their marketing 

Making political contacts with Governors, state legislators, city council members, Congressional representatives, state Insurance Commissioners, Medicaid directors and their staffs toward the end of improving long-term care public policy 

Mobilizing local businesses, including banks and other financial institutions, and the Chamber of Commerce to recognize the importance of LTC planning 

Conducting studies with State Policy Network think tanks like the ones who have sponsored Center for Long-Term Care Reform reviews in Kansas, Texas and North Carolina recently 

Meeting with senior advocacy groups like the AARP, Area Agencies on Aging, and the Aging Network to explain the benefits of supplementing publicly financed LTC programs with private financing alternatives 

Conducing public meetings or "group talks" in collaboration with LTCi producers and other senior advisors.