Government and private insurance should not only play a bigger role in paying for long-term care, but also enact policies to help older adults pay for it, according to new research.
of “Supporting the Expanding Role of Government in Health Care for the Elderly” A study by the Associated Press-NORC Center of Public Affairs found bipartisan support for many policies to help pay for long-term care and long-term care. Many of them involve expanding the role of the federal government.
Nursing care support
American adults believe private health insurance companies (60% of respondents) and the Medicare program (57%) should be responsible for paying for long-term care, according to a poll. Fifty-three percent of respondents said the same thing about the Medicaid program, while 26% said the responsibility should fall on the shoulders of the individual and 23% said the responsibility should fall on the family.
Older people in particular support policies to cover the cost of long-term care. Eighty-three percent of respondents said they supported long-term care coverage through Medicare Advantage or supplemental insurance, 78% said they supported their employer’s long-term care insurance plan, and 75% supported tax breaks to purchase long-term care insurance. , 73% said they supported government funding. 72% support tax-exempt funds that pay long-term care premiums and 69% support government-sponsored long-term care insurance programs to help low-income people receive long-term care at home.
There was also broad support for expanding Medicare into new areas such as long-term care (81%), dentistry (87%), eye exams (87%) and hearing aids (86%).
medical insurance
Overall, 66% of respondents said it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure that all Americans have health insurance. Interestingly, 73% of respondents aged 18 to her 49 agreed with this statement, while 58% of respondents aged 50 and over agreed. The survey found that 47% of older respondents are more supportive of government policies to address health care costs, while 38% of younger adults are more supportive of universal health care. .
Most respondents (62%) say they believe paying more in taxes to keep health care costs down is worth the trade-off.
A majority of respondents said they supported changes to America’s healthcare system with increased government involvement. More than half (58%) support the public option of purchasing health insurance through the government. More than two-thirds (68%) said they supported requiring government and private insurance plans to cover telemedicine, and 80% said federal and private insurers would reduce prescription drug prices. He said he would support allowing negotiations on
At the same time, public satisfaction with health care overall and the condition of the elderly is low, with only 12% of respondents agreeing that health care overall is handled “very” or “extremely” well in the United States. did. Even fewer agreed that health care for older adults (11%), community support and resources for older adults (11%) and quality of care in nursing homes (6%) were handled well. was.
COVID-19 (new coronavirus infectious disease)
A majority of adults expressed support for government investment in COVID-19 care, including treatment (69%), vaccines and boosters (67%), and testing (64%), although many said he was concerned about the country’s ability to stand up to other countries. Pandemic. Only 13% of respondents said they believed their country was very or very well prepared to deal with future public health emergencies.
The AP-NORC Center study was funded by the SCAN Foundation and included 1,505 interviews with adults between July 28th and August 1st.
