In a recent commentary published by the Brookings Institution, Gopi Shah Goda, PhD, and her colleague, Courtney Van Houtven, PhD, a professor in the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences, discuss the urgent need to expand in-home care coverage under Medicare.
Their article, "Expanding In-Home Care Coverage is a Necessary Evolution of Medicare," highlights the growing financial risks that older Americans face due to long-term care needs and the burden placed on family members and other caregivers who often provide this assistance without compensation.
In the article, Van Houtven and Goda evaluate a $40 billion, or 4%, Medicare increase that could potentially provide access to an estimated 15 million beneficiaries. This expansion could help care recipients manage long-term care risks and alleviate the economic and emotional strain on their families.
The authors discuss recent policy proposals that advocate for extending in-home assistance with basic tasks such as eating, bathing, and dressing to all Medicare beneficiaries with established care needs. Such initiatives could significantly improve the quality of life for older adults and their caregivers while also enhancing the economy's productive capacity by providing more flexibility to would-be unpaid caregivers.
Van Houtven and Goda's research underscores the importance of addressing the unmet care needs of older Americans and the potential benefits of a more inclusive Medicare program. Their commentary is a call to action for policymakers to consider the long-term advantages of expanding in-home care coverage.
To read the full article, please visit the Brookings Institute's website here.