Connie Garner, the top Senate staffer on long-term care issues, said today that she is certain the CLASS Act, which would create a new national long-term care insurance program, will be included in the final health bill being considered by Congress. "I don't have any question CLASS will survive," Garner told a long-term care conference sponsored by the journal Health Affairs. [...]
The Washington Post came out against the CLASS Act today. In an editorial,The Post wrote this about the proposed national long-term care insurance program: "There are already enough risks and uncertainties in health reform. Long-term care is an important topic, but it is one that deserves more careful scrutiny than has taken place in the context of the broader health-reform [...]
The CLASS Act, the proposed national long-term care insurance program, is included in the latest compromise health bill introduced today by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). This version of the bill has now been endorsed by all 60 Senate Democrats, including several, such as Nebraska's Ben Nelson, who had previously vowed to oppose the health measure if it included CLASS. Another [...]
The CLASS Act, a proposal to create a national long-term care insurance system, remains alive in the Senate health bill, but its fate remains far from certain. On Friday, the Senate actually voted 51-47 to drop the plan from its health bill. But, thanks to Senate rules that required 60 votes to approve the change, CLASS remains in the measure. Most troubling, [...]
I spent today with the New Hampshire legislature's long-term care caucus and a group of stakeholders as they wrestled with the challenges of expanding the state's Medicaid home and community based care program for the elderly and adults with disabilities. Thanks to a kind invitation from State Representative Kate Miller, who chairs the caucus, AARP executive vp John Rother and I were able [...]
John Mills, who cared for his dad for six years, has started a nice new website filled with practical tools and information for caregivers. You can find it at http://www.ecarediary.com/ For those caring for parents, this is one worth checking out.
It was a good day for supporters of the CLASS Act, the national long-term care insurance program that has been on the edges of the health reform debate. A version of the measure was included in the House Democratic reform bill introduced today by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The decison all but assures the long-term care proposal will be included in the [...]
In a bit of surprising news, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont) added some key long-term care amendments to his health reform bill. The provisions, first proposed by senators John Kerry (D-Mass), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would all make home and community based care more accessible under Medicaid. Currently, Medicaid is only required to provide long-term [...]
I am disappointed, but not surprised, that Congress' latest health reform effort does almost nothing to repair our tattered long-term care system. The massive health reform bill proposed today by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont) touches nearly every part of the health system: Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, hospitals, doctors, you name it. Except for one critical element. The proposal all [...]
I moderated two interesting panels today at a long-term care conference sponsored by Genworth, the big insurance company. The first panel included author and family caregiving expert Virginia Morris, National Family Caregivers Association president Suzanne Mintz, and Ancil Alexander, a home health aide who visits clients in the South Bronx. Virginia talked about the desperate need caregivers have for information, Suzanne discussed the [...]