You don’t often hear about cars at a health policy briefing, but that’s just what Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Don Berwick talked about to begin a conversation on Medicare and long-term care (LTC) hosted by the Kaiser Family Foundation that I spoke at this morning. He made the analogy that health care systems, like cars, are designed to reach a top speed (or in the case of health care systems, maximum quality). Nothing a driver or doctor can change it. Whether you’re talking about Mustangs or Medicare, the system must be changed to reach top speed.
So, what needs to be changed in Medicare relating to long-term care? The answer can be found in two studies conducted by Kaiser and Lake Research Partners. The first study, a quantitative analysis of Medicare beneficiaries living in long-term care facilities, found that these individuals account for a disproportionate share of Medicare spending compared to individuals living at home.
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