Washington ranks second overall among all 50 states, with particularly good scores in the areas of family caregiver support and client/resident choice of setting and provider.
In reading the scorecard's accompanying report, another reality was apparent. The cost of Long Term Services and Supports is unaffordable for middle-income families! The cost of services, especially in nursing homes, is not “affordable” in any state. The national average cost of nursing home care is 241% of the average annual household income of older adults.
This serves as yet another important piece of the story as to why alternative funding options, such as CLASS, are not just good ideas, they are absolutely critical for the future.
This State Long-Term Services and Supports Scorecard is the first of its kind: a multidimensional approach to measure state-level performance of long-term services and supports (LTSS) systems that provide assistance to older people and adults with disabilities. Analysis of the "starter set" of indicators included in this report finds that performance varies tremendously across the states with LTSS systems in leading states having markedly different characteristics than those in lagging states. Yet even the top-performing states have some opportunities for improvement. In general, the states at the very highest levels of performance have enacted public policies designed to:
- improve access to needed services and choice in their delivery by transforming their Medicaid programs to cover more of the population in need and offer the alternatives to nursing homes that most people prefer;
- facilitate access to information and services by developing effective "single point of entry" systems so that people who need services can find help easily; and
- address the needs of family caregivers by offering legal protections as well as the support and services that can help prevent burnout.
No comments:
Post a Comment