October 11, 2022

Paper Analyzes Government Policy’s Role in Creating LTC Problems

Stephen Moses and Kathleen Steele Gaivin

Stephen Moses

Visiting Fellow

Stephen Moses is president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform. The Center promotes universal access to top-quality long-term care by encouraging private financing as an alternative to Medicaid dependency for most Americans. Previously, Mr. Moses was president of the Center for Long- Term Care Financing (1998-2005), Director of Research for LTC, Inc., (1989-98), a senior analyst for the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1987-89), a Medicaid state representative for the Health Care Financing Administration (1978-87), a HHS Departmental Management Intern (1975-78), and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Venezuela (1968-1970). He is widely recognized as an expert and innovator in the field of long-term care.

Kathleen Steele Gaivin

The Medicaid program is largely responsible for problems in long-term care, according to a paper recently published by the Paragon Institute.

“Medicaid is the primary reason aging Americans have had few other choices [than nursing homes] for decades,” Stephen Moses, president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform, wrote in Long-Term Care: The Problem.

Calling Medicaid “a welfare program,” Moses contends that the program “incentivizes states to maximize federal Medicaid dollars without ensuring cost efficiency, value, or quality.”

Because the federal government reimburses about two-thirds of state Medicaid spending, Moses asserts that it has become the dominant long-term care funding source for the poor and middle class. “Medicaid serves neither population well,” he wrote.

The full article can be found in McKnight’s Senior Living.

Medicaid, Private Health

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Long-Term Care (LTC)