the House leadership has included the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's CLASS Act - his basic proposal for exp

[joeycola]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/05



Published on Thursday, November 5, 2009 by New America Media
Health Care Reform's Missing Piece: Elder Care

by Paul Kleyman

With America's elders on their way to doubling by 2030, thanks to 78 million aging boomers, one might think health care reform would address the fragmented excuse for a long-term care (LTC) system needed to assist seniors as they become frail.

But, said former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, "We're not there, yet."

Registered nurse Shannon Haskell administers H1N1 vaccination to an unidentified elderly resident at Peterborough Health Unit clinic, at a branch of Royal Canadian Legion in rural Lakefield Ontario, October 29, 2009. (REUTERS/Fred Thornhill)


Now the president of the University of Miami, Shalala spoke at the Association of Health Care Journalists conference on "Aging in the 21st Century," in October. Shalala is among a select circle of experts, according to the New York Times (Nov. 2, 2009), who are doing the heavy lifting for President Obama in trying to guide Congress toward passage of a viable health care plan.

Her response takes on even greater importance now that the House leadership has included the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's CLASS Act - his basic proposal for expanding long-term care insurance - in the bill soon to go up for a floor vote.

The disjointed system of care for elders fails to cover - not even through Medicare - long-term assistance for persistent conditions and frailty. Medicare only covers acute-care conditions, such as broken hips or strokes. But once a stroke victim becomes medically stabilized, for instance, Medicare does not pay for extensive rehabilitation or therapy needed for a person to fully recover the ability to move or communicate.

Unlike any other economically advanced country, continuing-care coverage available to older Americans and people with disabilities is available mainly through Medicaid, a poverty program forcing people to "spend down" until they are poor enough to qualify. Private long-term care insurance is generally unreliable and covers only 6 percent of older Americans.

This reporter followed up with Shalala, "What about even Sen. Kennedy's CLASS Act?" (It stands for the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act.) Shalala repeated, sharply this time, "We're not there, yet." So don't bet on that provision getting to the president's desk - if any health care bill does......................

[niyad]

1. appropriately named--Sen. Kennedy was class--too bad most of the rest of them are not.