September 12, 2013SERVICE DELIVERY VISION: A more responsive, integrated, person-centered, and fiscally sustainable LTSS delivery system that ensures people can access quality services in settings they choose.Rebalancing – A Balanced Array of LTSS:Recommendation: Promote services for persons with functional limitations in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their needs– building a system, including Medicaid, with options for people who would prefer to live in the community.Integration:Recommendation 1: Establish a single point of contact for LTSS on the care team.Recommendation 2: Align incentives to improve the integration of LTSS with health care services in a person- and family-centered approach.Recommendation 3: Use…
A new report from AARP argues for improving family leave for working caregivers, citing the growing population of older Americans, increasing numbers of family caregivers on the job, and escalating demands and stress on caregivers. Keeping Up with the Times: Supporting Family Caregivers with Workplace Leave Policies points to three policy solutions to ease the burden on both caregivers and employers: unpaid family and medical leave, paid family and medical leave insurance, and earned sick time. “According to the report, close to three out of four women of prime caregiving age are in the workforce and 74 percent of adults…
In the U.S. there are approximately 62 million unpaid Family Caregivers. In a recent AARP report, if it wasn’t for these unpaid family caregivers, this country would be in even more dire straits. These family caregivers increasingly, middle-aged offspring taking care of their elderly parents – provided $450 billion worth of unpaid home care in 2009, states AARP. That’s more than the total Medicaid spending that year or more than Wal-Mart Inc.’s total sales in 2009. It’s also 20 percent higher than unpaid home care totals for two years earlier. “If the family caregiver were no longer available, we’d see…
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