Commission Considers Strategies To Maximize Long-Term Care in California

[LTCCareer.com]

Commission Considers Strategies To Maximize Long-Term Care in California.

The Little Hoover Commission, a Sacramento-based think tank, is developing recommendations on how the state could improve long-term care for seniors and residents with disabilities, the Ventura County Star reports.

Growing Strain on Eldercare Services

Aging baby boomers are putting new pressure on state health services at a time when lawmakers are seeking cuts to such programs to help close California's $19.1 budget gap.

The California Department of Aging estimates that about 6.4 million state residents are age 60 or older, with that segment growing to 12.5 million residents by 2040.

Meanwhile, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) latest budget proposal for fiscal year 2010-2011 would:

• Cut $750 million from the state's In-Home Supportive Services program; and
• Eliminate state-supported adult day health care services.

Neither the Assembly nor the Senate has agreed to the governor's cuts or an alternative spending plan.

Little Hoover Commission

The Little Hoover Commission is working to generate recommendations on how the state can maximize eldercare services while minimizing spending.

Stuart Drown, executive director of the commission, said the state could reduce spending by streamlining and consolidating services for seniors and the disabled.

The panel is examining IHSS, adult day health care programs, home- and community-based care, assisted-living and nursing home facilities.

The commission also is analyzing a San Francisco-based initiative called the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, which integrates Medicare and long-term care funding to streamline services.

The commission plans to deliver its recommendations to the governor and the Legislature in about one year (Gregory, Ventura County Star, 8/21).

Reader Comments:

Kate Ackerman

This article has been updated. The original version incorrectly stated that the Little Hoover Commission was considering whether the state would benefit from a voucher system that would allot residents a certain amount of funding to choose their long-term care services. -- The Editors