Bipartisan solutions to improve the availability of long-term care
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Contributor(s):
- Bipartisan Policy Center, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : Bipartisan Policy Center, September 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Health Policy Insurance, Long-Term Care -- legislation & jurisprudence Long-Term Care -- legislation & jurisprudence Medicaid United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- For decades, policymakers have sought to improve access to long-term services and supports (LTSS) and to strengthen these services’ financing. Today, about half of 65-year-olds will need LTSS at some point in their life. This need will grow as baby boomers age and require more care. LTSS refer to a broad range of paid and unpaid medical and nonmedical services for individuals with functional limitations due to age, chronic illness, or disability. LTSS include assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), such as eating, bathing, or dressing, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), such as medication management or meal preparation. Those who need LTSS may include children, adults, or seniors with physical, cognitive, developmental, mental, or other chronic health conditions. In 2018, 14 million adults in the United States reported a need for long-term services and supports. The challenges associated with providing care to those who require LTSS include both the cost of care and the shortage of caregivers relative to need. The cost for facility and in-home care services has on average increased faster than the rate of inflation since 2004. Long-term care providers saw significant cost increases from 2019 to 2020 as demand rose and caregiver shortages in facilities and in the community worsened. The median for the national annual cost of LTSS in 2020 ranged from $19,240 for adult day health care to $105,850 for a private room in a nursing home. BPC’s work has focused on solutions designed to improve the availability of home and community-based services, to improve a struggling private long-term care insurance market, and to provide assistance to caregivers. This report outlines policy recommendations, including new proposals to expand the availability of home and community-based services for low- and middle-income individuals. It also includes previous recommendations that BPC has developed to improve private-sector options for those with more financial resources.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (53 pages)) : illustrations
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918333788606676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918333788606676