Not Your Grandmother’s Long-Term Care: Some Things You Need To Know

Long-term care is not what it used to be.  There are many more options and therefore more complex choices to make.  Plus, there’s the challenge of increasing costs.

A recent Today Show segment tees up some of the issues facing the nearly 70 percent of Americans who will need long term care and offers some basic facts, figures and expert advice.

 

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Senior man and woman having coffee at table seen through window

Seven Ways To Pay for Long-Term Care

How to plan and pay for long-term care — including assisted living, memory care, nursing home and at-home care — is one of the most daunting challenges the United States now faces. Ecumen CEO Kathryn Roberts is leading a national task force looking for a solution. Roberts maps out seven possible pathways to frame the complex debate along a continuum of public and private approaches.

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A Must-Read: Washington Post Brings Caregiving Crisis Front and Center

If you’re not already a caregiver to a loved one, chances are high you will be one day.  The constellation of issues you are, or will be, facing are daunting.  And even if you’re never in this role, the looming crisis is sure to have major societal effects that will impact everyone. 

The Washington Post recently took an in-depth look at caregiving and published “Caregiving: A Special Report” highlighting the current and future issues Americans face as more people live longer and there are fewer younger people and fewer financial resources to take care of them.  The Post held “Caregiving in America” forums in Chicago and Seattle and interviewed experts in all aspects of the caregiving crisis.

As former First Lady Rosalynn Carter puts it: "There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers."

Travel writer and TV host Rick Steves in a video interview offers a heartfelt plea for action:  “As our society becomes more successful… living longer and out-living our brains or bodies… loved ones are taking care of loved ones… It’s a big issue that people don’t talk about so much… but there’s so much power and passion and affluence in our society.  If we can’t deal with this in a smart and honest way, it’s sort of an embarrassment for our whole society.  The caliber of a great nation is how they deal with seniors…”

The Post’s report is comprehensive — full of information that honors and empowers caregivers and takes on the rapidly emerging personal and societal issues.  Both printed and online versions are available at the links below:

Printed Section PDF

Online Version With Videos


Financing Long-Term Care: If Not Us, Then Who?

by Kathryn Roberts, Ecumen CEO

Ecumen CEO Kathryn Roberts is board chair-elect for LeadingAge, the national trade association for not-for-profit aging services organizations, focused on education, advocacy and applied research. Roberts is also the chair of LeadingAge’s Long-Term Services and Supports Task Force whose mission is to find solutions to an imminent crisis in the funding of long-term care costs for the rapidly growing number of people who are living longer with chronic diseases that require expensive specialized care. In the following post that appeared on LeadingAge’s newsletter, Roberts gives a progress report on the task force’s work, which is focused on broadening the public discussion and helping the U.S. move to a national solution.

Our country's lack of a long-term care financing plan leaves millions of Americans exposed to catastrophic costs of Alzheimer's disease, congestive heart failure, physical disability and other chronic conditions that often accompany longevity or can strike earlier in life.

This risk not only depletes people's hard-earned savings, but it keeps too many people from the supportive services they need to live fully with illness or disability.

No one knows the ramifications of this issue better than LeadingAge members.

Last week in Minneapolis, LeadingAge's Long-Term Services and Supports Task Force began Phase II of its work in moving our country toward a solution that protects us all against catastrophic care costs while allowing us to access the supportive services necessary to live with the utmost dignity and independence.

This new phase will engage the public over the next several years in community conversations and collaborations that help people understand the tremendous costs of inaction to them, their loved ones and communities, while building broad support to forge a solution. This new phase is possible because of the outstanding work preceding it.

The first step was LeadingAge's advocacy for the CLASS Act. This effort led to unprecedented Congressional action and support on this issue. Although the CLASS Act was ultimately removed from the Affordable Care Act, LeadingAge's advocacy efforts significantly raised the profile of this issue.

In 2012, LeadingAge convened a new task force to keep progress moving. Rather than forging a "final" solution, Task Force members paved multiple pathways for solving this problem.

Those pathways, which you can read about here, are the foundation for this next phase, one that will convene citizen conversations nationally and ultimately forge an effective solution for millions of Americans without one.

During our Task Force meeting last week, one question arose repeatedly: "If LeadingAge's members aren't the catalyst for moving this issue forward, then who will be?" I am thankful for LeadingAge's leadership in moving our country forward to create a better living experience for us all.

I look forward to sharing with you more about this work in the months ahead.


Minneapolis on the Banks of the Mississippi River

Ecumen Participaing in Twin Cities Panel Discussion Wed. on Long-Term Care Financing Innovation

Citizens League's Capitol Solutions Twin Cities Breakfast Series: Long-term care Financing Event

Wednesday, Feb. 20
Doors 7:30 a.m. | Program 8-9:30 a.m.
Minnesota History Center
345 Kellogg Blvd West, St. Paul
Cost $5 for members, $15 for nonmembers
Coffee and pastries provided

 

Register now

At age 65, a person has a 70 percent chance of needing some type of long-term care in their future years - at an average cost of $48,000.

The default financing source has become Medicaid, which provides publicly funded health care for those in poverty. But the growing number of people turning to Medicaid is creating a crisis in public funding. In short, we face an unprecedented set of enormous costs that we have not prepared for, either individually or publicly. Medicaid as the fallback is unsustainable.

This is a multi-generational issue, a quality of life issue, and a fiscal security issue.

Join the Citizens League and Ecumen to learn about the problem; the steps Minnesotan businesses, government, and citizens need to take to solve it; and what can be done this legislative session.

Check out the full Citizens League Capitol Solutions legislative event series lineup, and learn how you can help.

Thanks to Comcast for sponsoring this event series.