State and National Leaders Call for Long-term Care Financ...( Poll Shows Americans Support Nati...),Health

Poll Shows Americans Support National Plan to Make LTC Affordable

NEW YORK, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The way America currently pays for long-term care (LTC) financing stands to undermine our family care giving and state Medicaid infrastructure if we do not come up with a solution, a panel of speakers said today in a forum at The New School.

The forum featured national and state policy experts discussing different potential solutions for reforming how we pay for long-term care. Panelists also discussed how the current fragmented system drains families' time and money and is crippling federal and state budgets.

"On average, caregivers spend more than 35 hours a week and $5,000 a year caring for elders and people with disabilities," said Larry Minnix, president & CEO of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA). "That's a full-time job and a significant amount of income."

Bob Kerrey, president of The New School and a former U.S. Senator, said: "No one should have to impoverish themselves to pay for the services they or their family members need in the event of disability or advancing age. All of us face these potential costs, and we must come together and devise a solution before our fragmented system crumbles under the weight of the baby boom generation."

The forum was cosponsored by AAHSA, The New School, The New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (NYAHSA) and the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition (CCLC).

Research shows the public also supports these principles. Pollster Mark Mellman shared data from a recent bipartisan poll commissioned by the AAHSA which found that while LTC does not rank nearly as high as concerns about the economy or the war in Iraq, a substantial number of consumers, across age and party affiliation, are worried about LTC and how to pay for it. These same consumers view with favor a proposal for a national insurance trust to address the cos
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