AHCA Questions for the Candidates

The entire long term care profession is concerned with the way in which long term care will be legislated and regulated in the coming years and is eager to hear how the candidates will address the care needs of an Aging America. AHCA/NCAL encourages the candidates to discuss the long term care needs of our nation and to consider the following questions.

Questions for Presidential Candidates:

1. The Medicare and Medicaid systems have come under increasing pressure at a time when the population is aging. Do you believe the U.S. can afford to cut these safety net programs as a means of balancing state and federal budgets?
   
2. Most Americans do not understand that health insurance and Medicare do not cover the cost of long term care services. Presently, nearly two-thirds of the residents in America's nursing homes rely on Medicaid. Do you believe that we need to encourage personal responsibility with the purchase of long term care insurance to take the pressure off the Medicaid program? If yes, how do we achieve this?
   
3. We all know that there are 77 million aging baby boomers rapidly nearing retirement – they have changed every aspect of our culture during their lives, and it is clear that they will also have a significant impact on our long term care system. What should the nation's long term care system look like in order to meet this population's clinical health care needs and very specific preferences?
   
4. With the recent trend to move the frail and elderly out of nursing facilities and into home- and community-based care, what sort of oversight system should be in place to ensure that those vulnerable populations are receiving the care and services they require--and that those services are of a high quality? Do you believe that all individuals who are frail and elderly can receive the around-the-clock care that they may require in the home or community?
   
5. In cases where individuals who are frail and elderly outlive their savings and are too sick to manage on their own, what do you see as the most practical way to pay for their care? Where should they be housed?....