New England Journal of Medicine on Long Term Care

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article on the huge problem our country faces in the next 30 years as the amount of people who need long term care (LTC) will double.  The current framework for caring for LTC patients is mainly their family network, private pay, and last resort Medicaid (welfare).  The article goes on to explain how important it is to actually plan ahead for this fast approaching economic tsunami and the government and it's citizens will have to work together to help solve the problem.  Thankfully we've begun to see progress with most of the States rolling our their long term care insurance partnership plans which encourage people to buy long term care insuranceand in return the State will give the some form of a backstop if they use up their insurance and still need care.  This is not a perfect solution, but it is progress.  With the huge wave of baby-boomers who continue to live longer and longer will come immense financial strain to pay for long term care.  (See Chart Below)   

 

Almost 10 million people in the United States — two thirds of whom are elderly — currently need assistance completing basic activities of daily living (e.g., eating, bathing, and dressing). Most of these people remain at home, receiving help from family and friends. The vast majority of those who require paid supportive services are not insured against these potentially catastrophic costs. Neither Medicare nor private health insurance generally covers longterm care, and only a small proportion of older people have purchased separate insurance for it.  Instead, long-term care in this country is supported by the safety nets of family caregiving, out-of-pocket payments, and the Medicaid program for people with low incomes.

 

 

Projected Growth of the Elderly Population of the United States (Panel A) and of U.S. Spending on Long-Term Care for the Elderly (Panel B).

Data are from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2004, and the Congressional Budget Office, 1999. Spending figures are inflation-adjusted from the year 2000.