I am deeply concerned that the American public, specifically our nation’s elders, will be relying on our government to offer long term care solutions they will under no circumstances see. They’ll only see the “smoke and mirrors” of Health Care Reform.
Our nation’s seniors are the most vulnerable segment of the U.S. population vulnerable both wellness wise and financially. They’re silently discovering the savings they thought would be sufficient is not adequate. They are silently fearful of operating out of revenue with no a single to care for them as they turn into more frail. The silence is about to grow to be deafening.
Regrettably, when Wellness Care Reform proudly announced New Long Term Care Solutions, it discouraged several American’s from acquiring Extended Term Care Insurance coverage.
Nutrition Tips US reported on ‘Options Expand for Inexpensive Long-Term Care’ THE NEW OLD AGE. The Associated Press announced ‘New Wellness Care Law Has Rewards for Seniors’. Point becoming, the casual reader was relieved to hear their government will “take care of them” when they need to have lengthy term care solutions. We now know that is not about to happen.
Fortunately our representatives in Washington discovered that Wellness Care Reforms answer to the issue of Lengthy Term Care, “CLASS”, (Neighborhood Living Assistance Services and Supports Act) legislation would have been fiscally unsound. $70 billion in premiums that was anticipated to be raised for the new “lengthy term care” program would have been counted as “deficit reduction”. The extended term care benefits it was intended to finance have been assumed not to materialize in the very first 10 years. Having said that, that funds was not accounted for anywhere in the legislation.
The new legislation proposed to “trim” $463 billion from Medicare. However Medicare is at present obtaining difficulty balancing its books currently. Yet, why does the overall health care bill tell us Medicare can operate a lot more cheaply going forward without having the accompanying reforms?
Our national media gave huge fanfare to the CLASS ACT when it passed. Unfortunately the media has given the CLASS ACT’s demise small attention. Now what?
Projections show that the federal deficit is anticipated to exceed $700 billion annually over the next decade. This primarily will double the national and $900 billion represents interest on previous debt. Would the CFO of any significant corporation in the United States permit the firm he worked for to finish up in this variety of financial position? Certainly not.
Our officials in Congress have been elected to shield the best interests of the American folks. “Robbing Peter to pay Paul”, and once again printing more currency, has come to be our government’s mantra for the future. Yet the magnitude of the mismanagement of America’s purse strings has now reached an unconscionable state.
The United States of America cannot continue to mismanage its monetary future. Future Congresses will have to provide a multitude of future reforms and, regrettably, history tells us THAT will under no circumstances occur. Proposals for financing well being reform had been based on far more “smoke and mirrors”. The “Cadillac” tax is scheduled to commence in 2018.
The health care legislation that has been forced on each and every and just about every one particular of us is recognized to be fiscally unsound. Exactly where do we go from here? It’s also quick to point the finger at the President and his administration. Yet Congress owns the responsibility of passing Well being Care Legislation. And THAT is the dilemma.
The 535 voting members of Congress shared the responsibility equally. If a single clear pondering, intelligent, honorable Congressman had the whole responsibility for Overall health Care Reform, he or she would not have forced a fiscally unsound Well being Care Reform Bill down our throats.
Now let’s again evaluate how Well being Care Reform will function against our senior citizens.
A most current government report identified that in 2000 there had been 1.8 million offered nursing dwelling beds. As the year 2010 came to a close, there have been 1.7 million nursing household beds a net 5 percent reduction in readily available beds. And, there are no new nursing homes getting built.
These days there’s less than 1.five million Americans confined to nursing houses. Reportedly ten % of these nursing houses are operating beneath bankruptcy protection. It is nicely known that most of these facilities are understaffed and lots of never have competent assistance.
Next, let’s consider that the Alzheimer’s Association tells us the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s soon after age 85 is 50 %. By 2030, they tell us that the quantity of people today age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to attain 7.7 million, a 50 % improve from the 5.two million age 65 and older presently affected.
The logical query I have to ask is “if we cannot take sufficient care of 1.5 million people these days, how can we possibly take care of 7.7 million men and women in 2030?” We can’t. More simply put, when you or your spouse or your parent has Alzheimer’s, there is no location for them to go. Not to be cruel, but if you ever think for a moment about taking in an aged parent with Alzheimer’s into your dwelling, please feel once again. Ask any caregiver who’s been by means of it. It is Guaranteed to destroy any families’ peace of mind and harmony.
Why aren’t our political leaders actively operating on solutions? Where’s the outcry? Regrettably our political leaders only align themselves with solvable troubles.
America’s seniors became additional hopeful reading that Well being Reform will assistance them with added Long Term Care services. And we now know THAT is not going to come about. There are no plans in location to support our nation’s seniors consider they’ll obtain the comfort and dignity of adequate extended term care services. What’s worse is the silence shared by all our political leaders. The silence is now deafening.
