We have to keep our promises to our parents.
The 65-and-over population is currently the fastest-growing age group in the state. Between 2000 and 2030, the 65-and-over population will roughly double from 12% to 24% of the total state population. And two thirds of them will need some kind of long-term care.
The group most likely to need long-term care — Minnesotans 85-and-over — will nearly triple statewide, from 90,000 in 2000 to 250,000 in 2050.
This trend will impact not only seniors themselves, but those who care for them. More than ninety percent of long-term care in Minnesota is provided informally, usually by spouses or adult children – and their average out-of-pocket cost is roughly $5,500 per year, more than most families spend on health care.
1. An Iron-Clad Commitment To Social Security
- Franken will oppose any effort to privatize Social Security, period.
2. Tax Credits For Caregivers
- Franken will create a $2,000 Caregiver Credit for any individual with substantial long-term care needs or to his or her caregivers. This amount covers more than a third of the average costs to caregivers. The credit will not require families to engage in any complicated accounting of their out-of-pocket costs. It will be phased out for families earning more than $150,000. This new credit would help more than 100,000 Minnesota residents and families.
- Franken will create a $1,200-per-employee Family Flexibility Credit for businesses providing family-friendly benefits, such as child care assistance or the opportunity to telecommute. The credit could also be applied to offset expenses incurred by company policies that help families address the long-term care needs of aging loved ones.
3. Help Seniors Afford The Medications Their Doctors Prescribe
- Franken will repeal the law preventing Medicare from negotiating drug costs with drug makers and empower the government to use its size to get a better deal for seniors, with safeguards to preserve access. He will give Medicare beneficiaries the choice to pick a public plan for their prescription drugs.
- Franken would support the safe reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada, which could save consumers $50 billion over 10 years. As a border state, Minnesota could see significant economic benefits as well.
4. Expand The National Health Service Corps
Last year, there were 4,500 applications from students willing to serve as medical professionals in exchange for loan forgiveness. But there were only 600 placement positions available. Fifty-seven Minnesota counties have health professional shortages – and we need to put more funding into this program to match more willing applicants with needy communities.
- Franken will increase funding for NHSC to expand upon the 600 facilities currently funded so that more can hire the necessary health care professionals who serve as primary care providers for many Minnesotans.
5. More Options For Long Term Care
Minnesota seniors deserve to live where they are most comfortable. Often, this means finding ways for them to stay in their own homes and in the communities where they have lived for years. Under current law, Medicare mostly reimburses treatment provided in nursing homes and other facilities. But studies show that, in addition to being less comfortable for seniors, this reliance upon institutional care is more expensive and less efficient than home care. In addition, rural Minnesotans often have trouble finding institutional care in their communities, and those institutions in place struggle to meet demand and maintain financial viability.
- Franken will require reimbursement for long term care in any location that a patient’s physician determines to be most effective. This would include adult care, senior housing, assisted living, nursing home care, continuing-care retirement communities, and home care.
