Health reform must address services for seniors and disabled

Larry Minnix

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced that any health reform effort should include a new program to help families struggling with the high costs of long-term services and support for aging or disabled loved ones.

The administration's support comes not a moment too soon. With America aging at an unprecedented rate and people living longer with disabilities, health reform and long-term care are inextricably linked.

Chances are, someone close to each and every one of us will require long-term services and support at some point in his or her life. In fact, among those turning 65 today, 69 percent will require some form of prolonged care.

Unfortunately, it's becoming more difficult to pay for such care.

Surveys have found that the costs of food, transportation, and medicine total over $5,500 annually for the average long-term caregiver responsible for a loved one. To cover these costs, 16 percent of seniors will need a nest egg of more than $100,000; 5 percent will need more than $250,000.

Many Americans aren't prepared for these extra extra expenses. People wrongly believe Medicare will pay for these services. It will not. They haven't saved enough. And they have no idea how much it costs to provide and receive care.

Making matters worse, the time and energy needed to care for the elderly costs the economy billions of dollars every year. One recent report found that American businesses lose $33.6 billion annually in revenue as employees care for loved ones.

Long-term services and support cost the government a great deal, too --

$116.8 billion each year for Medicaid alone.

Many seniors receive long-term services through Medicaid. But the demand on the program cannot be sustained-- even with the recent injection of $87 billion in funding from the stimulus package. By 2025, Medicaid's expenditures on long-term services and support will have doubled. By 2045, those costs are expected to increase five-fold.

The CLASS Act, which received bipartisan support from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sets up a fiscally responsible way for all of us to plan ahead for these inevitable expenses.

And, according to the Congressional Budget Office, it can trim the federal deficit by $59 billion in its first decade. Secretary Sebelius is smart to support its inclusion in health care reform legislation, as she wrote to the committee this week.

President Obama is right to insist that aid for long-term services and support be included in any health reform package.

America's seniors and those with disabilities -- both current and future -- are counting on it.