“An untapped resource: How family caregivers provide value for home care,” by Adam Healy, McKnights Home Care
“If family caregivers bring a substantial amount to the caregiving table, they also weather the toll. Research suggests that family caregivers spend an average of $7,000 or more out of pocket each year on costs associated with assisting loved ones. … This growing tide of family caregivers has attracted attention from Medicare, Medicaid and other stakeholders in recent years looking for ways to fix these problems. These payers are increasingly becoming willing to reimburse providers that effectively deliver support, and home-based care providers are a natural partner in this space. … ‘Medicaid is the primary payer of long term services and supports in this country,’ Resendez said. ‘So there’s already that existing infrastructure in place in order to get funds into the households of family caregivers.’”
LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:
Family caregivers are an “untapped resource.” Hardly. They save the government over half a trillion dollars by providing free care to loved ones. The trouble with articles like this one is that they never take into account the cost of replacing free care with paid care. Medicaid especially is already overextended financially. The right place to start is to ask why America’s LTC system is so dysfunctional. What caused that? Once you know the cause, you can begin to address a solution. That solution may not involve digging the country deeper in debt. For better ideas, see the Paragon Health Institute’s “Long-Term Care: The Problem” and “Long-Term Care: The Solution” and watch this “virtual LTC event” featuring age wave visionary Ken Dychtwald and leading LTC researchers. To find ample private funds for LTC, check out Medicaid’s $100+ Billion Leak.