Capitol Weekly: Opinion: California Should Take the Lead in Reducing Long-term Care Costs

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By David Kieffer

For those of us who work in long-term care, California’s budget crisis can be viewed in two ways – as yet another devastating blow to the seniors and people with disabilities we care for – or as an opportunity to get things right. Which of these views turns out to be accurate will depend on the choices we make.

Formulaic cuts to hours or types of services are not the right approach. The necessary search for savings has the potential to help California develop a more forward-looking approach to long-term care, but only if we go about it strategically. We need to use the federal funds available to us and expand the savings we have already achieved by taking more aggressive measures to care for more people at home instead of in more expensive institutions.
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