Taking on Long-Term Care

posted by Penelope Lemov

Here's an exciting idea from the Commonwealth Fund: Add a longterm care benefit to Medicare. It wouldn't be a freebie. It would be financed by a premium to pay for care. It might put the long-term-care insurance sector out of business but it would spell major R-E-L-I-E-F for state Medicaid budgets.

According to a recent Health Care Opinion Leaders survey on the subject, the Commonwealth Fund (and Modern Healthcare) found that four out of five respondents favor adding such a benefit to Medicare. More than two-thirds believe it's important that the health reform plans of the presidential candidates address the quality and financing of long-term care.

The opinion leaders surveyed came from academia, the health care and insurance businesses, and government and advocacy groups. Elected officials were excluded. Just imagine the results if governors had been included.

 

Comments

[masscraft]

I just can't see relying on the government for this if you don't have to. We found Insure Your Future online at http://www.disabilityinsuranceadvisor.com/ and called an agent. For a very affordable premium, my wife and I have policies with monthly benefits that increase with inflation. We also got rid of the elimination period. Now it's done and my family won't have to mess around with the government so much.

[W. E. Wright]

Why create a new federal program? If Medicaid needs more money, why not just take the money planned for this new program and fund Medicaid better.

Although most of the candidates for president have been promoting some type of “universal coverage” for medical care, none of the candidates have proposed “universal long term care” coverage. In fact, they have all been strongly behind measures that would increase the effectiveness of private long term care insurance (especially through the LTC Partnership programs created by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005).

The problem with having a “universal long term care program” is that the federal and state governments already pay for long term care services for the poor and for much of the middle class.

A new federal program covering long term care would mostly benefit the rich and the upper middle class who can’t qualify for government-funded long term care. Why should a new tax take more money from the lower classes in order to primarily benefit the richest Americans? It’s just not fair to working Americans.