With Medicaid, Long-Term Care for the Elderly Looms as a Rising Cost - Essay Sample

Introduction

Medicaid has proved to be a better solution to people's medical care needs (Singh 23). The middle-class persons earn low income hence they cannot afford long-term care expenses for the elderly in nursing homes. With the introduction of the Medicaid program, many low-income persons have gained access to medical care in many nursing homes. Medicaid spends a lot of money in long-term care, which accounts to about five times on the elderly than poor children. The spending is even more in supporting long-term care for the disabled. The out-of-pocket money that can be spent for the elderly home care or nursing home is too high that most of the people cannot afford. Rena Lull, for example, had to spend about $300,000 for five-year care in the community and another one-year in the nursing home. The lull is just one of the 1.8 million persons who spend $250 each day for care in a nursing home. This shows how expensive it is to take up the full cost of long-term care personally. Medicaid has, therefore, provided relief to the low-income elderly who can nowadays receive the cover for most of their bills. To be eligible for Medicaid coverage, one must have assets worth no more than $14,800.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The New York state has been at the forefront of adopting and supporting the Medicaid program more than any other state. With the budget of $54 billion, New York aims at improving the care provided for the elderly in nursing homes and community through the administration of numerous managed care plans. In 2015 alone, New York required about 78,000 residents of nursing homes to choose their favorite managed care plan. Despite the state's attempts to provide high-quality home-based and nursing home care programs, several health policy analysts have come up with heated criticisms of the efficiency and costs of such programs. Among them are Toby Edelman and Stephen Kaye, who have argued that the managed care program would only consume a lot of money without any significant help. Kaye contends that there is almost no evidence that managed care would save money in long-term care. Adding on that, Kaye observes that the home care financial incentives do not guarantee the quality of services. While addressing Kaye's contempt, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' spokesperson claimed that the body has put in place new ideas that would safeguard and properly protect the beneficiaries.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Nursing Homes

According to Singh, nursing homes are fundamental requirements, especially for older adults (8). Well-established nursing homes have the following strengths. They provide detailed assistance to older adults, making their life more comfortable without exposing them to the storms of financial inadequacies. This occurs because of the massive financial support and reimbursements of the nursing homes through Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, and patient co-pays. For that reason, families can access high-quality care services at cost-effective rates enhanced by the government reimbursements. In addition to that, nursing homes provide high-quality care and support to older adults such as medical care, food service, and proper housekeeping. However, the weakness of nursing homes is that they separate older adults from their families thereby making them feel lonely and homesick. As the older adults stay away from their homes, they may become depressed because they lack the constant warmth of their loved ones and the opportunity to experience the comfort of their homes. This can be challenging to their abilities to adapt to the new home where they interact and stay with new people.

Work Cited

Singh, Douglas A. Effective Management of Long-Term Care Facilities. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC, 2014. Internet resource.