America is unprepared to meet the coming long-term care needs of the baby boomers. Most of them do not have enough money or insurance to cover a long-term care event, and Medicaid will not have the money either. The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, included as part of the president’s health reform legislation, would have created a new public entitlement but was terminated as fiscally unsustainable. When the Commission on Long-Term Care released its recommendations in September 2013, there was a clear split between commission members who favor private financing methods and those who favor social insurance.
Can Medicaid be counted on to cover long-term care expenses today and into the future? Has Medicaid crowded out the market for private long-term care insurance? Can families be expected to purchase long-term care coverage decades before they are likely to need it? What new financing approaches could effectively protect Americans from the potentially ruinous costs of long-term care? Please join us for a lively discussion featuring experts representing both sides of this debate.