Hipotecas inversas de investigación

During the past two days we have looked at how the new Obama Administration can be expected to address social security and pensions, today we want to check BarackObama.com for his healthcare proposals.

The issue with healthcare is very simple: We have wonderful medical treatments and terrific doctors in the U.S. Very rich people from all over the world come here for medical care. The problem: The cost of healthcare is so great that many of us either cannot afford it or can only access the medical system by giving up the assets acquired over a lifetime.

The Obama proposals — as outlined below — suggest a far more accessible healthcare system. But we need to go further to assure that everyone, without exception, has access to medical care.

Some will scream “socialism” when the concept of universal medical care is mentioned, but labels mean nothing.

What’s important is that someone with an untreated disease doesn’t infect the rest of us, that all children have vaccines (a proposal vetoed in 2007 by President Bush) and that in no case does the cost of medical care force people into bankruptcy — no one should be impoverished because they have cancer, MS or any of a thousand other diseases.

The Obama proposals look like this:

Provide Cheaper Prescription Drugs: Our seniors pay the highest prices in the world for brand-name drugs. To lower drug costs, Obama and Biden will allow the federal government to negotiate for lower drug prices for the Medicare program, just as it does to lower prices for our veterans. They also support allowing seniors to import safe prescription drugs from overseas, and will prevent pharmaceutical companies from blocking cheap and safe generic drugs from the market. (Comment: Wal-Mart — to its credit — is knocking down prescription prices but more needs to be done. For instance, drug stores should be allowed to advertise prescription prices so individuals can easily compare costs.)

Protect and Strengthen Medicare: Obama and Biden are committed to the long-term strength of the Medicare program. They will reduce waste in the Medicare system, including eliminating subsidies to the private insurance Medicare Advantage program, and tackle fundamental health care reform to improve the quality and efficiency of our healthcare system. They support closing the “doughnut hole” in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program.

Provide Transparency to Medicare Prescription Drug Plans: Many seniors are enrolled in Medicare prescription drug plans that are actually more expensive for them than other available plans. Obama and Biden will require companies to send Medicare beneficiaries a full list of the drugs and fees they paid the previous year to help seniors determine which plans can better reduce their out-of-pocket costs and improve their health.

Strengthen Long-Term Care Options: As president, Obama will work to give seniors choices about their care, consistent with their needs, and not biased towards institutional care. He will work to reform the financing of long term care to protect seniors and families. He will work to improve the quality of elder care, including by training more nurses and health care workers.

Last week I had dinner with a colleague who is from the forward mortgage world and has started doing some reverse mortgages over the last 6 months.  As we ate our dinner and drank our scotch and whined about the general market and economy, he blurted out that he thought there should be a Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) spiff for all the reverse mortgages that he had done.  “The only way I may money on forward mortgages in Chicago is because XYZ lender gave me an extra .75 Yield Spread because of their need to meet their CRA requirements.”

I explained that there were two ways to determine eligibility:  The first way is by subject property address AND income and the second method being the use of JUST the property address.  The first way takes into account income and a Chicago senior’s income is going to be less than the whopping $55,760 limit, so we come back to just the qualification of property address as the primary determining factor.  So if most of the reverse’s he’s done are in areas like Bronzeville, Berwyn, Hyde Park (the home of president elect Obama) and beautiful Woodlawn, are these more valuable for CRA purposes than doing something in the Gold Coast or Lincoln Park?  Are lenders getting “extra credit” for our urban adventures into those Low-to-Moderate income areas?  Should I be additionally compensated for these noble efforts or better yet a bullet proof vest?

If Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character in Jerry McGuire was a reverse mortgage originator he might say…”Some originators have coin, but I have the quan.”

Technorati Tags: Reverse Mortgage,HECM,FHA,HUD,News,Jerry McGuire

First American Corporation announced it has developed a new reverse mortgage tool to help servicers identify candidates who may be eligible for a HECM.  The tool provides servicers with a score that examines a broad range of homeowner and property data obtained from First American’s data repository, to determine whether a HECM can be used as one of it loss mitigation workout options.

According to the press release, the evaluation also considers factors like living trusts, bankruptcy filings and powers of attorney.  The servicer will then receive a report that includes an estimated principal limit after paying off any current liens, servicing fees, origination fees, mortgage insurance and closing costs. 

“Last year, 648,000 Americans age 50 and older fell behind on their mortgage payments, and nearly 50,000 went into foreclosure, according to the American Association of Retired People (AARP),” said Randy Gilster, of First American’s Outsourcing and Technology Solutions business line. “Homeowners who are 62 years or older and who have equity in their homes can often qualify for a federally insured reverse mortgage, without regard to their credit score. Our new score helps lenders identify the best candidates for these loans and gives default managers new options to help senior homeowners.”