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Healthcare reform lays the foundation for a system of long-term care.

Healthcare reform has made seniors a bit concerned. The words "cuts" and "Medicare" in the same sentence meant that  healthcare reform would hurt -- not help -- them.   However, a newly passed legislation lays the groundwork for improving healthcare services for seniors, which includes renovating our nation's nonexistent long-term care system.

A Lake Research Partners poll supported by the SCAN Foundation last June found that nearly 80% of adults (age 18 and over) were supportive of healthcare reform IF it included improved options for community-based long-term care. This means creating alternatives to nursing home placement, such as day-service programs, home-care aides, meal programs, senior centers and transportation services.
 
And several provisions in the bill address this aim.

First is the creation of a public, voluntary long-term care insurance program known as the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program -- CLASS for short. Enrolled individuals who have substantial daily needs would be eligible to receive at least $50 a day (after a five-year vesting period) to be used to defray the costs of services such as home care, family caregiver support, adult day-care or residential care. All actively working adults over 18 could enroll, with the purpose of getting the largest risk pool possible.

Second are programs that will help states expand home and community services so that seniors can avoid placement in a nursing home. A program called Community First Choice provides federal matching dollars for such care. Another increases funding for organizations that help seniors and their families navigate the complex web of our current long-term care services.

Third are impoverishment protections that prevent a healthy husband or wife from being forced to spend all of a couple's shared assets in order to get his or her partner access to community-based services care. Before this legislation, that protection was only available if the person who needed care was in a nursing home.  There is a lot to come with the implementation phase of the healthcare reform bill in the years to come. This is, however, a step in the right direction.
 
By Bruce Chernof  LA Times

 

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