Introduction to State Health Policy:
A Seminar for New State Legislators

Session 14:
Cost, Quality, and Access: Providing Long-Term Care Services to an Increasingly Elderly and Chronically Ill Population

Note: Session 14 was originally scheduled as an earlier agenda item for the onsite conference, but had to be cancelled. It was then recorded post-conference, and has been made available here as an archived session.
Presenter:	Christine G. Williams, M.Ed. Director Office of Communications and Knowledge Transfer Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Rockville, MD
Content:	As more baby boomers retire and the cost of long-term care (LTC) services continues to escalate, State policymakers are exploring methods for controlling costs while still meeting constituent demands for quality and access to services. Although most States spend a significantly greater share of their LTC dollars on nursing homes, most are working to improve the balance toward home- and community-based alternatives and away from institutional care. This session addresses the “rebalancing” issue as well as other key policy issues in the debate over LTC, including the increasing cost of services and the difficulty of ensuring quality.
Session Archive:	Click to View Archive (REAL Player)
Session Transcript:	Text Transcript
Presentation Slides:	PowerPoint fomat (.18 mb) text format

Recommended reading:

• Mollica RL, Reinhard SC. “Rebalancing State Long Term Care Systems.” Ethics, Law and Aging Review, (in print October 2005;11).
• Donlin JM. “Long-Term Care and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision.” NCSL State Legislative Report, March 2002;12(7):1-11.
• Vladeck BC. “Where the Action Really Is: Medicaid and the Disabled.” Health Affairs, January/February 2003;22(1):90-100.
• Fox-Grage W, Folkemer D, Coleman B. “Budgeting for Long-Term Care: Spending Limited Dollars More Wisely. NCSL State Legislative Report. July 2003;28(9):1-16.