panpha -- an association of pennsylvania nonprofit senior services long term care what you should...
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PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
Long Term Care
What You Should Know About a Broken System and Why Fixing It Matters to You
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
What’s PANPHA? PANPHA is a statewide
organization representing more than 350 nonprofit providers of long-term and continuing care
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
What is long-term care?
More than traditional notion of ‘nursing home’
Continuum also includes adult day care, housing with supportive services; assisted living; continuing care retirement communities (CCRC’s); home and community-based services
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
Today’s Reality…
Largest generation of seniors ever will be requiring - and demanding -choices in long-term care
People living longer with assistance of expensive medical care
Want to “age in place” in the least restrictive setting they can call home
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
The Reality… The current system is
simply not sustainable
Critical shortage of workers
Regulatory system that gets in the way
Insufficient financial resources
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
Topics of Discussion
Money
Who will take care of us… even if we can figure out how to pay for it?
Regulatory system gets in the way… and actually make things worse
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
Money Most people ill-
informed or unaware of how long-term care is paid for
Baby boomers who have been financially secure for years may find themselves below the poverty line in months
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
Money… “Even people who think they
have a good sense of what the costs and payment options are often get it wrong”
– AARP
More than half mistakenly think Medicare covers nursing home stays; 4 in 10 think it pays for assisted living.
Only 15% estimated the cost of nursing home care within plus or minus 20% of the national average ($4,654/month); 25% estimated assisted living costs within +/- 20%
Medicaid requires spending down assets to poverty level; Many middle class seniors have exhausted virtually all life savings and assets to pay for care, most within one year of being admitted to a nursing home
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
Who’s Going to Take Care of Us, Anyway? PA, along with rest of
nation, is experiencing a severe shortage of health care workers
Long-Term Care hardest hit of all health care settings
Financial, workplace and regulatory constraints not found in other health care settings
Regulatory system contributes to “downward spiral”
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
Who’s Going to Take Care of Us, Anyway Unless more people
begin to enter the profession, the situation will become worse
High turnover rates and replacement costs
Recruitment challenges (work is difficult as well as physically and emotionally draining)
Demographic mismatch between growing need and lessening availability
Training regulations and enforcement Society’s perceptions of field Regulatory and reimbursement
policies
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
A Counterproductive Regulatory System
Current system is highly fragmented and unnecessarily complex, reflecting piecemeal development of overlapping federal and state structures
Duplication of effort by different agencies
Increased costs
Conflict/confusion between different regulators
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
A Counterproductive Regulatory System
“Cookie-cutter” approach to nursing home inspection does not reward good-quality care nor deal forcefully enough with poor-quality care
Regulators/surveyors have little scope to use discretion and judgment in applying rigidly-detailed minutiae
Difference in amount of potato chips led to deficiency on “inadequate nutrition” grounds
Actually forbidden to offer advice or technical assistance
Compliance Doesn’t Equal Quality
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
A Counterproductive Regulatory System
“Gotcha” mentality drives good, caring people out of profession already faced with staffing crisis
Inflexible, punitive environment is frustrating, overwhelming, and detracts from resident care
System “devolved” to finding deficiencies; has become end in itself instead of measuring real goal of quality of care and quality of life
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
A Counterproductive Regulatory System
Downward spiral
Cannot find staff
Cannot innovate or improve when straight-jacketed by regulatory system
High turnover rates and replacement costs
Morale and “stigma” issues from punitive regulatory system and public misperceptions exacerbate staffing crisis
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
Realities
Long term care is a predictable need for most of us
One in five will need services at some time
Most do not plan for it Current system is
unsustainable
PANPHA -- An Association Of Pennsylvania Nonprofit Senior Services
PANPHA’s Call to Action
Need to make long term care a high-priority public issue, as important as social security and prescription drugs
Please join us in the discussion and debate on these issues
Good news – there’s still time
Bad news – there isn’t much