At first glance, it looks like Medicaid and other key government programs for the frail elderly and others with disabilities avoided a major hit in the debt limit agreement reached by Congress today. But in truth all of these programs remain in severe jeopardy. The complex deal calls for several stages of deficit reduction. The first is a cut of $25 billion [...]
My caringforourparents blog last week on the desperate need for transportation services for seniors generated lots of comments on elder care message boards. Most shared their frustration with the lack of public transit, but others tipped me off to some great ideas for community-based transportation services. The timing is important, given today’s headline that House Republicans are planning on cutting [...]
Last evening, I had the opportunity to speak to WISER (Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement), a Washington, D.C.- based group dedicated to improving the financial security of women. My topic: caregiving, and the effects it has on Baby Boomer women. I told the group about a couple of women I met when I wrote my book, Caring for Our [...]
The House Republican Budget proposal released today calls for the biggest changes in health and long-term care services for the elderly in a half-century. While there is no chance that these proposals will be enacted as proposed, they reflect a profound sea change in the way many in Washington look at assistance for seniors, and especially for the frail elderly. [...]
Money Follows the Person is a cornerstone of the federal government's effort to move Medicaid beneficiaries from nursing homes into the community. But a new study commissioned by Medicaid itself shows how difficult those transitions can be. In the 30 states that have been testing the program over the past three years, only 8,500 people have used MFP to return to their communities. That's [...]
Powerful Republicans are pushing the twin ideas of capping the federal contribution to Medicaid and eliminating federal regulation of the program. These changes would do profound damage to the Medicaid benefit for long-term care, whether it is provided at home or in nursing facilites. This plan would turn Medicaid from a federal entitlement into a block grant. Over time, states would be responsible [...]
President Obama's 2012 budget is the latest indication of the growing pressures government-provided aging services will face in coming years. And as tight as his budget is, spending on assistance for poor and frail seniors is likely to end up much lower than Obama proposed. With congressional Republicans vowing to cut $100 billion from domestic spending over the remaining seven [...]