Likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is, very slowly and cautiously, acknowledging the need to reform the way we support frail older adults and younger people with disabilities. In recent days, a task force created by his campaign made several proposals to expand home and community based care under Medicaid and support both family and paid caregivers. Since covid-19 has killed more [...]
The way we care for older adults in the US is, self-evidently, not working. In just the past three months, at least 44,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have died from COVID-19. Hundreds of thousands have been sickened. And millions have been isolated from family and friends for months. Yet, this crisis did not [...]
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 [...]
What if real estate developers worked with on-site nurses and social workers to help frail older adults and younger people with disabilities stay in their apartments? Could they deliver--in a cost-effective way--social supports and care coordination that would improve the well-being of residents, reduce their health care costs, and benefit property managers? The answer is: They can, especially for older [...]
Democratic presidential candidates finally are beginning to talk about long-term care for older adults and younger people with disabilities. That’s good. Their ideas, not so much. This week, New Jersey senator and presidential contender Cory Booker became the first Democrat in the race to propose a relatively detailed long-term care plan. He deserves credit for raising an issue that, until [...]
These days, efforts to reform our broken system of long-term care are being led by the states. To support and build on those programs, the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) released an ambitious agenda for structuring and financing programs to help families support their loved ones. The NASI framework, called Universal Family Care, goes far beyond long-term care financing. It [...]
Why can’t we do a better job providing safe, cost-effective, and reliable transportation to older adults? For decades, we’ve known about the consequences of poor transportation. It is a major reason why people miss medical appointments, struggle to shop for food and medicine, and become more socially isolated. It can contribute to malnutrition and falls, result in more emergency department [...]
US District Judge Reed O’Connor’s Friday night decision to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act would damage the well-being of older adults, those 50-64 nearing Medicare, and frail elders and younger people with disabilities who are receiving long-term care benefits under Medicaid. Many lawyers believe the ruling is poorly reasoned and likely would be reversed on appeal. However, it [...]
Earlier this year, Congress and the Trump Administration for the first time allowed Medicare Advantage plans to offer their members non-medical supportive services such as transportation and home meals. As insurers begin to roll out their plans for Medicare’s 2019 open season enrollment, we are starting to see what these new benefits are going to look like. Relatively few plans [...]
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. [...]