Baltimore Sun  

January 29, 2006, "Maryland Hopes Citizens Add Long-term Care Cost to Retirement Plans," by Eileen Ambrose - Personal Finance columnist.  "If you're thinking about buying a policy, here are some considerations:  First, find out the cost of care in your area or where you plan to retire, which can vary widely across the country, said Marilee Driscoll, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Long-Term Care Planning..."You don't have to insure 100 percent of your risk," Driscoll added. If the nursing home in your area costs, say, $6,000 a month, but you'll have $2,000 a month from Social Security or a pension, then you only need coverage for $4,000 a month...They also recommend getting 5 percent compound inflation protection so your coverage will keep up with the rising cost of care. Each year, the benefit will go up 5 percent, although the premium stays the same, Driscoll said...The premium goes up about 35 percent for every five years someone waits to buy a policy, she said."

   Senior Market Advisor Magazine

January 2006, "Points of Reference" by Nick Hartshorn.  "Driscoll reasoned that advisors and producers are shifting how they run their LTCI business for three main reasons.  “First," she says, "they're forming referral relationships and are getting serious about going after referrals as opposed to [writing the business] on their own."...Her advice?  If you're a planner, the best way to take care of your clients is by forging a referral relationship that allows you to farm that work out to a specialist. "I didn't used to say that," Driscoll says, "but now I do - even going through the underwriting process, you can really go down a bad rabbit hole."

  
 Fortune Small Business  

 November 2005, "A New Policy Pays Off Today - and Tomorrow," by Jeanne Lee.  "What people are doing now is buying really rich policies to deduct the maximum from the corporate checkbook," says Marilee Driscoll..."(from page 75).

                               
Senior Market Advisor Magazine

September 2005, "Rejection Can Make You Stronger, Successful Advisors See Rejection as a Means to an End" by Nick Hartshorn.  According to Marilee Driscoll,....“A ‘rejection’ is a rejection of the offering, not of you.”  She also noted that while a rejection can be unpleasant, it may not be permanent. “Financial sales are frequently tied to an event, and a rejection might not be a long-term no,” it may just be a matter of timing. “If the person is someone you can see yourself doing business with, you want to stay in touch with them — realizing that the rejection might not be a life-long one.”

                               
 MSN money central online  

 "6 Keys to Buying Long Term Care Insurance" by Kiplinger's. 
...Add inflation protection. This is especially important if you're buying the policy in your 50s or 60s. "Most people do not collect on their policies until they are in their 80s," says Marilee Driscoll, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Long-Term Care Planning." If nursing home costs increase by about 5% per year, one day in a nursing home could cost more than $500 in 20 years -- leaving a $192 daily benefit (this year's average) to cover less than half of the cost.

The average nursing home stay is less than three years, but those averages include people who are in a nursing home for just a few weeks after a hospital stay and others who are in the nursing home for a decade or more, says Driscoll.

If you're trying to save money, Driscoll recommends shortening the benefit period rather than extending the waiting period.
 

"Your Money Live" Radio Simulcast on WPLM (1390 am, Plymouth, Mass.) and WCRN (830 am, Worcester, Mass.) radio interview  

(May 4, 2005, "Long Term Care Planning")

Marilee was interviewed live by host Gregg Rennie from 11:30 am to noon.

Medical News Today (UK)  

(20 April, 2005)

Medical News Today provides the latest medical news headlines from the world of medicine and healthcare for both healthcare professionals and the general public. Article entitled: Lawmakers' Disagreement Over Medicaid Spending Reductions Could Hold Up Passage of Federal Budget, USA

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)  

April 13, 2005, "Loophole Lets Medicaid Pay for Nursing Home"
Marilee was interviewed by Washington Bureau reporter Bill Walsh, in the article that begins: "Sandy Matteson was heartsick as she watched her parents' life savings eaten up in $6,000-a-month bites to pay for their nursing home care. Then she spotted an ad promising what she thought was impossible: protecting her parents' savings by getting the taxpayers to foot the bill..."

