The Future of Long-Term Care: What is its Place in the Health Reform Debate?
You can download Gleckman's paper here. One idea he raises is totally eliminating Medicaid in long-term care and replacing it with universal or near-universal long-term care insurance. He also smartly points to the need to integrate long-term care and medical care. If the Feds don't make long-term care a significant part of health care reform this time around, it's going to have to be states that forge the innovative solutions, because their budget expenditures are only growing on a parallel track with consumers who want something different.
Gleckman concludes:
The broader health reform debate now taking place in Washington creates a rare opportunity for policymakers to rethink the relationship between medical treatment and the long-term care needs of the chronically ill and those with disabilities. It is, for instance, an ideal environment to better coordinate long-term care with medical treatment (ECUMEN COULDN'T AGREE MORE). Broad health reform also presents an opportunity to review the bifurcated structure of Medicare and Medicaid that often works to the detriment of those eligible for both programs. It allows policymakers the chance to alter the balance between institutional and home- and community-based care. And, as policymakers attempt to redesign health coverage, so should they be considering improved payment mechanisms for long-term care. It is difficult to imagine a well-designed health reform that fails to address these issues.
AMEN!
Hey, Oprah, Stop Pushing Mare's Urine and Get Pro-Aging
Hi Oprah, drinking mare's urine won't help any of us live longer. Nor will having guests like Suzanne Somers on your show to talk about it's ability to slow aging.
Being the media magnate you are, you have to know that doing things like that only dents your image and broader appeal, and it will only generate more unflattering cover stories like the Newsweek one to the left, especially as we all age.
You had Somers, the former Three's Company roomie, share a stage with you and discuss how she smears progesterone and estrogen cream on her skin; how she daily uses a syringe to inject estrogen into her vagina and a whole host of other zaniness. None of that is going to restore Suzanne's hormone levels to her 30s or help her live to 110.
And then you said, "She might just be a pioneer." A pioneer of wackiness, maybe.
Oprah, you pride yourselves on your authenticity . . .Aging is real. We all do it. And there's a lot of good that comes with it. Embrace it. Please . . . get Pro-Age.
Changing Aging invites you to take a couple of seconds and watch gerontologist and friend of Ecumen Dr. Bill Thomas' Pro-Age plea to you here. Get him on your show. If you need others to help you get into the 21st Century on aging, call us. We'll help you out. Because the crazy talk you're promoting when it comes to aging isn't helping anyone.
Welcome to Ecumen's New Web Site
We've launched a new website that will continually evolve to better engage people, serve people, and connect our mission, vision and values with a world that is aging. If you get a second, we'd love your thoughts on the site.
If you go to our "contact us" page, you can now also follow Ecumen on Twitter and on the Ecumen YouTube channel.
Thanks to our web partner Azul 7 for their great work with us.
Empowering Technology At Ecumen
Ecumen sees technology as essential to enhancing the aging experience wherever people choose to call home.
Ecumen was one of the country’s first senior services providers to broadly introduce QuietCare in its housing communities. QuietCare by GE Healthcare is a proactive and unobtrusive motion sensor technology that can help identify small health problems before they grow larger. Other technologies Ecumen incorporates include [m]Power cognitive fitness technology; Nintendo’s Wii technology for rehabilitation and just plain fun; CareTracker e-charting; and Ivivi Sof-Pulse for wound care.
Let’s zoom in on a weekday afternoon to a computer lab at Ecumen’s Lakeview Commons community in Maplewood, Minnesota, where a resident is logging on to a touchâ€screen computer to exercise her brain – and have fun.
“It rates us in various categories,” explains Honor Hacker as she challenges her brain with a computer program that tests abilities in math, geography, music, vocabulary, spatial relationships, instant recall and more. Honor has spoken before members of Congress on the benefits of technology in empowering America’s seniors.
The program by Dakim called (m)Power, is as entertaining as it is good for brain, she says. Fillâ€inâ€theâ€word games, realâ€life math challenges and other puzzlers mix with colorful visuals and rapidly shifting tasks to keep her eyes riveted on the screen. “I use it every day,” says Hacker, a retired highâ€school social studies teacher. “It’s fun.”
Ecumen is “on the forefront,” says George Mason University instructor Andrew Carle, nationally known for coining the term “nana technology” to identify innovations that improve seniors’ quality of life.
Technology is an integral part of people’s lifestyle and that will only increase. Technology supports the themes that are important to all of us: independence, choice, mobility, ease, and quality of life.
