USA Today opinion piece advocates publicly financed LTC insurance

Here’s an excerpt:

“Congress and President Obamacould create a system of universal long-term care insurance, built on acombination of public and private coverage. They could end the relianceof millions on the welfare-like Medicaid system while reducing thetremendous pressure that program is putting on both state and federalbudgets. And, they could further shift the focus of long-termassistance to community care instead of nursing facilities.

Butsadly, there is a real risk that millions of the frail elderly anddisabled like Natalie will be forgotten. While lawmakers are focused onexpanding insurance to cover acute care — such as visits to doctors andhospitals — they are largely ignoring those chronically ill who needmostly personal assistance rather than high-tech medicine.

Thisis how strange the system is: If you are 65 or older and suffer a heartattack, Medicare will spend tens of thousands of dollars to performlife-saving surgery. But if you are living with congestive heartfailure — among the most common diseases of the elderly — you arelargely on your own. That’s because there is no aggressive treatmentfor most heart failure patients. More than anything, they need helpgetting through the day.  And Medicare won’t pay for that.

Itis the same for those with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, and for youngerpeople with disabilities who might be living with diseases such asmultiple sclerosis, or with traumatic brain or spinal chord injuries.Unless they are impoverished and eligible for Medicaid, they get littlegovernment help.”

Read the full article:  http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/05/what-about-long-term-care.html