Southwest Airlines SPIRIT MAGAZINE  

(February,  2005, "Role Reversal: Your Parents May Not Have Enough Cash to Cover Their Later Care, Are You Prepared to Support Them")

Marilee was interviewed by writer Mark Henricks.  On page 64, he writes:
Medicaid, though, is intended for low-income, low-asset families and individuals.  Guidelines vary by state, but generally a single person must have no more than $2,000 in assets to be eligible, says Marilee Driscoll, a Plymouth, Massachusetts, speaker on long-term care issues....Married couples can have about $95,000 in assets, not counting their house." (CLARIFYING NOTE: the $2,000 in assets for single people also does not count their primary residence.)

HR.com  

(May 14, 2004, "Long-term Care: Why HR Should Care" by Alison Stein Wellner )

Marilee was quoted in this article about LTC insurance and Human Resources.

Harvard Magazine
(July/August 2004) "The Long-term Care Puzzle: Sorting Out Fact and Fiction about Care and Coverage," by Anne Stuart.  "No matter what your age or financial status or health is now, there are steps you can take to ensure that you'll have long-term care down the road," says Marilee Driscoll, founder of the Long-Term Care Learning Institute in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Long-Term Care Planning. "The tragedy of long-term care is that most people don't even consider what they're going to do until they're in a crisis."...

People commonly confuse disability coverage with private long-term-care insurance, Driscoll says. Actually, "disability insurance replaces earned income that's lost because you're hurt or sick," she explains. It doesn't cover nursing-home, assisted-living, or home-health-care expenses; unlike health insurance, it doesn't pay for medical care...

The shortcomings revealed by these reality checks indicate that the United States has a long way to go toward resolving the long-term-care question, says Harvard economist David Cutler. "It's an example of how our medical system is set up to deal with acute problems," he explains. "When it comes to dealing with chronic illness, we're very, very bad." But individuals can take steps to resolve the issue for themselves by following Driscoll's advice: stay informed and be prepared.

KGO Newstalk Radio/San Francisco ABC Affiliate  

(April 16, 2005, The Karel Show)

Marilee was interviewed for one hour on long term care planning and long term care insurance. 

Senior Market Advisor 

(February 2004)

“Something to Talk About, Incorporate some tried-and-true techniques into your next seminar and turn more attendees into clients” by Jennifer Frazier.

Marilee is quoted extensively on the following topics: invitations, feedback forms, targeting an audience effectively, and a is featured in a sidebar on how advisors can use humor effectively – even if they think they are not funny.

Wall Street Journal

(February 23, 2004)
"Medicaid Maneuvers: Getting Uncle Sam to pay for long-term care has more drawbacks than you think." Quote: “You're literally closing the door to extremely attractive options" by pursuing Medicaid planning,” says Marilee Driscoll, an author and consultant on long-term care planning.

Advisor Today  

(July 2003, "LTC What You Need to Know Now")

Marilee was interviewed by writer Lynn Vincent
First questions first: Why should an advisor sell LTCI? “It’s simple,” says Massachusetts-based author and long-term care specialist Marilee Driscoll. “If an agent doesn’t, his or her clients have to go somewhere else to get it, or get the information about it. ... It’s still the hot topic that people want to hear about, and it’s a natural product to cross-sell to existing clients, with no client acquisition costs.”

CNN.Com

“Navigating the maze of long-term health insurance” AP report There’s nothing like family experience to motivate people,” said Marilee Driscoll, who runs the Long-Term Care Learning Institute in Plymouth, Massachusetts. “I think people are realizing that anyone who wants to control where and how they’re going to live when they need long-term care has to consider insurance – if they can afford it.”

In CNN.COM June 26, 2002 in an article entitled Navigating the maze of long-term health insurance.  "There’s nothing like family experience to motivate people," said Marilee Driscoll..."I think people are realizing that anyone who wants to control where and how they're going to live when they need long-term care has to consider insurance -- if they can afford it."

Writers/Reporters/Producers/Bookers