| Print |
Public Policy & Aging E-Newsletter
Volume 1, Number 3, May 2007

This bimonthly e-newsletter highlights key developments and viewpoints in the field of aging policy from a wide variety of sources, including articles and reports circulating in the media, academy, think tanks, private sector, government and nonprofit organizations.

The goal of this email publication is to reach teachers, students, and citizens interested in aging-related issues, especially those who may not have access to policy information disseminated both in Washington and around the country.

I. WHAT’S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON?

A. Medicaid Long-Term Care: As the nation's population ages and more individuals are likely to need long-term care services, federal Medicaid spending is expected to nearly double in size during the next 10 years. This new GAO report discusses financial and functional eligibility criteria related to Medicaid coverage for long-term care. Click here to view.

B. Businesses Speak Out About Health Care: This new report from the Center for American Progress provides key insights into the challenges facing employer-based health insurance. Through extensive interviews, these case studies highlight companies' decisions about employee health care packages and strategies for determining health benefits amid rising costs over time. Click here to view.

C. Medicare Program Efficiency and Integrity: A hearing held April 18, 2007 by the Subcommittee on Health. Click here to view.

II. WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND THE COUNTRY?

A. National Spending for Long-Term Care: This report from the Health Policy Institute offers a breakdown of long-term care spending, including a chart that graphs the payers of the nation's $192 billion spent on long-term care. Click here to view.

B. Long-Term Care: An AARP Survey of New York Residents Age 50+: This AARP research report presents findings from a survey of New York residents age 50 and older that examines their opinions about where they would prefer to receive, and concerns about financing, their long-term care. Click here to view.

C. What is the Managed Long-Term Care Expansion Initiative?: The Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Disability and Elder Services, has launched an initiative to expand managed long-term care options for elders and people with disabilities in Wisconsin through the Managed Long-Term Care Expansion Initiative. The initiative focuses on improving access, choice, quality, and cost-effectiveness of long-term care. Click here to view.

III. THIS ISSUE'S MAJOR POLICY STORY: LONG-TERM CARE

The contents of this issue of the Public Policy & Aging e-Newsletter reflect what our subscribers know: national health care insurance dominates the headlines. Voters press presidential candidates for their plans to reform parts of Medicare, Medicaid, and the oversight of employer-sponsored health care plans. Policy analysts inside and out of the Beltway are seizing their chance to propose reforms for problems in the status quo identified decades ago--gaps in coverage, inequities in payments for individual and institutional services, as well as the need for evidence-based assessments of the cost effectiveness of the dollars we spend on making and keeping Americans healthful.

The time is propitious now, in my opinion, for the U.S. to take dramatic action. Too many Americans are without coverage. As public and private officials seek to reduce the costs of their plans, workers find themselves bearing a greater share of the burden. Addressing the future long-term needs of the Baby Boomers will be less expensive if we take constructive steps now.

If, as the Constitution tells us, our Federal Government was established among other things, 'to promote the general welfare,' then it is our plain duty to provide that security upon which welfare depends...through social insurance. Social insurance, Roosevelt believed, spreads risks and benefits across the population in a manner consistent with time-tested American principles. Think about his legacy as you read the articles in this passage.

A. Medicare and Long-Term Care: From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a comprehensive overview of long-term care that details steps to choose, types of, and how to pay for long-term care. Click here to view.

B. Financing Long-Term Care: A background brief on long-term care (LTC) from the Kaiser Family Foundation that provides resources on financing and policy research on long-term care. Also included are links to PowerPoint presentations on financing long-term care, long-term care policy, and caregiving for the disabled. Click here to view.

C. The Long-Term Care Workforce: Can the Crisis be Fixed?: This new report from the Institute for the Future of Aging Services addresses long-term care workforce problems affecting frail and disabled older adults who receive care in nursing home, residential facilities, and home-based settings. Click here to view.

D. Medicaid and Long-Term Care: How Will Rising Costs Affect Services for an Aging Population?: This Boston College Center for Retirement Research Issue Brief explores trends in Medicaid spending on long-term care and the implications of its rapid growth for taxpayers and for the needs of an aging population. Click here to view.

- Andy Achenbaum

IV. WORTH NOTING

A. Facts for Features, Older Americans Month: Click here to view a statistical report by the U.S. Department of Commerce that provides up-to-date demographics on older Americans.

B. Trends in Healthcare Use Among Older Women: This U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report addresses the unique health challenges that face the growing demographic of women age 65 and older. Click here to view.

C. The State of Aging and Health in America: This current report presents a snapshot of the health and aging landscape in the United States and provides a "State-by-State Report Card" that shows comparisons of key health indicators between states. Click here to view.

V. WHAT'S HAPPENING ABROAD?

A. Half of All Countries Have No Formalized End-of-Life Care: New research published by The International Observatory on End of Life Care (IOELC) has found that an estimated half of the world's 234 countries have no palliative care services available to their populations. The report includes a map, one of the first of its kind, which provides a graphic illustration of the variability of palliative care worldwide. Click here to view.

B. Why Population Aging Matters, A Global Perspective: Click here to view this new report released by the Department of State that addresses the need to raise awareness on the importance of rigorous cross-national scientific research, policy dialogue, and financial preparation for the fast-growing world population of older adults.

C. The Aging of Korea: Demographics and Retirement Policy in the Land of the Morning Calm: This new report from CSIS examines the stunning demographic transformation occurring in Korea-a relatively young nation today-which by 2050 may be one of the oldest countries on earth. The study reviews the changes in policy and culture that need to be put in place now to sustain the country in the years to come. Click here to view.

 

VI. PERSPECTIVES ON POLICY: ROB HUDSON, EDITOR, PP&AR

In recent years, both the biological and social sciences have generated remarkable insights centered on the cognitive and adaptive abilities of older adults. Science centers provide an environment for older adults to incorporate science into their lives, giving these adults a set of new experiences and a chance to utilize their skills. In an exciting application of these findings, the Winter 2007 issue of Public Policy & Aging Report (PP&AR) illustrates how science centers such as museums, aquariums, planetariums, and the agencies associated with the aging network can work together to benefit both themselves and today's diverse aging population.

View the table of contents for this special PP&AR issue here.

To purchase the current issue of PP&AR, or to subscribe, click here.

The Public Policy & Aging E-Newsletter is a free bimonthly email publication. If you have been forwarded this by a colleague and would like to subscribe, please click This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and type “Subscribe” in the subject line. If you would like to unsubscribe to this newsletter, please click This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

Newsletter Editors: Ellyn Emsley and Greg O'Neill, National Academy on an Aging Society; Andy Achenbaum, University of Houston.

The Public Policy and Aging E-Newsletter is supported in part by a grant from the AARP Office of Academic Affairs.