With the election behind him, Barack Obama's first item of business will be dealing with the fiscal cliff--that toxic combination of tax increases and automatic spending cuts that are due to kick in on Jan 2, unless Congress acts to delay or replace them with a long-term deficit reduction plan. Going over the cliff would mean deep cuts in a wide range of government programs. [...]
Being a family caregiver is a lot harder than it used to be. Providing personal assistance, such as help eating or bathing, is tough enough. But now, many family caregivers are acting more like nurses. They have to manage medications, change dressings on wounds, and even monitor and operate medical equipment, from home dialysis to mechanical ventilators. According to a new survey by the AARP Public Policy Institute [...]
Reverse mortgages, which hold great promise as a way for the frail elderly to pay for long-term care costs while living at home, are failing to do the job. Few homeowners ever take out these loans, and those who do, paradoxically, may be putting their financial security in old age at greater risk. According to a new report to Congress [...]
By upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court has preserved—at least for now—major changes in the way long-term care supports and services are delivered and financed. Here are some provisions of the law that directly affect the frail elderly and younger adults with disabilities. Medicaid: The law is filled with important changes to this state/federal program [...]
What if you could be admitted to the hospital—in your own bedroom? That’s the idea of a health care model called Hospital at Home, which is aimed at elderly patients with diseases such as congestive heart failure, emphysema, urinary tract infections, or pneumonia. According to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs, people receiving this care through the [...]
Why would House Republicans slash programs that make it possible for the frail elderly and adults with disabilities to live at home? Especially since the alternative would often be more costly nursing home care. GOP lawmakers say they support Medicaid's Home and Community Based programs that provide long-term services and supports in the community rather than in nursing homes. Many GOP [...]
I spent this morning at an interesting Capitol Hill conference on an important—but often ignored —topic: What role should home health aides play in the delivery of care to people with chronic disease? Health care providers and policy experts are spending lots of time thinking about ways to better integrate medical and personal care. They are finally recognizing that people [...]
Want to see the future of adult day programs for the frail elderly and adults with disabilities? Just watch what is happening in California, where 26,000 participants and the centers that care for them are struggling to manage state budget cuts and huge uncertainty. Adult day programs can be a key support for the frail elderly or other adults with [...]
Government funding for programs to support aging in place was still growing through 2008, but much more slowly than in the past. At the same time, states were making it harder to enroll, limiting benefits, and forcing people to wait longer before they could participate in these programs. And all that was happening before Medicaid home care faced major budget cuts in the face [...]
This week’s failure of the deficit super committee may have saved Medicare and Medicaid from spending reductions for now, but don’t kid yourself: These programs remain squarely in the fiscal bulls-eye. As part of last August’s deal to extend the federal debt limit, Congress agreed that if the super committee was unable to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over [...]