“Here’s How Not to Reform Long Term Care,” by Gregg Girvan”

Here’s How Not to Reform Long Term Care,” by Gregg Girvan, The Dispatch

  

Quote:

“The reimbursement rates in Medicaid lie at the heart of the problems with BBB’s LTC funding. The bill attempts to extend home- and community-based services to hundreds of thousands currently on waiting lists while simultaneously recognizing that providers must hire more workers with meager Medicaid rates and a historically tight labor market. Therefore, while the bill provides an additional 6 percent match to provide services to those on waiting lists, it also requires states to develop processes to increase direct care worker pay. While the goals of providing more services and increasing worker pay are admirable, pursuing one goal comes at the cost of the other. Congress could propose alternative ways to increase the uptake of long-term care insurance or find ways for people to save through their working lives for LTC costs, which come almost exclusively in old age.”

 

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

This thoughtful article is worthy of your time to read. It could benefit, however, from a better understanding of how Medicaid long-term care policies and LTC insurance actually work.