Posted Sunday, September 26, 2021
A new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center calls for a significant investment in home-based and community-based services (HCBS) in to expand access to long-term care.
“For decades, policymakers have sought to improve access to long-term services and supports (LTSS) and to strengthen these services’ financing,” reads the report. “Today, about half of 65-year-olds will need LTSS at some point in their life. This need will grow as baby boomers age and require more care.”
More than 800,000 senior and disabled Americans are on waiting lists for HCBS, with the average wait time of about three years.
“The cost for facility and in-home care services has on average increased faster than the rate of inflation since 2004,” the report reads. “Long-term care providers saw significant cost increases from 2019 to 2020 as demand rose and caregiver shortages in facilities and in the community worsened. The median for the national annual cost of LTSS in 2020 ranged from $19,240 for adult day health care to $105,850 for a private room in a nursing home.”
The report had fiver recommendations for how to achieve a system of LTSS:
- Expand Access to Home and Community-Based Services
- Address Disparities in the Delivery of HCBS
- Create a caregiver tax credit
- Improve the Viability of Private Long-Term Care Insurance
- Establish a Public Education Campaign for Long-Term Care
Report: NAHC Report
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