Scan Foundation Report on Long-Term Care in Health Care Reform

The Scan Foundation released a policy brief entitled “Long-Term Care in Health Care Reform: Policy Options to Improve Both”. The policy brief discusses four options to improve the current health care system.

The first two proposals seek to improve long-term care in Medicaid through improving long-term care for people with low incomes and limited financial resources. Option one, is to “expand Medicaid support for home and community-based services”. This would fix the limited and variable access through Medicaid to personal assistance in home and community settings. Option two would “improve coordination of medical and long-term care for Medicare-Medicaid Dual Eligibles”. This proposal promotes the development and testing of integrated care programs for dual eligibles with the hope of improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of services for people who rely on both Medicare and Medicaid.

The second two proposals are to improve long-term care for the broader population. Option three aims to “improve coordination of medical and long-term care for Medicare enrollees with chronic conditions”. The proposal would promote innovation and distribution of service delivery and payment models designed to improve quality and efficiency by coordinating the full range of medical and long-term services people with chronic condition may need. Option four is to “establish public insurance protection for long-term care for the broad population”. This last proposal would create a public insurance program, financed by participants through premiums or taxes, which would spread the risk across a broad population and offer protection to participants of all ages and incomes.