Political Quotes

“Roughly 70 percent of us at some point are going to have difficulty taking care of ourselves independently, and we're going to need some sort of long-term care or support. So as the population ages, of course the need for these services only increases. I've been listening to this debate. On the substance, or at least as we identify the problem, there is an enormous amount of agreement. We all know that the costs associated with long-term care are very high, that nursing homes can cost over $70,000 a year, and that just 20 hours a week of home care costs nearly $20,000 a year. For working families, there are few practical options in order to plan and pay for long-term care and support services. Only about 3 percent have a private policy covering long-term care while the majority is forced to spend its way into poverty to qualify for the Medicare safety net coverage of those costs. We know this. We all agree on this. What the CLASS Act did was to address a number of critical needs, including providing a way for persons with disabilities to remain independent and in their communities by bringing private dollars into the long-term care services system in order to reduce the reliance on Medicaid without impoverishing individuals and their families. Mr.…”