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AAHSA President Discusses Long-Term Care Solution at SCAN Foundation/Health Affairs Conference

Posted on: Thursday, 7 May 2009, 11:20 CDT

WASHINGTON, May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Larry Minnix, president and CEO of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), discussed the organization's Long-Term Care Solution, a plan to finance insurance for long-term services and supports, during the Long-Term Care in America: The Agenda for Health Reform conference hosted by the SCAN Foundation and the journal Health Affairs.

Expanding access to the uninsured and restraining the rate of health cost growth are critical objectives of health reform. But given the disability and long-term care challenges facing the nation, these, too, must be a focus for national action.

"Health care reform without an insurance-based solution for long-term services and supports will fail to solve our health care crisis," Minnix said. "We must devise a system that promotes choice, promotes personal responsibility and is fair and available to everyone."

The structure of our current system makes caring for seniors and disabled adults fragmented, expensive and difficult. AAHSA's Long-Term Care Solution would establish a national insurance trust with premiums that provide cash benefits to pay for long-term services and supports. This system would allow baby boomers to pre-fund their long-term care needs, alleviate state budget burdens, and most importantly, provide individuals with the services they need, in a place they call home.

The conference also featured discussions from Jen Schuck, assistant administrator at Atlanta's Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital, and Nancy King from Senior Independence, a home and community-based services division of Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services, about innovative models for providing care and services at home.

For more information on AAHSA's Long-Term Care Solution, visit http://www.thelongtermcaresolution.org

About AAHSA

The members of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (www.aahsa.org) help millions of individuals and their families every day through mission-driven, not-for-profit organizations dedicated to providing the services that people need, when they need them, in the place they call home. Our 5,700 member organizations, many of which have served their communities for generations, offer the continuum of aging services: adult day services, home health, community services, senior housing, assisted living residences, continuing care retirement communities and nursing homes. AAHSA's commitment is to create the future of aging services through quality people can trust.

SOURCE American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging

Source: PR Newswire

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