Howard Gleckman, Author at Howard Gleckman

Obama Aide: “Cautiously Optimistic” About the CLASS Act

Senior Obama Administration official Richard Frank says he is "cautiously optimistic" that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can build a viable government sponsored long-term care insurance program under the CLASS Act. CLASS is a national, voluntary long-term care insurance system that was included in the 2010 health reform law. Frank, a highly respected professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School, is Deputy Assistant [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-12-09T19:15:16-05:00December 9th, 2010|long term care reform, long-term care financing, long-term care insurance|0 Comments

Obama Deficit Panel Chairs: CLASS Act is “Unsustainable”

Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, the co-chairs of President Obama's deficit reduction commission, have called the CLASS Act "unsustainable" and are proposing that it be either reformed or repealed. They say the national voluntary long-term care insurance program passed as part of this year's health reform law "is viewed by many experts as financially unsound." The first version of the Bowles-Simpson [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-12-01T15:52:08-05:00December 1st, 2010|long term care reform, long-term care financing, long-term care insurance|0 Comments

The Importance of Care Transitions for Seniors

For seniors trying to manage multiple chronic disease, moving from one care setting to another can literally be a matter of life and death. That's why it is so important that health providers--doctors, nursing homes, hospitals, assisted living facilities, and home care agencies--work together to make sure that those moves happen safely. Too often in our poorly coordinated health and long-term care systems, those [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-11-24T09:10:39-05:00November 24th, 2010|Care Coordination|2 Comments

Tough Sell: The Future of CLASS and Private Long-Term Care Insurance

It is a tough time to try to sell long-term care insurance. The private market was stunned on Nov. 11 when MetLife, one of the nation's biggest carriers with insurance on 600,000 lives, announced it would stop selling new policies. At the same time, surveys by two of the nation's most respected long-term care researchers suggest why it will continue to be very [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-11-18T18:01:54-05:00November 18th, 2010|long-term care financing, long-term care insurance|0 Comments

The Obama Fiscal Commission, Medicaid, and Seniors

The co-chairs of President Obama's bipartisan deficit commision have proposed a far-reaching plan to reduce the nation's massive deficit. It includes big changes for both current and future seniors. Among them: higher Social Security taxes and reforms in the design of benefits, reduced payments to Medicare providers and greater cost sharing by Medicare beneficiaries, and, perhaps most dramatic, a fundamental change in federal payments for Medicaid long-term [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-11-10T16:59:45-05:00November 10th, 2010|long term care reform, Medicaid, Medicare|0 Comments

Will the New Congress Repeal the CLASS Act?

There is lots of quiet speculation in Washington about the fate of the CLASS Act in the wake of the huge Republican 2010 election day victory. Will CLASS be repealed? Will it be changed in any major way? My best guess is that CLASS--the national voluntary long-term care insurance program passed as part of the 2010 health reform law--will neither be repealed nor fundamentally [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-11-03T14:48:50-04:00November 3rd, 2010|Health reform, long term care reform, long-term care insurance|0 Comments

What Adult Children Don’t Know About Their Parents’ Finances

After my mother-in-law died suddenly, my wife and I found ourselves caring for my father-in-law. There was so much we didn't know. One area where we were flying blind: We had no idea what financial resources he had, what banks and mutual funds he used, or how to access the funds he needed to pay for his home health aides and, later, assisted living [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-10-27T14:46:20-04:00October 27th, 2010|Caregiver tips|0 Comments

Aging in Place Requires More than Good Intentions

It is an article of faith among many in the elder and disability advocacy communities that aging in place is always the best alternative for someone who needs personal care. I don't believe it, and I recently heard an important panel discussion that confirmed that view. The panel, sponsored by Washington Grantmakers, was especially interesting because the participants were all supporters of [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-10-18T18:49:52-04:00October 18th, 2010|Aging, family caregivers, Senior housing|2 Comments

Why Do So Many Nursing Home Residents End up in the Hospital?

More than half of long-term care residents in skilled nursing facilities made at least one emergency room visit in 2006. A quarter had two or more. Even more troubling, 38 percent were admitted to the hospital at least once that year, and nearly half were admitted twice or more. In all, one-quarter of all hospitalizations for nursing home residents were potentially preventable. These very [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-10-12T19:31:25-04:00October 12th, 2010|Medicare, nursing homes|0 Comments

Aides in Nursing Homes: Not What You Think

The other day, Josh Wiener, who is one of the nation's experts on long-term care, presented three papers on certified nursing assistants (CNAs) in nursing homes. Josh and his colleagues at the consulting firm RTI International looked at quality of care, immigration, and injuries. And some of what they found may surprise you. The papers are available here (some may require [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2010-10-06T18:53:06-04:00October 6th, 2010|long-term care workers, nursing homes|0 Comments

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