Long-term care can be defined as a broad set of paid and unpaid services for people who are mentally or physically disabled, or whose chronic illness places them in need of medical or personal assistance for long periods of time. “It is estimated that there are more than twelve million Americans of all ages whose mix of serious disability and chronic illness places them at the high risk for functional decline, hospitalization, or nursing home placement.” (Benjamin) Several different populations require long-term care services, and the needs of these populations vary. In addition to the elderly, many of the long-term care users are younger persons with physical disabilities; persons with developmental disabilities; and persons with chronic diseases such as diabetes, emphysema, and AIDS.
The increasing need for these services is creating significant budget concerns for Federal and State Governments, as well as straining family finances. Combined Medicare and Medicaid outlays have been growing dramatically. About 40 percent of long-term care costs’ are paid by the Federal/State Medicaid program. (Feder, Komisar, and Niefeld) Although the Medicare program accounts for only a small share of total expenditures, its share has been growing. Despite rising Government expenditures, out-of-pocket payments continue to be a large source of financing for long-term care. As a result, for many individuals who have chronic care needs, long-term care remains a catastrophic cost.
Contemporarily, long-term care has become a topic of focus in the U.S. for several reasons. The clearest reason for its emergence is that people live longer than they used to. The population swell after the World Wars, the “baby-boom era,” along with a higher average li...
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...n is expanded social insurance. This is seen as an alternative to public support for private insurance. Medicare could be expanded to include long-term care, entitling all, regardless of income to some insurance protection should they become impaired. This may sound good, but is not feasible. Despite the nation’s prosperity and underlying wealth, our willingness to redistribute resources to reflect the aging of the population seems to be highly unlikely.
In conclusion, better support for the economically disadvantaged has to be a priority in future policy. Private long-term care insurance must be available to all, whether tax subsidized or federally backed; long-term care coverage must be equitably distributed. We now expect people to impoverish themselves completely before providing them assistance with long-term care, and that system seems excessively harsh.
The two major components of Medicare, the Hospital Insurance Program (Part A of Medicare) and the supplementary Medical Insurance program (Part B) may be exhausted by the year 2025, another sad fact of the Medicare situation at hand (“Medicare’s Future”). The burden brought about by the unfair dealings of HMO’s is having an adverse affect on the Medicare system. With the incredibly large burden brought about by the large amount of patients that Medicare is handed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to fund the system in the way that is necessary for it to function effectively. Most elderly people over the age of 65 are eligible for Medicare, but for a quite disturbing reason they are not able to reap the benefits of the taxes they have paid. Medicare is a national health plan covering 40 mi...
I will discuss how LTC contributes to the U.S. Healthcare System, the targeted clients, employees that work within the long-term setting, the benefits and services offered within LTC, and the expected outcomes for individuals in a long-term facility. I will discuss the legalities and regulatory issues faced within the LTC setting along with ethical issues that may impede successful facilitation of a long-term facility.
Stone, R.I & Wiener, J. M. (2001). Who Will Care For Us? Addressing the Long-Term Care Workforce Crisis. The Urban Institute.
The long-term care system consists of an integrated continuum of many institutional and non-institutional providers who deliver extended care when needed. Long-term care providers deliver a variety of care to individuals with chronic, mobility and/or cognitive impairments/limitations. These providers include: nursing facilities, sub acute care, assisted living, residential care, elderly housing options and community based adult services (Pratt, 2010). A great majority of these providers are already taking care of the many baby boomers that are present today and will be present in the future. “Baby boomers” are individuals who were born between the years 1946-1964. Since 2011, every day 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 years old (Pratt, 2010). This
African American senior citizens face a health care crisis too. They have worked all of their lives to secure retirement, but their retirement has been threatened because of the rising cost of long-term medical care. Insurance companies have failed to provide affordable long-term care, protection that most senior citizens need. This lack of long term care and affordability has been a serious problem for the health care system. In some cities, the shortage of hospital beds is so serious that it is common for patients to stay in emergency rooms before they can be admitted to an inpatient room (Drake 109). More than one thousand hospital beds are occupied by people who could be better care for in nursing homes or through home health care (Drake 110). Of the disabled elderly 1.3 million reside in nursing homes (Drake 10). These patients are unable to perform two or more of the basic activities of daily living without assistance.
