Panel examines ways to make long-term care costs affordable

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on December 18 to examine viable ways to help families pay for long-term care.

Currently, about 12 million Americans require long-term-care services — a number the U.S. Commission on Long-Term Care says will nearly double by 2050. Today, most people receive care from family and friends, but an increasing number depend on costly in-home care, or end up in assisted living facilities or nursing homes, where median annual costs range from $40,000 to $80,000, respectively.  This is an expense many middle-class families can’t afford.

The committee heard from a panel of experts, including three members of the commission, on a number of ideas aimed at helping families and the government prepare for the increasing demand for long-term care services. Among other things, they include expanding Medicare and making private long-term care coverage more affordable for those who need it. The commission issued 28 recommendations in September, but could not reach consensus on how to pay for expensive long-term care services.

SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

HEARING: The Future of Long-Term Care Policy: Continuing the Conversation

2:15 p.m. Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 562

WITNESS LIST

Bruce Chernof, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, The SCAN Foundation

Mark J. Warshawsky, Visiting Adjunct Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Judy Feder, PhD, Professor, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and Fellow, Urban Institute

Anne Tumlinson, MMHS, Senior Vice President, Avalere Health

To watch the hearing, as well as access Member statements and witness testimony click here.