IV
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 412
Promoting a national dialog on long-term care financing reform.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 27, 2000
Mr. POMEROY (for himself, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. FOLEY, Mr.
PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr.
MANZULLO, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. KUYKENDALL, Mr. ENGLISH, Ms.
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.
SKELTON, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. FROST, Mr. RAMSTAD, and
Mr. BASS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees
on Ways and Means, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Promoting a national dialog on long-term care financing
reform.
Whereas as the baby boom generation begins to retire, fund-
ing Social Security and medicare will put a strain on the
financial resources of younger Americans;
Whereas medicaid was designed as a program for the poor,
but in many States medicaid is being used to fund long-
term care expenses for middle-income older Americans;
•HCON 412 IH
Whereas in the coming decade, people over age 65 will rep-
resent 20 percent or more of the population, and the pro-
portion of the population composed of individuals over
age 85, who are most likely to be in need of long-term
care, may double or triple;
Whereas there are as many as 4 million people with disabil-
ities or chronic illnesses, regardless of age, who need
long-term care services and support in order to survive;
Whereas with nursing home care now costing an average of
$40,000 to $50,000 per year, long-term care expenses
can have a catastrophic effect on families, wiping out a
lifetime of savings before a spouse, parent, or grand-
parent becomes eligible for medicaid;
Whereas costs for intermediate care facilities for people with
mental retardation and other developmental disabilities
average nearly $80,000 per year;
Whereas younger people with disabilities face the same long-
term care cost issues as the elderly, yet they face certain
additional long-term care problems because they are often
younger and at a different stage of life, often trying to
raise a family or earn a living while needing long-term
support;
Whereas many people are unaware that most long-term care
costs are not covered by medicare and that medicaid cov-
ers long-term care only after personal assets have been
exhausted;
Whereas assistance for people with disabilities does not come
from any one comprehensive program, but from many
different programs, including medicaid, Social Security,
and housing programs that contribute to helping people
with disabilities lead independent lives;
•HCON 412 IH
Whereas widespread use of private long-term care insurance
has the potential to protect many families from the cata-
strophic costs of long-term care services, while at the
same time easing the burden on medicaid and freeing up
additional resources for people who have been unable to
obtain private insurance because of disability or some
other limiting factor;
Whereas the Federal Government has endorsed the concept
of private long-term care insurance by establishing Fed-
eral tax rules for tax-qualified policies in the Health In-
surance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; and
Whereas the Federal Government has ensured the availability
of quality long-term care insurance products and sales
practices by adopting strict consumer protections in the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the Federal Government should—
(A) take all appropriate steps to inform
the public about the financial risks posed by
rapidly increasing long-term care costs and
about the need for families to plan for their
long-term care needs;
(B) take all appropriate steps to inform
the public that medicare does not cover most
long-term care costs and that medicaid covers
•HCON 412 IH
long-term care costs only when the beneficiary’s
personal assets are exhausted;
(C) take all appropriate steps to better in-
tegrate programs for people with disabilities
who need long-term care, including the contin-
ued development of home- and community-
based services;
(D) not only encourage employers to offer
private long-term care insurance coverage to
employees, but also encourage both working-
aged people and older citizens to obtain long-
term care insurance either through their em-
ployers or on their own; and
(E) continue to support and encourage re-
search into alleviating disabilities and chronic
diseases that necessitate long-term care services
and support;
(2) appropriate committees of Congress, to-
gether with the Department of Health and Human
Services and other appropriate executive branch
agencies, should develop specific ideas for encour-
aging Americans to plan for their own long-term
care needs and better integrate long-term care pro-
grams for people with disabilities;
•HCON 412 IH
(3) the congressional tax-writing committees,
together with the Department of the Treasury,
should determine whether the tax rules for long-term
care insurance should be modified to ensure that the
rules adequately facilitate the affordability of long-
term care insurance; and
(4) the appropriate committees of Congress
should consider the long-term care needs of older
Americans, people with disabilities, and the chron-
ically ill when considering medicaid, tax, health, in-
surance, and housing policies, as well as the reform
of Social Security and medicare.
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