Vexing long-term health care absent from U.S. debate
MIAMI (AP) — Even as the health care debate rages in Washington, scant attention has been given to providing long-term care for the elderly and disabled. Meanwhile, the issue is driving millions into poverty, stressing families, and straining federal and state budgets.
President Barack Obama has remained largely silent on a long-term care plan — one of the pieces the late Sen. Ted Kennedy saw as key to an overhaul bill.
Such a plan is included in the bill Kennedy’s health committee wrote, but it has not become regarded as a must-have component.
Although it’s unlikely that plan would solve the long-term care crisis, it would address an issue that has vexed policymakers and caregivers for decades. And it would mark the first time the government provided nursing homes and other care for the masses.
Sep 20, 2009 at 5:37 a.m.
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Learn to take care of your self stop looking to the goverment to look after you nothing from them is free, Unlees your one of the looser's who want every thing hand'ed to them & won't work & wont pay tax'es & there sem's to be some of them in DC.
Sep 19, 2009 at 4:33 p.m.
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gpawcat, that house is rarely worth as much as you think. If skilled nursing care costs $9000/month, a $180,000 house with no encumbrance will last 20 months. Median nursing home stay is 28-30 months. That doesn't count any home care or assisted living periods. Who do you imagine pays for the remaining care when the assets run out?
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Sadly, smart estate planning in the US means making sure that your loved one can qualify for Medicaid.
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Very few people have ANY long-term-care insurance, let alone an adequate policy. Good ones can be quite expensive. It's important to have inflation-adjusted benefits, so that the policy covers what you expect it to when the time comes.
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But even a minimal public LTC insurance plan would help, at least in the early stages, when it can be difficult to handle a relative's deteriorating life condition and the end-of-life finances.
Sep 19, 2009 at 1:07 p.m.
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Nonsense. Let's look at health care bills a different way. A person buys a home and over 30 years you will owe say about 200,000 in interest. Are you bankrupt? Or do you take the tax deduction and sent Washington D.C. less money. The house is a tax deductible asset, just like a medical or dental bill. If I die, my life insurance or assets pay off the bill.
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