Minnesota and Washington are the states that provide the best services and supports for frail older adults, younger people with disabilities, and their families, according to a new study by AARP. The worst performers: Alabama and West Virginia. AARP defines superior supports and services as those that are affordable and accessible, give families a choice of high-quality and safe care [...]
I was a caregiver for my dad. It was extremely rewarding. And incredibly difficult. It was, in fact, the hardest thing I ever have done. Many family care partners pay a high physical, emotional, and financial price for what they do. Now, as Congress is debating major policy changes aimed at making the lives of family caregivers easier, we are [...]
As the Covid-19 pandemic explodes around the country, cases and deaths among nursing home residents increasing rapidly as well. A new analysis by AARP finds that the rate of facility-based cases doubled from mid-October to mid-November, from 2.8 cases per hundred residents to 5.7. Deaths also rose sharply--though at a lower rate than cases—from 0.48 deaths per 100 residents to [...]
Hundreds of thousands of older adults and younger people with disabilities are living in nursing homes only because that is where Medicaid drives them. They have no clinical need for skilled nursing care, and, if better options were available, many could be living in other settings, including their own homes. Medicaid—the joint state/federal health care program for the very poor—sends [...]
The illness and death that covid-19 has brought to older adults has created an historic opportunity for the US to rethink the way it delivers and pays for long-term care. Yet, much of the long-term care industry and even many advocates for older adults and younger people with disabilities are lobbying for short-term fixes, not real reform. Nursing homes and [...]
It is a terrifying time to be caring for an aging parent or other family member who needs assistance with physical or cognitive limitations. You are unable to visit your loved ones in care facilities. It is a struggle to find aides to care for them at home. You worry about them contracting the potentially deadly coronavirus. You worry about [...]
Family members and friends are the bedrock of our system of personal care for frail older adults and younger people with disabilities. Without their support, the nation’s hospitals and nursing homes would be filled to the rafters with very sick, frail seniors. And many of those older adults would die before their time. Those family caregivers often provide assistance with [...]
Nearly all of the Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed or supported plans to create a federal family leave program that would include those who are caring for frail parents or other relatives. That’s gratifying. It’s too bad that in this week’s debate, all but Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) appear to have forgotten the fact. They were happy to chime in [...]
Washington State may soon approve the nation’s first publicly-funded long-term care insurance program. The measure, called the Long-Term Care Trust Act, would provide a maximum benefit of $36,500 for people who need assistance with at least three activities of daily living (ADLs) such as bathing, toileting, transferring, dressing, or eating. It would be funded with a payroll tax (or what [...]
Last week, Microsoft announced it will require its vendors to provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents. Nice thought, but the tech giant missed an important opportunity. By limiting the required benefit only to new parents, it is ignoring the needs of workers caring for spouses, siblings, or aging parents. In some respects that’s not surprising. [...]