The Tennessean, Tuesday September 28, 1993
Local News

[Title] Health-care plan too little, groups agree

By-TAMMIE SMITH, Staff Writer

Two health-care groups at odds over home-based care agree on one thing: President Clinton's plan for health-care reform doesn't go far enough in addressing long-term care needs.

The 239-page draft copy of Clinton’s plan devotes 15 pages to long-term care, principally calling for creation of a new long-term care program under the Social Security Act. The new program would concentrate on:
- Expanding home- and community-based services.
- Improving Medicaid coverage for institutional care.
- Improving the quality and reliability of private long-term care
insurance and creating tax incentives to encourage people to buy it.
- Creating tax incentives that help individuals with disabilities to
work.
- Piloting a study intended to pave the way toward greater integrjation of acute and long-term care.

The American Health Care Association, an organization representing 11,000 nursing homes, thinks the plan is a first step but falls short of comprehensive reform. The association, which has drawn 4,000 people to its annual convention this week at Opryland Hotel, maintains Medicaid has been “masquerading as a long-term care system for far too long."

Under the President’s plan, Medicaid would still be the main resource for taking care of the poor, but people would be encouraged to take out private insurance to pay for long-term care should they need it.

Clinton’s proposals don't go far enough, said association representatives and members of ADAPT, a group representing disabled people, which has its own beef with the American Health Care Association.

“He hasn’t really tackled the whole issue," said Linda Keegan, spokeswoman for the American Health Care Association.

“He has taken two small areas — home health services and long-term insurance — and builds in proposals to deal with those issues. He doesn’t address respite care, adult day care, nursing home care, residential care, hospice care or subacute care."

The association maintains a comprehensive plan would incorporate all these types of care. ADAPT, which is short for American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, agrees with the health care association that Clinton's plan fall shorts.

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