Retirement News : Seniors : Providing Our Seniors with Quality Long-term Health Care

Providing Our Seniors with Quality Long-term Health Care

Date Added: 17-10-2005

A message for seniors from Maine Senator Susan M. Collins.  Read the excerpt below.

Magic City Morning Star - Millinocket,ME,USA

By Senator Susan M. Collins
Oct 14, 2005, 17:59

Senator Susan Collins represents the State of Maine in the United States Senate.
Long-term care facilities are playing an increasingly important role in our health care system, and it is estimated that almost half of those Americans who are now 65 or older will use a nursing home at some point in their lives. These numbers will only increase as the rising tide of baby boomers turn into grandparents, putting even greater pressure on our long-term care system.

I am committed to ensuring that our nation’s frail, elderly and disabled citizens have access to the highest quality care, and I was honored to have recently received the “Leading Light of Long-Term Care Award” in recognition of my efforts.

More than 1.6 million frail and disabled Americans rely on Medicare and Medicaid every day for their critical long-term care needs. Just as we have a responsibility to ensure that the care provided by our nursing homes is of the highest quality, we also have an obligation to ensure that funding provided through Medicare and Medicaid is adequate to cover the cost of their care.

That is one of the reasons that I fought so hard in 2003 to provide an additional ten billion for Medicaid so states could continue to protect the millions of vulnerable Americans who depend on the program as a critical safety net. As a consequence of my efforts, Maine received an additional $65.6 million in Medicaid funding.

Read the entire article:

http://magic-city-news.com/article_4760.shtml