Long-Term Letdown

Campus Report ^ | July 29, 2008 | Emily Miller

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Long-Term Letdown

by: Emily Miller, July 29, 2008

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jim McCrery (R-Lou.) met earlier this month to advocate reforming long-term healthcare, an aspect of the healthcare debate both congressmen worry is being overlooked this campaign season.

“This program is about making sure that long-term care is not the after-thought, not the forgotten step-child in the debate,” said Sen. Wyden at the Brookings Institution event.

Both Congressmen expressed concern about the shortage of primary caregivers in the workplace, a problem likely to worsen over the next decade, according to former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.). Kerrey, speaking at the panel discussion, cited statistics that indicated the population of caregivers (usually ages 25-40 years old) will not expand as rapidly as the age group of people who need care (85 and older), resulting in a severe shortage of registered nurses, licensed nurses and others who deliver care professionally.

“I do think in that one area, we are looking at a real short-term problem of considerable magnitude that does not appear to be getting smaller,” said Kerrey. “It appears to be getting larger.”

Inadequate numbers of caregivers in the workforce has proven to be a challenge in Massachusetts, which implemented major healthcare reform measures in 2006. Calling Massachusetts a “mirror of some of the challenges for our country,” Sen. Wyden believes this to be indicative an obstacle the entire nation will face in the near future.

To address this particular concern, Sen. Wyden proposed “re-configur[ing] some of the job training programs that are now funded by the federal government to put a sharper, new focus in the healthcare field, both in terms of long-term care and primary care: the challenge that you see in Massachusetts.”...

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Both Congressmen expressed concern about the shortage of primary caregivers in the workplace, a problem likely to worsen over the next decade,

All caused by the government taking health care out of the free market dynamic starting in 1954.
And more government laws and regulations will not do snot, except make everything worse yet.