News From Across the Pond
By jana on Jan 10, 2008 in Long Term Care
If you were under the impression that the long-term care crisis that is set to hit as Baby Boomers retire is solely in the United States, you are sorely mistaken. A recent article in BBC News titled Elderly Care Funding Reform Plea discusses the issues in the UK and what is being done about it.
Because government and private funding is so low for long term care there, the quality of the care is being tagged as “unacceptably low.” They write that the number of people needing long term care is projected to increase by 50% in less than 20 years. Just like in the States, there are limitations to state funded care that seem too restrictive and are biased against people who have planned for retirement. According to the BBC, people with assets totaling more than £12,000 are ineligible for state care which is causing “many elderly people…to sell their homes to pay for their care.” That seems like it would create even more of a crisis for the elderly who now have no place to live and not enough funds in the system for adequate care.
The article cites Ivan Lewis, the Social Care minister in the UK, as calling the long term care crisis a “top priority” and that they’ll be looking at the issue this year.
So is long term care really a global issue as the number of elderly increase everywhere? Interesting to think about. Also, there has got to be something we can take away from other nations’ health care to make sure we don’t make their mistakes but are able to learn from their successes.
Related Posts
Post-Plugin Library missing
The Financial Adviser is reporting only 4 percent of over-50s would consider contacting a financial adviser for help on funding their ...
Last week’s $1 billion purchase of Odyssey Healthcare (ODSY) by Gentiva Health Services (GTIV) is going to shake up several ...
Marie Hulbert, now 78, made her first monthly payment of $98.62 on her long-term care policy in November 1989. The ...
How to Handle Differences of Opinion in Long Term Care