Long-term problem: New York state must grapple seriously with the rising cost of elderly care now

A primary driver of the $6 billion deficit in the state’s budget is skyrocketing costs for Medicaid managed long-term care patients, elderly people who need help with the tasks of daily life, like dressing, washing, getting around and cooking for themselves.

Given New York’s history, there’s good reason to suspect a lack of oversight is letting waste and fraud run rampant. But the overages are also likely a symptom of a major unresolved national question: how to pay for the gnawing, growing needs of America’s swelling senior citizen population.

In case you didn’t get the news alert, America is aging. The 65-and-older population is expected to double to 84 million, or 21% of the population, by 2050. Conservative estimates suggest more than half of them will need some long-term care services, which average $100,000 when provided in nursing homes, $45,000 in assisted living facilities and $33,000 in the home.

Even those who’ve managed to save for retirement struggle with such pricetags.

Neither private insurance nor Medicare currently cover the vast majority of long-term care services. Some private long-term care plans exist, but they’re often prohibitively expensive. Only Medicaid, intended for the poorest people, currently guarantees coverage for long-term care, which is one reason why there’s a cottage industry helping seniors hide assets so they qualify.

That’s perverse. It’s unwise. It’s unsustainable. What’s necessary is a federal fix that carves some long term care benefits into Medicare, incentivizes employers to offer retirement insurance, or both.

Would it be too much to ask our septuagenarian president, or one of our many presidential candidates, to lead the way?

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