What's Wrong With Indiana's LTC System?

None of us want to be in a position where we need long term care. But many of us will—at some point in our lives. And a high percentage of us who do need long term care will need state assistance, mostly through Medicaid, in paying for our care. That’s because Medicare doesn’t pay for long term care, and few have long term care insurance that will really meet our needs. As long as we have enough money to pay for our own care, we have choices. We can get home care from a licensed home care agency; we can hire private caregivers; we can move into an assisted living facility. But when our savings are gone, we have to turn to the State for assistance – and, in Indiana, we aren’t offered choices. We are told that there is a two year waiting list for home care, and other options are generally not available at all. Except for nursing home care: that will be readily available. So we are forced into nursing homes in large numbers just to get the care we need.

It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way

Indiana spends over a billion dollars a year for long term care, and more than 80% of that goes to nursing homes. Indiana spends only about 15% of that on home care, and a negligible amount on other options. On the other hand, Oregon spends nearly 60% of its long term care dollars on home and community care, and just over 40% on nursing homes. Other states are also doing much better than Indiana in providing its elderly and disabled citizens a full range of long term care options. When people have choices, the majority do not want or need nursing homes.