Ignagni Recommends Multi-faceted Plan for the Future of Long Term Care
WASHINGTON, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of
America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), today testified before the House
Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on identifying solutions for the
nation's current and future long term care (LTC) needs. She emphasized that
our nation needs to explore public-private partnerships that could make LTC
costs more predictable while expanding care options for consumers.
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"What we are seeing today is an imbalance between the reality of
long-term care needs in America and the continued focus on acute care,"
Ignagni said. "Our nation needs to focus more on the continuum of care
given our aging population and its diverse needs," she continued. "LTC
insurance and a series of meaningful changes in Medicaid can provide the
basis for a true public- private partnership in assuring that baby boomers
and others have access to the care they need when they need it."
In her testimony, Ignagni provided an overview of private LTC
insurance, discussing the piece of mind it offers to consumers and the cost
savings that can accrue to Medicare and Medicaid. Additionally, she pointed
to the innovative strategies that health insurance plans are employing
today to provide high-quality services to Medicaid beneficiaries, while
also containing costs. She also stressed the importance of moving forward
expeditiously to implement the newly expanded LTC partnership programs in
all states
"Recent Congressional action on expanding the LTC partnership programs
is a major step toward our nation's long term care readiness," she said.
"We look forward to working with states and the federal government in
bringing new products to market as soon as possible to help ameliorate cost
pressures on public programs, and, at the same time, continuing the
innovative and effective strategies our members are bringing to
beneficiaries eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid."
Ignagni also made several recommendations for additional policy changes
that should be pursued to help more Americans secure protection against LTC
costs:
* Instituting an Above-the-Line Federal Income Tax Deduction for LTC
Insurance Premiums that would allow taxpayers to claim a tax deduction
regardless of whether they itemize their deductions and regardless of
whether they have other medical expenses. For example, a person who
pays $1,500 in premiums for long-term care insurance could reduce his or
her taxable income by the full $1,500 under this proposal.
* Permit the offering of LTC Insurance Under Cafeteria/FSA Options
allowing employers to offer LTC insurance as an option under cafeteria
plans and flexible spending arrangements (FSAs), thereby giving working
Americans an opportunity to address their future LTC needs through their
existing employee benefit arrangements.
* Removing Barriers to Medicaid Managed Care such as the rules regarding
the federal upper payment limit (UPL) program that have proven to be a
barrier to expanding Medicaid managed care to beneficiaries because the
services provided to health plan members by publicly owned facilities
are not counted in determining the UPL payment. This creates financial
disincentive for states to meet beneficiary needs through Medicaid
health plan programs -- despite their proven ability to improve health
care for the most vulnerable members of the Medicaid population.
* Exploring Best Practices and Demonstrations that will provide additional
help to the LTC population, including working through Medicaid to
maximize beneficiary independence and the opportunity to seek care
within their homes and communities; promote models of coordinated,
multi-disciplinary, continuous care and support across all settings and
throughout the life spans (in contrast to a model of intermittent,
episodic care); and emphasize prevention for patients (risk assessment,
early identification and intervention).
* Creating a Presidential Commission to Address the Nation's Long-Term
Care Needs that would make recommendations to Congress and the
Administration for accomplishing a wide range of goals including
exploring how to create a seamless long-term care continuum from acute
to chronic care; exploring tax incentives to encourage individuals to
take planning responsibility for their own long-term care needs;
exploring how to redesign Medicaid to allow dollars to follow the person
across all settings, ensuring that access to quality long-term care and
services can be received in the settings of choice; and exploring the
potential to increase utilization of technology (telehealth, monitoring
devices, electronic medical records, etc.) in all care settings --
particularly in rural settings.
* Establishing a Federal Office to Address Long-Term Care Workforce Issues
to address professional and paraprofessional long-term care workforce
issues and provide recommendations to improve the recruitment, training,
retention and practice of a strong long-term care workforce.
* Establishing a Quality Agenda for Long-Term Care including measurement
and reporting across the continuum of services and settings, and
performance-based payment, taking into account consumer satisfaction,
health literacy, and progress in addressing disparities. Recognizing
the efforts underway by the Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance (AQA), the
Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), and the Pharmacy Quality Alliance
(PQA), a similar public-private collaboration is needed to address
quality challenges in long-term care settings.
To view the testimony:
http://www.ahip.org/content/fileviewer.aspx?docid=16320&linkid=140541
America's Health Insurance Plans -- Providing Health Benefits
to More Than 200 Million Americans
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http://www.ahip.org
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