Description: Cognitive tests used in the long-term care insurance industry differ in cognitive domains tested, time required for testing, ease of test administration, sensitivity and specificity. Recently, new approaches to scoring or testing have improved test utility for screening for cognitive impairment.

Description: The Minnesota Cognitive Acuity Screen MCAS is a brief cognitive screen that has been validated to correctly identify mild to moderate cognitive impairment in 98.1 percent of all cases. The MCAS has been in use in the LTCI industry for more than five years, and has shown excellent results in reducing early cognitive claims.

Description: Why and how to set up an advance directive, in case a health event renders you unable to make your own medical to decisions.

Description: Discussion of the implications of the newly unveiled health care reform proposal by Senator Baucus. Key issues include abandonment of the CLASS Act, inclusion of LTC in cafeteria plans, funding and tax concerns, individual mandate, privacy concerns, play-or-pay employer mandate, impact on Medicare and Medicaid, and gridlock in the legislative finalization process.

Description: A model for an effective, cost efficient national public LTC/LTCI education program that will increase LTCI sales nationwide.

Description: A discussion of the efforts to implement straight through processing and standardization of the HIPAA form for long term care claims data.

Description: A discussion of fraud and abuse in the Medicare payment system, and steps to address these problems.

Description: A discussion of insurance claims processing and payment systems, and how to achieve the minimum possible number of errors.

Description: An introduction to other articles in this issue about Medicaid abuse and genetic testing.

Description: Article analyzes the reinstatement regulations of long-term care policies.