Description: Family caregivers are a critical link in providing long-term services and supports (LTSS), but they have significant unmet needs. To better support family caregivers, Congress authorized the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, & Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act in 2018 and created the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council. The Council identified recommendations to serve as the backbone of a national strategy to improve the physical, emotional and financial well-being of family caregivers. A new report, "Asking Directions: Mapping a Course to Support Family Caregivers," identifies specific actions across a variety of players for meeting the Council’s recommendations. It summarizes insights from a year’s worth of strategy sessions and interviews with representatives of over 100 organizations. The report brings together thoughts on best practices and the most critical action steps from national and state organizations, county health providers, the direct care workforce, large and small employers, aging and disability organizations, faith-based groups, respite care providers and more. This article summarizes the research methods and key findings of the report and the work conducted by the Leading Age LTSS Center @UMass Boston and Community Catalyst’s Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation.

Description: This session will discuss the implications of a proposed federal catastrophic long-term care program, the WISH Act. The session will focus on the benefit to consumers, the financial soundness of the proposed program and the regulatory steps necessary to achieve the desired public/private insurance program goals. The session may also consider state based reform proposals.

Description: Article on the history of the Long Term Care Discussion Group, a Washington DC-based venue for discussing long-term care and related issues for over 20 years.

Description: The National Academy of Social Insurance (the Academy) recently released a comprehensive study on models for states interested in pursuing social insurance initiatives for LTSS, paid leave and child care reform. The report explores strategies that states could pursue to better support families in meeting evolving care needs over the lifespan. Actuarial projections for illustrative policy options are included. The presenters will report back the Academy study panel's findings, provide in-depth insights into Washington State's new long-term care social insurance program, and briefly report on other state activity in the LTSS and paid leave domains.

Description: We explore copay accumulators, copay maximizers, and various programs available in the commercial market. We discuss health plan, member, PBM, and pharmaceutical manufacturer implications, in the commercial market itself and other markets.

Description: As the topic of affordable long-term care (LTC) insurance comes into focus in political conversations, we often find ourselves thinking, “What is going to happen to the private LTC insurance industry going forward?” The need for LTC in the United States is not going away, especially as the population continues to age. With this in mind, this article explores three possible future paths for LTC insurance funding and the associated implications for the private LTC industry.