Privately run long-term care gets high scrutiny

Other news includes a report that could mean better inspections of nursing homes and a study that examines the burden many poor women face in caring for an aging parent.

The New York Times: Pitfalls Seen In A Turn to Privately Run Long-Term Care
Even as public attention is focused on the Affordable Care Act, another health care overhaul is underway in many states: an ambitious effort to restrain the ballooning Medicaid cost of long-term care as people live longer and survive more disabling conditions (Bernstein, 3/6).

Kaiser Health News: IG Report Findings Could Strengthen Nursing Home Inspections
Federal efforts to strengthen inspections of the nation's nursing homes are gaining momentum after a government probe uncovered instances of substandard care. The March 3 report by the HHS Inspector General found that an estimated one-third of residents suffered harm because of substandard care and that the chances of nursing home inspectors discovering these 'adverse events' are 'slim to none,' said Ruth Ann Dorrill, a deputy regional director for the inspector general and the manager of the investigation (Jaffe, 3/7).

Reuters: Financial 'Vicious Cycle' Traps Poor Women Caregivers
Caring for aging parents can be a burden for anyone, but poor women are more likely to need to take it on and to enter a financial downward spiral as a result, a recent study suggests. Women with better financial resources can afford paid health care for an aging parent, which allows those women to remain in the workforce, the authors found (Jegtvig, 3/6).