Just when you think there aren’t issues that Red and Blue America can agree on, there comes this little thing called aging that we’re all doing and want to do well. On Wednesday a packed auditorium at the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs participated in a discussion about financing long-term care in America. And what one saw was a great issue opportunity for Red and Blue America to forge common ground. As several panelists, including a Republican state legislator, said: Aging isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue.The forum was sponsored by the Minnesota Health and Housing Alliance, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and AARP. Twin Cities Public Television is creating a one-hour special on it and we’ll post that when it comes out later this year. In upcoming posts we’ll look at finance plans introduced at the Forum, but first, following are several highlights/themes from the discussions moderated by Minnesota state commissioner of labor and industry Steve Sviggum and Larry Jacobs, director, at the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Study of Politics and Governance. I know a number of Changing Aging readers were there, so please share what you found interesting or heard differently . . . thanks.– Environments are Disabled: Jan Malcolm, CEO of Courage Center, put a different paradigm on disability. Too often people live in environments that don’t allow for people with physical challenges. So why do we always focus on the person’s physical disability? Why aren’t we focusing on maximizing the physical environment in our communites to allow people young and old to live easily where they want to? – Money Has to Follow the Person: With government reimbursement money encumbered and siloed in so many areas of health care, people are mice in a never-ending maze, captive to running to the cheese (fragmented, inflexible funding sources). Let the money follow the person, so they can make the choices in their care and service options. – A Healthy Health Care System in America Must Include Aging Services: If we’re going to truly have a well-coordinated cradle-to-grave health care system that focuses on wellness, aging services must be an essential piece of the solution wheel. We have to connect the dots.- New Language: What do you think of when you think of long-term care? Many people think ‘nursing homes.’ Guess where people don’t want to live? Long-term care, er, aging services encompasses so much more than a nursing home, including: assisted living, rehab services, wellness centers, transportation, home care, memory care, technology … .- Home-Centered System: Home has to be an integral part of public policy innovation. Because that’s where people most want to be. Nursing homes will still have an integral role, but they will look very different. – This is a [Fill in the Blank] Issue: Long-term care isn’t just a long-term care issue. It’s a health care issue, business issue, education issue, economic security issue and community development issue. If we don’t ride the age wave, it’s going to damage other sectors of our communities.- Marry Technology and Results: We spend billions in America on technology in hospitals, attempting to help people live longer. What about adding life to years? Technology in aging services, such as sensors in people’s homes that spot small health problems before they grow into big ones, is the preventive-type of technology we should be focusing on in a results-based, wellness-focused health care system.- Fiscal Responsiblity Doesn’t End with the Mortgage: To save safety nets for those truly in need, more of us simply have to plan ahead and pay our way for aging services. The alternative is not sustainable for America.