Hawaiian Voters Concerned About Long-Term Care Services, AARP Report Says

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 19 Mar 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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Fifty-seven percent of Hawaiian voters believe the state's health and long-term care services are experiencing a crisis or major problems, according to a report released Friday by AARP Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reports. For the survey, led by Joanne Binette and Erica Dinger of AARP Knowledge Management, 1,043 registered voters were surveyed about access to care, costs and insurance coverage.

The survey found:

• 56% of voters say access and cost of care are their primary concerns for the next five years;
  
  
• 51% had difficulty paying out-of-pocket health care costs in the past five years;
  
  
• More than one-third of voters traveled to receive care that was unavailable in their communities;
  
  
• About six in 10 voters cannot afford one year of long-term care;
  
  
• About 73% are concerned about their ability to get long-term care in a setting of their choice;
  
  
• About 78% support increasing funds for long-term care services to help people stay in their homes or communities; and
  
  
• About six in 10 said they would contribute small monthly premiums to receive quality long-term care services.
  

According to the report, the number of state residents ages 65 and older is expected to increase by 86% between 2008 and 2030. The report also noted that long-term care costs about $16,000 annually for two hours of daily in-home care, compared with about $107,000 annually for nursing home care. The report stated, "Hawaii is unique in that health care issues are exacerbated by geographical limitations inherent in having multiple islands with varying levels of providers and services." Stuart Ho, AARP Hawaii state president, said, "Given our isolation and our unique problems over here, Hawaii is going to be a very interesting laboratory for whether any state can solve the problems of their elderly."

AARP Hawaii is urging state lawmakers to approve legislation (SB 3255) that would provide $250,000 to create a commission to determine what resources are needed to meet long-term care public policy goals and to recommend a program and means of funding (Altonn, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 3/14).

The report is available online.

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.