The organization representing some long term care providers and communities looked at the state of aging in America. It found that many older adults are financially stretched, while at the same time in need of care — which they can’t afford.
Leading Age represents more than 5,000 aging services providers and organizations across the U.S., including Arizona. They compiled data from groups including AARP, plus government agencies as well as health journals. The takeaway? Americans are living longer, outliving their savings and are in need of care, which there’s a shortage of.
Lisa Sanders is with Leading Age. Here she’s talks about America’s view on aging and long-term care.
"It’s a chronically underfunded area, it's, you know, people tend not to want to think about what they're going to do when they age, or how they're going to live when they age." she said. "It's one of those things where families are suddenly — the crisis hits — and the family becomes [like,] 'oh my gosh, we need help.'"
And that, she says, is when they realize Medicare does not pay for home and community-based services or long-term care, like assisted living.
