How much would it cost if government pays for all long-term care? About $4 trillion over the next decade. We know because Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has proposed to do just that, as part of his ambitious Medicare-for-all health insurance program. And, in an effort to calculate the overall cost of Sanders’s domestic policy agenda, a group of my [...]
A new study finds that healthy people who continue to work after age 65 are likely to live longer than those who retire. But many older adults don’t get the chance, too often tossed aside by employers who can’t see past their gray hair. And that got me thinking about major league baseball, now in full swing. Why? Because often [...]
Last year, Congress changed the way Medicare pays physicians, It scrapped a system that paid docs based largely on the number of procedures and tests they do, and instructed federal Medicare officials to come up with a design that rewards quality and value. Medicare has already moved in this direction for hospitals and health systems, and the new law was [...]
Congress has finally renewed the Older Americans Act—a key piece of the social safety net for seniors. It is good that, after a decade in limbo, the law finally has been reauthorized. But before you break out the balloons and champagne, remember that keeping programs alive on paper is not the same as paying for them. And the government safety [...]
Public opinion surveys show that most Americans incorrectly think Medicare pays for long-term supports and services (LTSS). It does not. But should it? Should Congress add a long-term care benefit to the program’s current package of insurance for hospital care, doctor visits, and drugs? Three highly respected health researchers, Karen Davis, Amber Willink, and Cathy Schoen, think it should. In [...]
For years, experts have been arguing over whether Americans are financially prepared for old age, especially after including the costs of health care and long-term care. But those debates often focus on averages (or medians), a perspective that misses a key point: While some seniors are sitting pretty, many others face a huge challenge. In other words, it isn’t just [...]
Older men are living longer and enjoying more active lives than ever before. In fact, in a dramatic change from three decades ago, these men can now expect their last decades of life to look very much like that of women. Even as men live longer, they are less likely to suffer physical limitations than in past years, and when [...]
You’ve probably heard somebody say, “assisted living is the new nursing home.” A new study suggests that, in important ways, it is true. People living in residential care communities, including assisted living, care homes, or adult group homes, look a lot like those who once lived in nursing homes. They suffer from serious chronic conditions, need assistance with daily activities [...]
Imagine you are 75 and suffer a stroke. You have some financial assets but, suddenly facing a lifetime of unexpected personal care needs, you are worried about outliving your money. You never bought long-term care insurance and could never pass underwriting that would allow you to buy now. What do you do? You could tap your home equity with a [...]
For three years, I’ve been working with a diverse group of policy experts to create a consensus framework for financing long-term supports and services (LTSS). This morning, the Long-Term Care Financing Collaborative, released its recommendations. And they are built around two major reforms: a new universal catastrophic long-term care insurance program and major improvements to Medicaid’s LTSS benefit. Our insurance [...]