Kerrey Joins Gingrich On Plan for Elderly Care
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WASHINGTON — The Democratic head of the New School and a Republican former House speaker are urging presidential candidates to take up the issue of long-term care for elderly Americans, a problem that they warn will worsen with the retirement of the baby boom generation in the coming decades.
Bob Kerrey, the university president and a former Nebraska senator, joined with Newt Gingrich yesterday to release a 94-page report calling for a federal overhaul of the long-term care system that would be financed with a combination of public and private dollars.
Messrs. Kerrey and Gingrich headed a 22-member commission that comprised both Republicans and Democrats. While the political diversity allowed for bipartisanship, officials acknowledged that it prevented the commission from endorsing a detailed plan for action. Instead they issued broad recommendations that call for a consumer focus on quality, increased support systems both for the work force and family caregivers, and a much greater use of new technologies, such as electronic medical records, that will help older Americans maintain more independence and make care more efficient.
While they applauded the current slate of White House hopefuls for putting out detailed health insurance proposals, Messrs. Kerrey and Gingrich lamented a lack of focus on the long-term health system, which includes nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and at-home care. “The beginning and the end of this is we pay far too little attention to long-term care in the political arena,” Mr. Kerrey said.
In pushing for action, the report cited a “dramatic and unprecedented demographic shift” in the coming years that will see the population of Americans ages 65 and older nearly double by 2030, to an estimated 71.5 million people. “This problem is going to become worse, not better,” Mr. Kerrey said.
The commission is asking for congressional hearings on the issue next year and will push the next president to propose a plan for long-term care in his or her first State of the Union address in 2009.
