(As explained on the podcast home page, this is the sixth of eight interviews concerning federal healthcare policy reform. This discussion is with Georgetown University Professor Judy Feder and was conducted in late November. As you will hear this podcast like all other eight is introduced by ProMedica's CEO, Randy Oostra. This series was produced in an effort to interest or persuade federal healthcare officials to pursue substantive healthcare policy reform.)
Unlike other rich countries, the US has no non-catastrophic long-term care (LTC) policy despite the following: the country is rapidly aging, by 2030 one in five Americans will be 65 or older; and, two-thirds of those 65 or older need or will need some form of LTC for an average of three years, 12% for five or more years. While typically associated with aging, approximately 40% of those in LTC are under 65. Among other realities: LTC is unaffordable to many since monthly nursing home fees can cost upwards of $10,000 per month; care quality on balance is poor as demonstrated by the COVID pandemic; beyond the long-standing problem of anti-psychotic misuse, a recent GAO study found 82% of nursing homes were cited for having infection prevention and control deficiencies; less than 10% of the middle income population age 45 or older own a commercial LTC insurance policy, in part, because insurers have substantially increased premiums over the past two decades; and, family care givers, or 30% of the adult population, moreover women, suffer related emotional, financial and physical hardship.
During this 30 minute interview, Profess Feder discusses moreover recent efforts by the Congress to fashion a LTC policy in context of a 2018 proposal authored by Professor Feder and her colleagues, explains her more recent 2020 proposal outlined in the Journal of Aging and Social Policy and evaluates the Biden campaign policies to improve long term care.
Judy Feder is a Professor of Public Policy at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. From 1999 to 2008 she served as it Dean. Professor began her health policy research career at the Brookings Institution, continued at the Urban Institute and since 1984 has been at Georgetown. In the late 1980s, she served as Staff Director of the Congressional Pepper Commission (chaired by Sen. John D. Rockefeller); from 1989-90 she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services in former President Bill Clinton’s first term administration; as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (2008-2011); and, today, as an Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute. Judy is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Public Administration, and the National Academy of Social Insurance; a former chair and board member of AcademyHealth; a former board member of the National Academy of Social Insurance; a member of the Center for American Progress Action Fund Board and as a member of the Hamilton Project’s Advisory Council. In 2006 and 2008, Judy was the Democratic nominee for Congress in Virginia’s 10th congressional district. Professor Feder received her BA from Brandeis and her a MA and PhD from Harvard.
The 2018 LTC policy proposal noted, titled, "A New Public-Private Partnership: Catastrophic Public and Front-End Private LTC Insurance" is at: https://www.umb.edu/mccormack.umb.edu/uploads/gerontology/Public_Catastrophic_Insurance_Paper_for_Bipartisan_Policy_Center_1-25-2018.pdf.
The 2020 LTC policy proposal noted, titled, "COVID-19 and the Future of Long-Term Care: The Urgency of Enhanced Federal Financing," is at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08959420.2020.1771238.
To read a transcript of this interview or to post a comment or question, please go to: https://commissiononhealthcare.org/.
230th Interview: Professor Judy Feder Discusses Long Term Care Policy Reform (March 21st)