Supporters of Senator Ted Kennedy's CLASS Act, which would create a national long-term care insurance program, are bragging that the plan would produce $59 billion for the government over the next 10 years, money they say could help pay for health reform. As much as I like the ideas behind the CLASS Act, this claim is both misleading and counterproductive. It [...]
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that premiums for the national long-term care insurance system proposed by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) may be significantly higher than the $65 per month Kennedy aimed for. CBO figures that for the insurance system to be self-sustaining, premiums would have to be in the range of $100 to $110 per month. A key question for the Kennedy [...]
Nobody wants to see chronically-ill elderly patients making repeated trips to the emergency room. These visits are obviously bad for the patients themselves, who often suffer stress, disorientation, and high risks of infection. They are no good for Medicare, which has to pay the bill: The estimated cost of these readmissions is $17 billion annually. And, despite the common perception, they may not be good for hospitals, which are [...]
I participated in an interesting panel discussion on long-term care this afternoon at The Urban Institute . My fellow panelists were an impressive group of policy experts, all of whom have designed their own reform plans. They included Bill Galston from the Brookings Institution, Rich Johnson from The Urban Institute, and Anne Tumlinson from the consulting firm Avalere Health. While each approaches the problem from a [...]
The Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee have, as I expected, included three key long-term care services proposals in their massive 615-page health reform bill. The measure would require states to offer the same access to home and community care as they currently provide for skilled nursing facilities under Medicaid. It would provide new incentives for training both paid [...]
I've just started a column for Kaiser Health News, a brand new independent news service. I'll be writing twice a month on long-term care issues, looking at policy, new research, and on-the-ground community ideas for improving long-term supports and services. My first piece, published this morning, looks at Senate HELP Committee Chairman Ted Kennedy's CLASS Act. While the measure, which would create national long-term [...]