Long-Term Care for Growing Senior Population Putting Major Financial Strain on Medicaid Programs

This N&O article takes a closer look at the financial challenges presented by the swelling ranks of senior citizens and the rising costs of long-term care. This issue is a key issue that states need to evaluate as it puts significant pressure on Medicaid costs.

State Medicaid directors know all too well about the enormous challenges they’ll face as 75.4 million boomers – now ages 52 to 70 – grow old.

“The impact is going to be huge,” said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. “While the face of Medicaid is pregnant women, kids and low-income working families, that’s not where most of the money is going.”

Nearly two-thirds of all Medicaid spending on services is for seniors and people with disabilities, who together make up only a quarter of those enrolled in Medicaid.

I wrote in 2012 about this issue, and how long-term care was already costing the state’s Medicaid program more than $1 billion by 2008, and was rising fast. A couple options state legislators could consider to stem NC’s rising long-term care Medicaid costs include tightening up asset exemptions in the eligibility rules and to incentivize people to purchase long-term care insurance as an option to relying on Medicaid.

The growing senior population requiring a growing share of Medicaid dollars is another issue to consider for advocates wanting to expand Medicaid in NC. How will all this be paid for?

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