By CQ Staff
November 7, 2006 -- Making long-term care financing a priority, investing in the long-term care workforce, and modernizing regulatory controls and incentives are all steps to improving the nation's long-term care system, according to an analysis two Brown University professors have submitted to a commission studying the industry.
The document, submitted earlier this month to the National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care, predicts the nation's long-term care system will collapse under the "massive weight of the baby boom generation" and action must be taken now to prepare for that onslaught. "If we do not begin the process of change now for this increased demand for services, it is not clear how we will manage," one of the study's authors, Vincent Mor, said in a news release.
Former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb. (1989–2001), and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. (1979–99), chair the commission, whose mission includes recommending national goals and objectives for long-term care quality improvement and reporting on long-term care quality indicators and measures.
The report that Mor and his co-author, Edward Alan Miller, have compiled is an examination of the literature, statistical analysis of data and testimony provided to the commission, as well as interviews with commissioners, academics, government officials, and industry experts.