Why are caregivers for the elderly such bad advocates? There are 40-60 million Americans caring for loved ones yet their needs are widely ignored by the political system. Thus, politicians rarely rouse themselves to do much to help, and when budget-cutting time comes, what little assistance there is often ends up on the block. The inability of caregivers to organize politically was a major topic of [...]
On Thursday, I'll be participating in an ambitous program sponsored by AARP where 10 authors will discuss their experiences and views about the challenges of family caregiving. Most of us have had the personal experience of caring for family members and know about the subject first-hand. Some of our books, such as my own Caring for Our Parents, use the personal stories of caregivers to describe the nation's [...]
In the wake of the White House decision to abandon the CLASS Act, policy analysts are struggling to find some workable solution to the growing problem of how to finance long-term care costs. So how about using Social Security? One versionof this idea was proposed years ago by Yung-Ping Chen, now professor emeritus of gerontology at the University of Massachusetts. He'd let Social Security recipients trade off a small portion [...]
Yesterday, I joined three of the most creative thinkers in the long-term care policy world to discuss the future of personal care services for the elderly and disabled in an era of shrinking government resources. My fellow panelists at the event, sponsored by The Urban Institute, were Robyn Stone, author of Long-Term Care for the Elderly and senior vice president for research at Leading Age, [...]
On Tuesday, Nov 8, I'll be moderating an important discussion on the future long-term care in an era of shrinking government. My fellow panelists will be Robyn Stone, author of Long-Term Care for the Elderly and senior vice president for research for LeadingAge, a trade group that represents non-profit providers ; Len Fishman, the CEO of Hebrew Senior Life, an innovative senior services provider in Boston, [...]
It may be possible to design a modest government-run voluntary long-term care insurance program that is financially viable. It isn't easy, would probably enroll only about 2 million people, and would take some substantial revisions to the program as imagined by the Community Living Assistance Services & Supports (CLASS)Act. But it might be possible. That at least is the message buried in the reams of documents released [...]
Republican critics of the CLASS Act--the national long-term care insurance program that was included in the 2010 health law-- have concocted a phony scandal about how the law passed. As I have written often, CLASS is deeply flawed (though well-intended). But there is a big difference between a poorly executed idea and a scandal. In a report that is as partisan as it is [...]
The quality of care for the frail elderly and adults with disabilities and the assistance available for their family caregivers varies widely among the states. Now, for the first time, researchers at AARP have tried to measure where you can get the highest quality care. And the differences among the states are even more dramatic than I thought. A handful, including Minnesota, [...]
It isn't news that Americans are reluctant to buy private long-term care insurance. Only 7 million have policies and the market is essentially dead in the water. But why don't we plan for the risk of needing assistance at some point in our lives? After all, 7 of every 10 of us will need care sometime after we reach age 65 and others will need it at [...]
Elder abuse is hard to define, and it is a challenge to know how widespread it is. But it is a deeply serious problem and I recently came across two elder abuse stories worth passing on. If you are an elder care professional or an adult child caring for parents, read them carefully. And beware. The first is courtesy of Steve Goldberg, a Washington, D.C. investment adviser and contributing [...]