CARING FOR THE NATION'S ELDERLY Final Edition

Even though between 80 and 90 percent of this group is cared for by a loved one, there is still a tremendous need for support services, including respite care, home care and adult day care. More than one-third of caregivers are over the age of 65 themselves, and about 80 percent of caregivers look a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inDaily press (Newport News, Va. : Final ed.)
Main Author WILLIAM S. MASSEY Guest Columnist
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Newport News, Va Tribune Publishing Company, LLC 07.03.1994
Subjects
Clinton, Bill
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Even though between 80 and 90 percent of this group is cared for by a loved one, there is still a tremendous need for support services, including respite care, home care and adult day care. More than one-third of caregivers are over the age of 65 themselves, and about 80 percent of caregivers look after a loved one seven days a week. The services needed are largely non-medical and can allow older adults to remain at home in their community, which is desirable and less expensive in the long run. [Clinton]'s plan will save money being spent from the Medicaid fund. Currently Medicaid will pay for nursing homes for those with no means to pay. In 1989 however, nursing home costs ate up about 70 percent of Medicaid's budget for those aged 65 and older. About two-thirds of those who enter homes as paying patients turn to Medicaid within a year. Billions of dollars could be saved if entry to nursing homes could be delayed by just one month, something the Clinton plan, by supplying in-home care, could accomplish. The bottom line is that long-term care is already costing the taxpayers in avoidable health care costs, Medicaid nursing home expenditures, and in the lost wages of caregivers.