States Join HHS Campaign for LTC Planning

Abstract

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced a partnership with six states in a campaign to build awareness about the importance of planning for long-term care. The “Own Your Future” campaign will operate in Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Texas. The six these states are joining others where pilot programs have operated, including Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington. Governors of the participating states will send letters to all households with residents between the ages of 45 and 65 to offer them a free long-term care planning kit. The kit includes information about Medicare and Medicaid, and about ways to plan and to assess long-term care insurance options. Nearly one-third of the kit is devoted to information on long-term care insurance, although other financing vehicles such as trusts, annuities, and reverse mortgages are briefly mentioned. The kit also addresses legal documents such as living wills and durable powers of attorney for health care, and gives details on what long-term care resources the community has to offer. The program is an effort of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Administration on Aging (AOA), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The educational campaign also has been undertaken in partnership with the National Governors Association. “Increased planning for long-term care is likely to increase people's ability to remain at home with better use of their own resources, and may also reduce pressures on public programs,” according to Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell. CMS will contribute $3 million to fund the National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information, which supports expansion of the awareness campaign in additional states. It also has developed a Web site (www.ltcaware.info) to increase access to long-term care information.