Policy leaders present ideas to meet long-term care crisis. But the ideas need to become policies

The Bipartisan Policy Center launched an initiative that it describes as follows:

"In December 2013, BPC launched a Long-Term Care Initiative under the leadership of former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Bill Frist, former Congressional Budget Office Director Dr. Alice Rivlin, and former Wisconsin Governor and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. BPC’s Long-Term Care Initiative seeks to raise awareness about the importance of finding a sustainable means of financing and delivering long-term services and supports, and to improve the quality and efficiency of publicly and privately financed long-term care."

The participation of Tom Daschle, Bill Frist, Alice Rivlin, and Tommy Thompson is worth of note. The study can be access by clicking on the image below:

The problem is long-term care for seniors and others who might be disabled.  The study notes that long-term care insurance is not working for the following reasons:

1. It is not affordable.
2. Coverage has become increasingly restrictive.
3. Insurance companies have been losing money on this sort of coverage as costs have skyrocketed. (I would note that most insurance companies have gotten out of the business.)

The report, which is preliminary and not yet very substantive, does make the following excellent recommendations:

1. Long term care insurance premiums should be made tax-deductible.
2. Some sort of long-term care, including home care and nursing home care, should be made part of Medicare.
3. The use of Medicaid-paid at-home alternatives to nursing homes should be expanded.

The long-term care crisis is enormous.  At  least people are talking about it now.  Perhaps something will eventually be done.