What role should the government play in paying for long term care?

 

 

DISCCUSION DELIVERY

Subject: Healthcare

Module 3: General Discussion
? The discussion for this module will focus on the quality of care delivered to children in the United States.
1. In the assigned video, Elizabeth McGlynn made a statement that the quality of health care for children in the United States is worse than the quality of health care for adults.
o What does she mean by this statement?
o How is she defining quality?
o How do adults and children compare? Were these results surprising to you?
2. Describe the characteristics of the group of children who participated in this study.
o How well do they represent the larger population of US children?
o Based on this representation, how accurately do the results of the study apply to all US children?
o Are there groups of children who were not well represented in the study who may fare better or worse than the children in the study?
3. How do the study results apply to the current policy debate regarding universal health insurance?
o How different would the results of the study have been if we had universal health coverage?
4. Dr.McGlynn did not offer any solutions to the problems her study revealed.
o Based on the results of the study, what solutions would you propose for improving the quality of care for children in the United States.?
? Remember, this is a light group discussion. The intent is not that each student post a ?mini-paper? responding to all questions. Instead, let?s approach the questions as a group starting with the first question and moving on to the next as each is answered. Comments should be posted in the discussion area for Module 3: General Discussion.
Each student is expected to post a minimum of two times per week. Your responses should relate to one of the questions above and to the postings of other students. Your responses should not repeat what has already been stated, but rather add to the discussion and integrate the readings.
Module 4: Team A
1. How has the health care delivery system responded to the issue of health care access?

Module 5: General Discussion ? The financing of long term care is a complex and highly controversial issue. Long term care costs a minimum of approximately $200 per day, or over $65,000 per year. This cost is not covered by health insurance or Medicare. As a result, when a family member requires long term care, the financial liability can be overwhelming. However, the wealthy often have the resources to shelter their money; the poor have Medicaid coverage. Those in the middle are often faced with medical bills that are devastating to their family and their way of life.
? For our Module 5 light discussion, let?s talk about who should pay for long term care.
o In the U.S. today, a couple that is in need of nursing home care for one of them is required to use all but $XXXX of unsheltered assets to pay for the cost of long term care.
 Does this amount seem reasonable for the health spouse? Should it be higher or lower?
 What are the implications of changing the legal amount of unsheltered assets?
o Should health insurance companies be required to cover long term care services as part of ordinarily covered expenses?
 If so, what are the implications?
o Should the legal system be revised to allow people to shelter assets so that they do not have to pay for long term care?
 What are the implications?
o What role should the government play in paying for long term care?