Anne Montgomery and Sarah Slocum, co-directors of Altarum’s Program to Improve Eldercare, presented at the December 10 Bioethics for Breakfast session, offering perspectives and insight on the topic “Health Reform Unmentionables: Long-Term Care.”
While past Bioethics for Breakfast events were held in person, this year’s series is taking place virtually. The series is generously sponsored by Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman.
A lot of attention has been given recently to the social, political, ethical, and economic challenges associated with long-term care. Nursing homes and long-term care facilities have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but at the same time, the pandemic has given these issues more public visibility. There are several large questions to consider: What are the major challenges facing long-term care today? How should long-term care be financed? What would motivate individuals to purchase long-term care insurance? What are the consequences for Medicaid if we see increased reliance on Medicaid for long-term care funding (keeping in mind continued growth of the elderly population and dementing illness)? What policy options are available for addressing all these challenges? Should those policy options be left to the states? What, if any, is the role of the federal government?
Discussing financing, proposals, and reforms related to long-term care insurance in the U.S., Sarah Slocum reminded attendees of our present-day circumstances by giving a brief overview of Medicare and Medicaid, beginning in the 1965 when they were passed at the federal level. The original design did not include long-term care. By the 1980s, the version of Medicaid could bankrupt entire families if one member of a married couple needed to enter a nursing home. In the 1990s, spousal impoverishment provisions were enacted to protect the assets of individuals. Many states began regulating long-term care insurance, however, policies remained very expensive and were very hard to market. For those who did choose to purchase long term care insurance, their premiums increased as they got older. Bringing us to the present, Slocum discussed Michigan reforms that began to be planned in 2017. One option that the Michigan legislature will have to consider is a 0.5-1% payroll tax contribution for all individuals to fund a long-term care program. Slocum shared the example of a new program in the state of Washington, noting that watching how well the program does could help inform decisions made in Michigan and other states.
Anne Montgomery then offered insight into policy considerations at the federal level, based on her work in Washington, D.C. The cost of long-term care insurance remains a challenge to many people. Additionally, one in five middle-income seniors will become impoverished, typically turning to Medicaid to cover their long-term care costs. More than half of Americans who enter old age today will have a long-term care need for constant attendance, something that is very costly. Montgomery shared the possibility of federal social insurance, though that possibility depends on how legislation is drafted and considered by Congress. Discussing Medigap, Montgomery suggested adding long-term care services and supports to the existing coverage. Montgomery also brought forth the need for a bigger and better trained long-term care workforce, and the need for other infrastructure and home and community-based service improvements. Montgomery then shared predictions on what the Biden administration may be looking to do beginning in 2021, touching on the Affordable Care Act and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Finally, Montgomery discussed the need for culture change and quality improvement within nursing homes, such as moving to a person-centered model.
The discussion portion of the session included questions about how hospice and palliative care interface with long-term care insurance, how family caregivers could be compensated under a new model, and the overall appetite of the American public for the changes discussed by Slocum and Montgomery.
Related Resources
- Financing Long-Term Services and Supports for the Elderly (Altarum brief, PDF, 2020)
- The Dynamic Simulation of Income Model, Urban Institute
About the Speakers
Anne Montgomery
Anne Montgomery is Co-Director at Altarum’s Program to Improve Eldercare, where she oversees a portfolio of quality improvement and research projects focused on older adults and long-term services and supports. Montgomery has more than two decades of policy experience working on Medicare, Medicaid and related programs. Montgomery served as a Senior Advisor for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, where she developed policy included in the Affordable Care Act, including policy to upgrade quality in the nursing home sector; expand options for states offering home and community-based services; improve direct care worker training; and improve state Medicaid assessment processes. Montgomery also worked for the House Ways & Means Committee, the Government Accountability Office and the Alliance for Health Policy in Washington, D.C., and was awarded the Atlantic Fellowship in Public Policy to conduct comparative analysis of family caregiver policy in the U.S. and the UK. Montgomery received an MS in Journalism from Columbia University.
Sarah Slocum
Sarah Slocum joined the Altarum Program to Improve Elder Care in the fall of 2016. As Co-Director of Altarum’s Program to Improve Eldercare, Ms. Slocum strives to improve the quality of life and care for frail elders living with disability. Just prior, she served 13 years as Michigan’s State Long Term Care Ombudsman, leading advocacy for Michigan citizens living in long term care facilities. She has led policy change efforts in the state Medicaid program, long term care regulations, the Certificate of Need program, and with the Michigan legislature. Ms. Slocum has testified on nursing home quality before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. She has worked for over three decades in aging and long term care advocacy at the state and national levels. Ms. Slocum received an MA in Bioethics from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
MSU Bioethics 