Public-Private Collaboration Is Key to Securing Long-Term Care Financing for Middle-Income Americans
April 07 2021 - 11:01PM
Business Wire
Report outlines new financing and care delivery
recommendations to make long-term care affordable and
accessible
The Milken Institute today released a new report highlighting
innovative public and private sector solutions that can expand
long-term care access and delivery for middle-income Americans.
Published in collaboration with Genworth, “New Approaches to
Long-Term Care Access for Middle-Income Households” examines
financing, technology, and care challenges of the current system
and offers recommendations to overcome these barriers.
Recent studies have found that more than half of middle-income
seniors will not be able to afford the care they need. Meanwhile,
though the pandemic laid bare the stark vulnerabilities of the
long-term care system, it also ushered in a greater use of
technology with telehealth and in-home care.
“Middle-income Americans are stuck between being unable to
afford private long-term care, and not qualifying for
government-sponsored programs like Medicaid. This can lead to a gap
in care for a significant portion of the population,” said Nora
Super, senior director of the Milken Institute Center for the
Future of Aging.
The report comes on the heels of a Financial Innovations Lab®
the Milken Institute organized in fall 2020. The Lab convened an
expert group of stakeholders from government, health, long-term
care delivery, insurance, finance, and academia to develop
solutions that can improve access to quality, affordable long-term
care for middle-income households.
"The pandemic has brought greater awareness to the fault lines
that exist in the current long-term care ecosystem. The concrete
recommendations outlined in this report are critical to closing the
gaps in providing much-needed, meaningful long-term care solutions
for millions of middle-income individuals,” said Tom
McInerney, President and CEO of Genworth. “It will take
collaboration and innovative thinking amongst stakeholders at the
federal and state levels, from both the public and private sectors,
to take the roadmap established in the report and effect the change
that is so desperately needed.”
Building on the Lab and further research, the Milken Institute
proposes specific recommendations for public and private
collaboration to successfully finance long-term care,
including:
- Design a large-scale demonstration project to better analyze
costs and benefits of various technology solutions that enhance
home-based care. There are numerous private sector pilot
programs measuring the effectiveness of solutions like telehealth
and remote monitoring, but these programs do not employ
standardized data and evaluation frameworks. The report offers a
roadmap for developing a cohesive demonstration project and
outlines specific parameters such as demographic profile,
evaluation measures, and potential funding sources for successful
program design.
- Expand access to integrated care for middle-income Americans
who cannot afford specialized private care programs and do not
qualify for Medicaid. The report recommends scaling up
promising integrated care programs that are already available in
the marketplace, such as Special Needs Plans (SNPs) and Programs of
All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Proposed modifications
include offering a new community-based SNP or expanded access to
PACE via a tiered benefit structure, providing broader access to
non-medical supportive services to a much broader cohort.
- Develop new complementary public-private insurance solutions
that offer seamless, affordable coverage and segment risk.
Long-term care is too costly for the private or public sectors to
tackle alone. In order to mitigate costs and associated risks, the
Milken Institute identified a new approach that allows the public
sector to develop long-term care insurance programs that address
the first couple of years of long-term care costs, followed by
complementary private sector long-term care insurance products that
provide coverage for additional years. For the most prolonged and
expensive cases, Medicaid would continue to act as a backstop. This
is a more nuanced approach to risk segmentation than is typical in
current models.
Caitlin MacLean, senior director of innovative finance at
the Milken Institute, added, “These innovative solutions can
improve access to high-quality care for older adults while driving
down costs for public and private payers alike.”
The Milken Institute will continue leveraging our network,
engaging policymakers, and providing a platform to advance these
solutions. We encourage stakeholders in the long-term care
ecosystem to heed these recommendations and advance quality access
to care for Americans across the socioeconomic spectrum.
“New Approaches to Long-Term Care Access for Middle-Income
Households” is co-authored by Jason Davis and Caroline
Servat. The full report can be downloaded here.
About the Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that
helps people build meaningful lives in which they can experience
health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful
employment, and access the resources required to create
ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader
communities. For more information, visit
https://milkeninstitute.org/.
About Financial Innovations Labs®
Financial Innovations Labs® bring together researchers,
policymakers, and business, financial, and professional
practitioners to create market-based solutions to business and
public policy challenges. Using real and simulated case studies,
participants consider and design alternative capital structures and
then apply appropriate financial technologies to them.
About the Milken Institute Center for the Future of
Aging
The Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging elevates
awareness, advances solutions, and catalyzes action to promote
healthy longevity and financial wellness. Through research,
convening, advocacy, and partnership with leaders across key
sectors, the Center works to improve lives and build a better
future for all ages.
About Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial, Inc. (“Genworth”) is a leading Fortune 500
insurance holding company committed to helping families achieve the
dream of homeownership and address the financial challenges of
aging through its leadership positions in mortgage insurance and
long-term care insurance. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia,
Genworth traces its roots back to 1871 and became a public company
in 2004.
Additional Experts Available to Discuss Long-Term
Care
- Marc Cohen, Co-Director, LeadingAge LTSS Center, UMass
Boston
- Richard Frank, Margaret T. Morris Professor of Health
Economics, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical
School
- Jeff Huber, CEO, Home Instead
- Robert Kramer, Founder & Strategic Advisor, National
Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care
- Tom McInerney, President and CEO, Genworth
Financial
- Susan Reinhard, Senior Vice President and Director, AARP
Public Policy Institute
- Katie Smith Sloan, President and CEO, LeadingAge
- Anne Tumlinson, CEO, ATI Advisory
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210407006047/en/
Milken Institute: Enxhi Myslymi, emyslymi@milkeninstitute.org, +
1 (203) 721-4840. Genworth: Julie Westermann,
julie.westermann@genworth.com, + 1 (804) 937-9273.