“Fixing long-term care coverage,” by Katherine O’Malley, McKnights LTC News
Quote:
“The U.S. doesn’t lack ideas for fixing its long-term care coverage crisis. It lacks a system that connects them. While no single policy or approach will solve this complicated problem, a layered approach across phases of care could bring us significantly closer. The alternative is the system we have now: one that kicks in only after families have lost almost everything.”
LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:
Stack WISH on WA Cares, then add a big new, compulsory, payroll-funded catastrophic entitlement? Yeah, that’ll fix what ails LTC. Ridiculous recommendations like this come from analysts failing to take the reality of LTC spending into account. As we’ve shown in numerous reports, private out-of-pocket LTC asset spend down is minimal; only 6.4% of the national total. Most LTC funding comes from third parties, especially Medicaid and Medicare. With so little at risk, is it any wonder most people don’t worry about LTC until they need it and then turn to government programs? To make sense of what ails LTC, read 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.” For what not to do, see “Medi-Cal-amity: California’s Reckless Expansion of Medicaid Long-Term Care to the Affluent.” See also “Better Long-Term Care for Billions Less.” Much more on long-term care here.