The blessings of extended longevity give each successive generation of Americans a better opportunity to enjoy life’s pleasures great and small well past the traditional retirement age. Healthier lifestyles and advances in medicine and technology are helping to propel physical fitness and mental acuity far beyond previous expectations afforded to aging citizens.
However, surpassing the age expectancy of previous generations also creates new demands on American society. Although many folks are living healthier longer, the human body isn’t immune to degenerative age-related disorders, including arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, strokes and diabetes.
In today’s society, family units are being called upon in growing numbers to serve as caregivers. As the primary providers of long-term care in the United States, family caregivers serve an indispensable role in the health care chain. Their labors of love help to keep a loved one at home longer and out of a long-term care institution. The tender loving care rendered by 22 million family caregivers is said to be valued at $257 billion a year. In addition to the financial burdens borne by family caregivers, orchestrating around-the-clock care for an ailing loved one takes an emotional and physical toll on the caregivers and adds stress to their own jobs and careers.
But family caregivers alone can’t shoulder the burden. The nation’s health care system must adapt to care for elderly patients who suffer from multiple chronic conditions and require specialized medical care. In 1991, money spent on home and community-based care reached $1.6 billion. A decade later, that figure climbed to $14.4 billion according to a recent analysis by congressional auditors. Nursing home care averages $40,000 per year per patient, costing Americans about $58 billion a year.
Policymakers must address the challenges posed by an aging American society and enact public policies that help working Americans plan for the unexpected in retirement. Coming to terms with how to care for the health and welfare of a growing elderly population is all the more important considering the looming retirement of 77 million baby boomers.
Obviously, the range of long-term health care needs adds up quickly, from nursing home stays, to assisted living, home health care, physical, occupational and speech therapies, personal care assistance and respite care. As Americans begin to absorb what their potential needs may be in their later years, more and more are interested in private insurance to help pay for long-term care. Private insurance can give folks peace of mind for their own retirement security.
As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I’m leading a bipartisan effort to give people financial incentives to take charge of their long-term care expenses. Specifically, I’m working to make long-term care expenses affordable through private insurance plans. My bipartisan legislation would give working Americans and their families a better opportunity to maintain independence in old age by making long-term care insurance a more affordable option. Long-term care insurance can help protect families against the substantial financial burden of an unexpected, debilitating medical condition.
My "Long-Term Care and Retirement Security Act of 2003" would provide incentives for individuals to purchase long-term care insurance policies on their own and for employers to offer long-term care policies and give family caregivers a financial break to help pay for long-term care expenses. Specifically, my bill would:
# give individuals a deduction for the cost of their long-term care insurance policy;
# allow individuals or their caregivers a $3,000 tax credit to help cover long-term care costs, applicable to those whose doctor has certified a person requires help with at least three activities of daily living;
# allow employers to offer long-term care policies in "cafeteria plans" in which employees are able to choose from a variety of benefits; and,
extend tax deduction to flexible spending accounts in which employees set aside pre-tax dollars to pay for long-term care insurance.
In addition to my efforts to make long-term care more affordable for Americans, I’m also continuing my long-standing efforts to help ensure our long-term health care delivery system is held accountable to high standards of quality care.
In July, I will hold an oversight hearing in the Senate Finance Committee to shine the spotlight on the quality of care provided in the nation’s nursing homes. Since 1998, I’ve led the call for better enforcement and inspections by the federal Department of Health and Human Services over the nation’s 17,000 nursing homes. At the hearing, a congressional audit I requested to analyze the level of improvement in nursing home quality of care will be released. Specifically, I plan to zero in on the federal bureaucracy’s efforts to improve the enforcement system that was launched to improve compliance with federal standards.
Some of the frailest, most vulnerable members of our society depend on these services to meet their most basic needs. They deserve quality services. And American taxpayers who pay billions for long-term care services through the Medicare and Medicaid programs deserve to know their hard-earned dollars are being well spent.
As long as I’m in the U.S. Senate, I’ll continue my crusade to improve America’s long-term care safety net. Unless public policy plans ahead for the largest ever demographic shift in our nation’s history, the challenges confronting long-term care in America today will seem like a spit on the ocean when the baby boom generation retires.