Source: Congressional Budget Office
PDF of PowerPoint slides — Presentation to the National Governors Association’s Health and Human Services Committee
The term “long-term care” is revealing. Long-term care is usually about long-term loss: the loss of authority, money, health, and connections to family and community. Our system is based on an expert and medical model of passive consumption and limited choices. And because none of us really want this, we avoid talking about it or planning for it . . .
We need to begin an intergenerational discussion to redefine the issue in radically new - civic - terms . . .
We should talk about how we all age, not just about “the elderly”; about harnessing wisdom and building individual capacity, not just providing more/better services and care. We should talk about health and wellness, not just chronic illness; about taking personal responsibility for our retirement and for the economic health of future generations, not just how we pay the bills for the current troubled system . . .
A report issued by the National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care warns of a coming long-term care crisis and includes recommendations to advance long-term care reform in four areas: quality, workforce, technology and finance.
As we continue to look at this report, entitled “Isolation to Integration: Recommendations to Improve Quality in Long-Term Care,” today’s article details suggestions regarding technology.
On February 14, 2008, Senator Charles Grassley and Senator Herb Kohl introduced the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2008 (S.2641). According to a related Press Release, S.2641 aims to bring more transparency to consumers regarding nursing home quality, improve enforcement, and strengthen nursing home staff training requirements.
Among other things, S.2641 would reportedly require that "special focus facility" designations be placed on the Nursing Home Compare website. S.2641 would also require that CMS develop a standardized complaint form and require more uniform reporting of nursing staff levels so that comparisons can be made across nursing homes. S.2641 would also strengthen the available penalties. For instance, S.2641 would reportedly allow the Secretary to impose civil monetary penalties of up to $100,000 for a deficiency resulting in death, $3,000-$25,000 for deficiencies at the level of actual harm or immediate jeopardy, and not more than $3,000 for other deficiencies. Finally, S.2641 would attempt to improve staff training by including dementia management and abuse prevention training as part of pre-employment training.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it will hold the next Skilled Nursing Facility/Long-Term Care Open Door Forum at 3:30 p.m. (EST) on February 27, 2008.
To participate by telephone, one must dial 1-800-837-1935 and reference conference ID 18796437. To participate in person, one must RSVP by 2:00 p.m. (EST) on February 25, 2008 to SNF_LTCODF-L@cms.hhs.gov, and include your name, organization, phone number, and “SNF/LTC” in the subject line. The Open Door Forum will take place at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. CMS asks that attendees arrive no later than 3:00 p.m. (EST).