“Long-Term Crisis: The Case for Reforming Medicaid ‘Personal Care’ in New York”

“Millennials Are Asking About Long-Term Care,” by Brett Stein, ThinkAdvisor

Quote:

“New York’s Medicaid program spends roughly $12 billion per year on in-home ‘personal care’ for the elderly and disabled — nearly as much as the other 49 states combined.

  • The state’s per capita personal care spending is eight times higher than the national average.
  • New York employs 138 home health aides per 1,000 residents over 65, which is more than double the national average. In New York City, the rate is 236 per 1,000.
  • Home health aides accounted for two-thirds of the state’s net job growth over the past decade and now outnumber the combined total of retail clerks and fast-food counter workers.
  • The state’s spending on personal care surged 178 percent from 2015 to 2021, which was 10 times faster than the growth of its elderly population.
  • Despite heavy investment in home-based care, the share of New Yorkers living in nursing homes has declined more slowly than in other states and remains 29 percent above the U.S. norm.

New York’s per capita Medicaid spending on nursing homes is the highest of any state and double the U.S. average.”

 

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

If only New York had listened when I highlighted this problem and proposed a solution in Long-Term Care Financing in New York:  The Consequences of Denial (2011).