Studies have found there is a major gap between the rich and the poor. The rich keep getting richer and the poor are getting even poorer. In order for society to help the elderly we must make cuts in other areas where funding is not really needed, rather than making cuts that are affecting our elderly. Cuts could be made in areas such as the tax brackets for the rich. I do not believe it fair for the rich to have such big tax break when our elderly generation is suffering so much. The rich should not be able to get Medicaid and pocket so much other monies in certain areas. If individuals are making a certain amount of monies there should not be any form of loopholes that are allowed for them to get over.
By the year 2020, there is expected to be over 54 million senior citizens age 65 years or older. Despite medical technology and advanced medications, seniors older than age 65 have four times the number of hospitalizations days as compared to younger age groups (Curtain, 2007). Health care demands are increasing due to the aging United States population, and the present-day Medicare system is not capable of funding this. Health insurance emphasis is now on efficiency, profits, customer satisfaction, ability to pay, and competition (Curtin, 2007). Social and political aspects are major influencers of our health care. The shift of focus from patient care to a business model has caused hospitals to maintain a tight budget, often affecting nursing staff ratios. Lean staffing ratios is associated with an increase in malpractice suits due to adverse events (Curtin, 2007).
Insurance is a matter of financial safety that all deserve, but taking on too much at once is a sure way for the economy to plummet. An affordable plan is for insurance companies to create the option of one more group’s coverage: senior citizens. Medications would become affordable, and the employer would pay less than the premium for a spouse’s coverage. Finally, companies will not have the risk of losing business. Comfort in old age can be a reality.
As the government’s role in public health continues major changes have been put into effect specifically dealing with long-term care. Before the 1930’s providing care for the elder was solely a local and state effort. However, after the great depression a growing demand was placed on providing some type of insurance for the elderly. The Social Security Act of 1935 was established to assist with “Federal old-age benefits” and was signed into effect by President Roosevelt on August 15, 1935. (Home) Another major contribution to long-term care has been the creation of Medicaid. This went into effect in 1965 and was an amendment...
Scott,K., Webb,M,. Sorrentino,S., and Gorek, B. (2007). Long-term care assisting aged care and disability. Sydney, Australia.
In the United States, there are more than thousands of Americans who do not have the means to support themselves, hence they seek government benefits. Also, many people cannot afford proper insurance. For the Americans who are on public assistance, one of the biggest forms of assistance that the government offers is Medicare. Medicare is one of the many matters that are controversial ...
The future of healthcare will largely be affected by the changing demographics in the United States. Halaweish & Alam (2015), suggest by 2050 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 years or older, an increase from the current 1 in 9 Americans. In addition to the increase in aging adults, the oldest Americans, those 85 and older will also demonstrate a significant
Long-term care facilities have been forgotten by the Federal government for a while now. Even though the government has enforced Medicare, certain restrictions are placed on Medicare that do not allow most people to use these types of resources to pay for their housing in a long-term care facility. Because Medicare is offered to people 65 years and older, long-term care services should be covered by Medicare for the health protection of persons age 65 and older. Since Medicaid covers long-term care services for very low-income persons, Medicare should also provide coverage for long-term care facilities for the older persons of age 65 and older. While not suggesting that the Federal government should just loan millions of dollars for long-term care facilities, alternative ways need to be created, in order for the elderly to afford their living while they age, such as allowing Medicare to work for all elderly and older people age 65 and older.
As the population of the United States ages and lifespan increases, the U.S. is being faced with challenges that could either hurt the country or benefit it if plans are executed correctly. By the year 2050, more than thirty-two million Americans will be over the age eighty and the share of the 80-plus generation will have doubled to 7.4 percent. Health care and aging population has become a great deal considering the impact it is having on the U.S. The United States is heading into another century with an outstanding percentage of people within the aging population. Today’s challenges involving health care and the aging populations are the employees of health professions being a major percentage of the aging population, the drive into debt, and prevention and postponement of disease and disability.
Currently, voters may be unenthusiastic to accept tax increases to fund social long term care insurance program. Moreover, private long term care insurance is only able to serve a small fraction of the aging population because of the cost. However, the government funded long term care insurance program can relieve pressure on family caregivers, improve the quality of life for some elderly, and put in place a framework for addressing the nation’s severe demographic challenges.