Kudos to two Minnesota state legislators, Rep. Laura Brod (R-New Prague) and Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Paul Thissen (D-Minneapolis) who have announced that they are introducing legislation that would create tax free savings accounts in Minnesota for long-term care. Thissen and Brod are thinking differently about long-term care:

‘It’s not just about long-term care in nursing homes,’ said Brod. ‘We’ve got to broaden the definition of long-term care; we’re talking about long-term care in the community, personal care, whatever somebody needs on a long-term basis.’

Thissen said it an attempt to move beyond the standard model of ‘forcing people to spend themselves into poverty’ before becoming entirely dependent on Medicaid.’We do need to have a safety net but what’s equally important is we need people to start thinking and planning ahead and saving for their own retirement,’ Representative Thissen said, ‘Thinking long-term about that because that really ultimately is the solution.’

You can read the Saint Paul Pioneer Press story here and the KARE-TV story here.This bill grew out of an event Ecumen held last summer when we brought the Nebraska State Treasurer to Minnesota to share news of their long-term care savings plan.