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 US: facing aging population
challenges
as 77M US Boomers near retirement age
Understanding
that fiscal and demographic challenges on the horizon could push the
nation beyond its ability to meet the myriad of future long term
care needs of U.S. baby boomers, leading advocates and stakeholder
organizations for the aging convened today to discuss a
comprehensive policy roadmap to ensure the nation's long term care
needs can be met in the future.
Harvard Law School Prof. Arthur Miller, CMS Administrator Mark
McClellan Join Dialogue on Preparing LTC Spectrum for Impending
Influx
"Our challenge today is to make sure long-term care services are
flexible and able to meet the different needs of a modern health
care system," said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., administrator for
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "Open forums like this
one encourage dialogue between many stakeholders as we work to
improve access and quality."
The two-day "Long Term Care Mini Conference" concluded today with
official policy recommendations that will serve as the basis for
long term care discussions at the 2005 White House Conference on
Aging (WHCoA) in October. Held once every ten years, the conference
has served as a catalyst for the development and enhancement of
national, state and local aging policies.
"In eight months, the leading edge of the nation's 78 million baby
boomers will begin to turn 60," commented Dorcas Hardy, policy
chairman of the White House Conference on Aging.
"This 'coming of
age' amplifies the urgent need for a balanced, integrated national
long term care policy to meet the demands of a diverse older
population that largely desires quality, individual choice, access
and affordability. I commend the planners of the 2005 WHCoA
Mini-Conference on Long Term Care for jump-starting a national
conversation on how Americans will plan for and fund their own
longevity."
Over the next 30 years, the number of Americans over the age of 65 -
and the proportion of those individuals older than 85 - is expected
to double. Soaring costs and rising demand for long term care
services could deplete personal savings and exhaust government
entitlement programs. The challenge is broader than delivery of
healthcare. There is also a strain on long-term service providers
and family caregivers.
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Additionally:
Nearly half of all Americans will need long term care at some point
in their lives. One in five over age 50 is at risk of needing it in
the next 12 months;
Only seven percent of all private industry employees are offered
long term care insurance as a voluntary benefit;
By the year 2030, Medicaid's nursing home expenditures could reach
$134 billion a year - up 360 percent from the year 2000
Two visits a day by a home health aide to help with bathing,
dressing and household chores can cost $2500 a month. If skilled
help such as physical therapy is needed, the expense is greater.
The recommendations that came out of the conference dialogue
sessions will form the basis of a comprehensive national long term
care policy which will be presented to the Policy Committee of the
White House Conference on Aging.
Arthur Miller, who moderated the Socratic Dialogue segment of the
conference commented, "I'm honored to have been asked to moderate
this panel. As an older American myself, I am well aware of the
dimension and gravity of the problem of long term health care. It's
imperative that our nation come to grips with it."
Among the thought leaders participating in the conference were
renowned Harvard Law School Professor Arthur Miller, Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Administrator Mark McClellan,
and White House Conference on Aging Chairman Dorcas Hardy.
Statement from AARP:
AARP is pleased to participate in the White House Conference on
Aging mini-conference on the future of long-term care options for
older Americans with disabilities. The nation does not have a
coordinated long-term care system or coherent long-term care policy.
Clearly, we need to encourage savings and planning to meet future
demands for long-term care. But the need for broader long-term care
reform will take extensive public debate, which this WHCoA can serve
to spark.
This broader reform will need to:
build a strong system of home and community-based services,
empower consumers to direct their own care, support family members,
who are providing the vast majority of long-term care services,
transform our housing stock and community features to support
continued independence, and use new technologies to support
individual autonomy and control.
America can afford to grow older. We can affirm the dignity and
independence of persons of all ages with disabilities if we have the
commitment and vision. AARP looks forward to playing an active role
in making such a future happen.
Statement from American Council of Life Insurers:
"We are proud to be a part of the White House mini conference on
long-term care particularly at a time when there's such a focus on
retirement security," said ACLI President and CEO Frank Keating.
"Since nearly half of all Americans will need long-term care in
their lives -- and the cost of care continues to rise -- we need to
encourage Americans to consider how they will pay for long term care
expenses as they plan for retirement. Long term care insurance can
mean the difference between a financially devastating retirement and
one that is independent and secure," said Keating. "We applaud the
White House for recognizing the importance of long term care
planning and look forward to working with the public and private
sectors in helping families prepare for a financially secure
future."
Statement from American Health Care Association & National Center
For Assisted Living:
"The demographics are startling. With 77 million baby boomers
rapidly approaching an age when many will require long term care
services, it is imperative that we establish policies now to equip
us to provide the highest quality care in the most appropriate
setting for the patients and residents of tomorrow," said Hal Daub,
president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and the
National Center For Assisted Living. "This demographic wave will
present new and unexpected challenges for providing and funding
healthcare services in homes, communities, nursing facilities or
other residential care settings. This forum of our nation's premier
long term care experts and thought leaders will most certainly help
provide policy makers a framework for taking the right steps now to
meet the changing needs of an aging population."
Statement from America's Health Insurance Plans:
"Our nation needs to broaden the health care discussion that has
been focused on acute care to one that focuses on the continuity of
care that people need throughout their lives. We believe that there
needs to be a paradigm shift in the financing and delivery of health
care that reflects 21st century realities of chronic illness and our
aging population. Given the burden of such financing on state
Medicaid programs, we can see no better time to explore a range of
public-private partnerships that could make costs more predictable
and expand service options for consumers. Through the right kind of
policy-making, we can encourage Americans to plan ahead and save for
their LTC needs." Karen Ignagni, President and CEO.
Statement from the National Alliance for Caregiving:
"America's 50 million family caregivers are a crucial part of our
long-term care system, and the National Alliance for Caregiving is
pleased to be a part of the White House Mini- Conference on
Long-Term Care," said Gail Gibson Hunt, president and CEO of the
National Alliance for Caregiving. "Family caregivers frequently
express frustration with the lack of coordination, resources, and
information available to them. In short, the long-term care system
is not meeting their needs. Their frustration is also evidence of
the fact that improvements to our long-term care system over the
years have been piecemeal at best. This mini-conference presents an
important and unique opportunity to take a holistic look at
long-term care and give shape to a comprehensive vision for fixing
the system before the age wave overwhelms it."
Statement from National Association for Home Care & Hospice:
National Association for Home Care & Hospice Val J. Halamandaris
expressed the hope that the dialogue will bring about much-needed
innovation in policy on aging and long-term care, including ways to
improve and manage care for those with chronic illnesses. "The
current situation of long-term care is already extremely serious for
almost all Americans, so much so that only the very wealthy can hope
to afford the cost of the care that they or their families will
need.
It is critical to refocus our thinking now to meet the new
challenges of long-term care, before the system must absorb tens of
millions of retiring baby boomers," Halamandaris stated.
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