Changing Aging Going on Break While Ecumen Readies New Web Site Launch
We’re going to have a whole new web site for you to enjoy later this month. While we make the transition to that site, the writers at Ecumen have gone fishing. We’ll be back right around June 17th. In the meantime, enjoy our past posts and recent videos we’ve just put up. Thanks for your readership and for supporting Ecumen in changing aging. See you back here soon.
Vital Aging Network: Communities for a Lifetime Forum, June 9
Ecumen’s Lisa Fowler and our partners at the Minneapolis "virtual village" Mill City Commons will be among the panelists at the June 9th Vital Aging Network forum. The event will be held
June 9, 2009
10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 N. Dale St.
St. Paul, MN 55103
More information is here. Also featured will be River Bluffs Village, which like Mill City Commons is a "virtual village" model the Mendota Heights area of the Twin Cities. Mike Weber, CEO of Volunteers of America/Minnesota, will discuss Communities for a Lifetime legislation that passed in Minnesota this legislative session. And Bob Roepke, former mayor of Chaska, Minn., will discuss vision and leadership needed to create communities for a lifetime.
U.S. Senate Call-In Day: June 4 - Make Long-Term Care and Services Part of Health Care Reform
It’s time for us to call our U.S. Senators again on Thursday, June 4th. It takes just a few minutes … We anticipate that in the next week or so we will start seeing actual legislative proposals for health care reform.
Beginning at 8 a.m. Central on Thursday, June 4th, please call toll-free to (866) 281-7219. The system will ask you to say your state name and then transfer you to one of your Senators. When you get through, tell your Senator that inclusion of long-term services and supports in health reform is a must for both you and the people you serve.
[Please note that these designated phone lines are open only on June 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time. As calls made outside of those hours will not be connected to an office, we ask that you please do not call other than during the designated hours.]
A sample phone script follows, but there is more information on our national association’s website if you need it. Simply go to: www.aahsa.org/callcongress.aspx.
Sample Phone Script
"Hello. I’m calling to ask the senator to help make sure long-term services and supports are part of health care reform. Including long-term services and supports in health care reform will achieve greater efficiency, promote personal responsibility and sustain our safety net programs like Medicaid. We must help individuals and families and we must help state governments, all of whom are struggling with increasing needs and costs. I thank the senator in advance for demonstrating leadership on this issue. We must make it affordable to care. Thank you."
After you have made your calls, or if you can’t get through, follow up with an email to your Senators.
Ecumen’s Meadows of Worthington Figures Out How Many People Can Fit in a Stretch Limousine
How many people can you fit in a stretch limo for a road trip?
We found you can fit 20. I recently organized a road trip from Worthington to Sioux Falls, S.D. for 19 residents of Ecumen’s Meadows of Worthington.
Our destination was a restaurant called "Michaels", which had once had been a Worthington-area hot spot that relocated to Sioux Falls. The owner, who is the original owner’s son, knew everyone and spent considerable time with each visitor. Hardy Rickbeil, leaning forward above, also knew everyone and worked the room. Hardy turns 101 in a few weeks. We had an absolute blast!
Last Titanic Survivor Dies - Sold Her Treasures to Pay for Long-Term Care
Last October we wrote about Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the Titanic. She had to sell her Titanic treasures so she could afford long-term care. Ms. Dean died this weekend at 97. Below is video of an interview she gave last October.
Senator Kennedy to Introduce Long-Term Care Coverage as Part of Sweeping Health Care Reform
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sen. Ted Kennedy will soon introduce a health care bill that will include coverage for long-term care.
Sen. Edward Kennedy plans a new disability-insurance program that would automatically enroll all American workers as part of the sweeping health-care bill he is preparing to introduce, aides said Friday.
Premiums would automatically be charged, and in many cases deducted from workers' paychecks, unless they choose to opt out of the disability program. The idea is to give all workers a basic level of protection in case they become disabled. But it could draw complaints from people who see it as a de facto tax, given that few workers are expected to opt out.
On average, premiums could not exceed $65 per month, according to a Senate aide who described the provision in detail.
Participants would be entitled to a cash benefit of at least $50 a day if they become so disabled they cannot participate in at least two or three activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing or using the toilet. The money could be used for expenses to support staying in one’s home.
If all American workers participated, one estimate found that the program would collect $320 billion in its first year, the Senate aide said.
Kennedy’s father Joe you’ll recall suffered a stroke and was disabled for sometime with a broken body and a still sharp mind. His sister experienced a lobotomy and was institutionalized in Wisconsin. No doubt these life experiences have played a role in his passion for disability rights and his reported upcoming inclusion of long-term care financing reform as part of health care reform.