WASHINGTON, DC - The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing examining the financing and delivery of long-term care in the United States. In 2014 alone, roughly $340 billion was spent on long-term care, amounting to more than 13 percent of the almost $2.6 trillion spent on personal health expenditures.
“While long-term care largely differs from health coverage or medical care, I know every member of this Committee wants to ensure that frail elderly seniors or disabled individuals across the country receive high-quality care," stated Chairman Pitts. “We want to see each person treated with dignity and respect that they deserve. And we want a long-term care system that empowers each person and respects individuals preferences."
Subcommittee members and witnesses both highlighted the fact that Americans are living longer. Additionally, with 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day, the demand for long-term care is expected to significantly increase.
In an exchange with Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) about proposals to improve long-term care and whether those could be a slippery slope to a new entitlement, Alice Rivlin, Co-Chair, Long-Term Care Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center, responded with caution. “Right now the idea of creating a new entitlement program, primarily for older people seems to be both unlikely to happen and probably not desirable. I worry that we are spending so much on older people, for good reasons, that we are squeezing out investments in the young and in education - both at the federal level and at the state level…," answered Rivlin.
Rivlin also highlighted the importance of fresh bipartisan approaches by explaining the problem in human terms. “Many of us will need help with the ordinary activities of daily living and suffer cognitive impairments that make it dangerous for us to cope alone. The number of people needing long-term services and support is rising and expected to double in the next 35 years or so," stated Rivlin.
Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) shared his personal story of his father passing away from cancer in 2010. “Prior to that, through some levels of dementia, he was unable to care for himself at all. So, for three years, we had a team of seven women who cared for him 24/7. It took seven full-time individuals to care for one person 24/7. … That’s the staggering amount of individual time it takes and the cost for seven full-time individuals was a significant burden, but we determined in our family’s case… it was the right thing to spend it on - to be safe, clean and well-fed. But that was not an easy thing to do."
Dr. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) echoed Rep. Collins’ remarks about the difficulty in paying for these services, expressing how difficult it may be for a family to finance a long-term care plan. “What worries me about what we’re doing, or what we have done, with the discussions around long-term care insurance is that we’ve pretty much taken the middle class out of it. Sure, we’re going to provide… the safety net for the most vulnerable population… but what we’re talking about are people my age, people in the 55 to 75-year-old age group, who are aging into a situation where their families may now be called upon to provide long-term care. So wouldn’t it be great if people would at least consider whether or not that makes sense for them, and for their families. And again, I’m not even talking about the tax consequences, I’m talking about the actual consequences for your family."
