“The US Needs To Help Seniors And Their Families Navigate Long-Term Care,” by Howard Gleckman, Gleckman Blog

Quote:

“Your mom has been hospitalized for two weeks following a stroke. One morning, she’s told she’ll be discharged by the end of the day. Mom calls you in a panic. You rush to the hospital and ask for advice. Instead, you get a much-copied list of local skilled nursing facilities and a wave good-by. This scene is played out thousands of times a day. It may happen with discharges from a hospital to skilled nursing facility or from a nursing facility to home. Sometimes it happens when family members  can no long care for their loved one at home without help. But no matter the setting, the dismal story is the same: Most older adults and their families have no information about what to do, where to go, or who to ask. Successfully navigating the labyrinth of care options is, for most families, impossible.”

 

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

When you see a problem like that, the first question to ask is Why? But that is never what this author and his ilk ask. They ask only, what can the government do? The irony is that the reason “Most older adults and their families have no information about what to do, where to go, or who to ask” is that government already runs long-term care. Adding more of what caused the problems in the first place will only make them worse. In a free market, entrepreneurs compete to help customers know what to do, where to go and whom to ask. If their enterprises give customers what they want for a price they can afford, the entrepreneurs succeed and their customers benefit. When government runs things all you get is talk, excuses, and failure.