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Long-Term Care Spurs Strong Recommendations from White House ...

Date Added: 15-08-2005

Aug. 11, 2005 – Frankly, I was skeptical of any meaningful recommendations coming from the White House Conference on Aging's Long-Term Care Mini-Conference held last April, because many of those who organized and financed it were companies and organizations with a vested interest – particularly in selling insurance for long-term care. The final report was released today and I have to admit I was wrong. It      is  a frank and strong call for action by government and the private sector in meeting the long-term care crisis in America.

The goal of the summit was to ensure the nation's long-term care needs will be met in the future by developing proposals specific to long-term care that could be considered for incorporation into final policy recommendations for the President and Congress.

The findings concluded that a crisis exists in the country regarding the state of elder care, and the needs of our nation's rapidly aging population will not be met unless the issue is brought to the forefront.

“Conference participants concluded that there is a need for all Americans to have long term care coverage through public and private means,” they said in releasing the final results. “Currently, nearly all Americans lack long term care coverage.”

“There was an unequivocal call for the White House and Congress to immediately address the state of elder care with the same commitment and energy devoted to other national crises,” says their report.

The recommendations also suggest that strong political leadership is a necessity in order to elevate social and cultural issues related to aging and disability, and that a need exists to enact evidence-based policies to improve quality of care.

“There was consensus,” they say, “that without strong leadership in developing long-term care solutions and policy from the highest levels of government and the private sector, the needs of this nation’s rapidly aging population will, undoubtedly, not be met in the decades to come.  Strong political leadership was also seen as necessary to elevate social and cultural issues around aging and disability while enacting evidence-based policies to improve quality.”

In addition to the need for national institutions to lead the reform debate, two of the three policy development groups also called for creation of a new federal long-term care agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – or a bi-partisan, federally chartered and funded national commission with strong centralized leadership and the authority needed to implement necessary reforms, according to the report.

Titled Creating a Comprehensive National Long-Term Care Policy, the conference brought together 125 participants from public and private long-term care stakeholder groups. Recommendations fell into three overarching categories: Economic Security and Long-Term Care Financing, Health and Independence, and Supportive Services. A summary of the recommendations are as follows:

Economic Security and Long-Term Care Financing

Congress and the Administration must:

-- Provide coverage for all Americans through public and private mechanisms.

-- Use current public dollars more efficiently and intelligently.

-- Launch a national long-term care education campaign.

Health and Independence

Congress and the Administration must:

-- Create financial incentives and otherwise provide for workforce training and service delivery enhancement.

-- Establish a unified quality agenda for long-term care in collaboration with private sector stakeholders.

-- Fund a broad initiative to incentivize and support self-directed consumers.

-- Reform public and private funding programs, in concert with states, to remove institutional biases.

-- Establish a Federal office to address long-term care workforce issues.

Supportive Services

Congress and the Administration must:

-- Fund and prioritize recruitment, training and retention of the long-term care workforce.

-- Establish a new agency within the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services to focus solely on long-term care.

"The Long-Term Care Mini-Conference successfully focused our undivided attention for two days on issues that are critical to the future of long-term care in the United States," said Todd Smith, chairman of the mini-conference planning committee. "I believe the participating groups have come away confident that our recommendations to Congress and to the President will undoubtedly help prepare long-term care for the coming years."

The 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) will be held December 11-14, 2005 in Washington, D.C. This was the fifth annual conference and the first held during the 21st century.

Organizations planning the WHCoA Long-Term Care Mini-Conference included: AARP, American Council of Life Insurers, American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, America's Health Insurance Plans, National Alliance for Caregiving, and National Association for Home Care and Hospice.

Funding for the conference came from contributions provided by Beverly Enterprises, Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, Genworth Financial, Golden Rule Insurance Company, MetLife, Mutual of Omaha, New York Life Insurance Company, Prudential Financial, UHS-Pruitt Corporation and Vetter Health Services.

Official White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) Mini-Conferences are coordinated by a variety of partner agencies, organizations and the WHCoA on a key topic area identified by the Policy Committee.

For More Information:

http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Eldercare/5-08-11Long-TermCareReport.htm