Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• JINKINS, LAURIE

Titel

First in the Nation: Washington State’s Long-Term Care Trust Act

Ist Teil von

• The Milbank quarterly, 2020-03, Vol.98 (1), p.10-13

Ort / Verlag

United States: Wiley

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In 2019, Washington became the first state to pass legislation creating a public long-term care insurance program. In doing so, we are leading the way in addressing a nationwide crisis: an aging population in which the vast majority lack the financial resources to pay for the care they need as they age.The financial consequences of this long-term care crisis are dire, not just for individuals who are forced to spend themselves into poverty before they can access Medicaid benefits, but also for state budgets facing ever-increasing spending on Medicaid long-term care. Had Washington lawmakers not acted, Medicaid spending in our state budget was projected to increase from $1.7 billion in 2015 to $4.1 billion by 2030.Additionally, affordability of long-term care (or lack thereof) creates a tremendous strain on families struggling to help their aging loved ones. In Washington state alone, there are more than 800,000 unpaid family caregivers.2 Many of these unpaid caregivers are part of the so-called “sandwich generation”—people who are simultaneously raising children and caring for elderly relatives, often while also holding down paid employment. Others are spouses or partners who themselves are aging and may be physically unable to provide the level of care needed. The toll on these unpaid caregivers is both financial and emotional.