On February 22, 2024, Paragon President Brian Blase and Visiting Fellow Stephen Moses were referenced in The Seattle Times article titled “WA Cares is not the solution for the state’s graying population.”
From the article:
It makes no sense to create a safety net for people not in need of taxpayer help. Medicaid already provides a safety net for people who do. Lawmakers need to reform Medicaid to keep that net strong and end abuse of taxpayer generosity. Medicaid is not LTC insurance and should stop being used as such — especially when research finds that many older people can afford long-term care with their life savings and assets if required to.
Stephen Moses, president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform, agrees that access to quality long-term care for all could, and should, be accomplished by encouraging private financing instead of Medicaid funding for most Americans. In a recent article, he noted that Americans spent $530 billion on LTC in 2021. A small amount of that — just 12% — was made up of out-of-pocket expenditures or people using their income or savings.
While most people don’t consume their life savings paying for long-term care, despite what Washington state’s marketing campaign for WA Cares suggests, a lot of people do take advantage of Medicaid’s resources. They let other taxpayers pick up the tab for their long-term care.
