Candidates on Long-term Care

We believe Americans should have choices when it comes to long-term care - allowing them to maintain their independence at home or in their communities with expanded and affordable financing options.

The bolded candidate is listed first, then the statement we identified for the candidate. In some cases, we may not have identified a statement for the Divided We Fail principle listed above.

Republicans

Rudy Giuliani

Divided We Fail has done extensive research of the candidate's website, speeches and campaign literature without finding any statements on this particular issue by Rudy Giuliani.

Mike Huckabee

"Both for the quality of life of the individual and maintaining people's dignity, as well as for the cost containment, we need to do whatever we can to keep people in their own homes…for as long as possible.

"We did a [pilot] program in Arkansas…called 'Independent Choices.' The way it worked…we allowed family members to provide [care] and we compensated the family members…Compensating family members and actually giving them the same kind of financial remuneration that we would have a private contractor brought about two things: the individual got to stay in their home a lot longer, and the care was provided by someone they knew, loved and trusted. So they were much more satisfied…
(Divided We Fail New Hampshire event, October 17, 2007)

John McCain

"I think we all recognize that long-term care is one of the most expensive parts of the health care equation. We are going to have to provide opportunity and access to long-term care policies that people can both afford and give them the dignity that they deserve. Some of that may have to do with tax credits that will be extended for those who need it. I think it is of interest that in my state of Arizona, due to our kind of access program, we have fewer people that are in long-term care facilities than in other states, because there are incentives for people who practice wellness, fitness and have home care provided by health care providers." (AARP-NH event with Senator McCain, October 13, 2007)

Ron Paul

"The Comprehensive Health Care Reform Act puts individuals back in charge of their own health care by providing Americans with large tax credits and tax deductions for their health care expenses, including a deduction for premiums for a high-deductible insurance policy purchased in combination with a Health Savings Account. Putting individuals back in charge of their own health care decisions will enable patients to work with providers to ensure they receive the best possible health care at the lowest possible price."
("Introducing the Quality Health Care Coalition Act," Speech to Congress, August 2, 2007)

Mitt Romney

"I also believe that when we have caregivers going into homes, we did something we called 'Senior Options' in my state. That was this: we said, look, if you're qualified to go to a nursing home, we as a state are willing to pay with Medicaid dollars to have you go to the nursing home, but we're going to give you an option; you can stay home instead. And have home care. And so seniors had the option, because they are healthier if they stay home."
(Divided We Fail forum, Iowa state fair, August 11, 2007)

Democrats

Hillary Clinton

"My mother lives with us as well. And we see it every single day. I was pleased to pass a life span respite act that will begin to provide more support for people who do provide this caregiving. If we were to see our caregivers stop tomorrow and say they could no longer bear the financial, emotional cost of caregiving, that would be a $300 billion cost to replace what is done out of love and out of family and other relationships. So I think it's important that when we have universal healthcare, we know that people will have health care, but we also need to do more for respite care [and] long-term care tax credits..."
(The Democrats on Health Care and Financial Security, AARP-Iowa Public Television forum, Davenport, Iowa, September 20, 2007)

Barack Obama

The long-term care system is heavily biased towards institutional care-even though most would rather remain at home-and the quality of care is often poor. Long-term care is very expensive, and Medicare coverage is limited, making catastrophic expenses routine.

Barack Obama will work to give seniors choices about their care. He will honor and support the family members who take care of their elders. He will work to reform the financing of long term care to protect seniors and families from impoverishment.

He will improve the quality of elder care by giving our long-term care workforce the support it deserves, training more health care workers in geriatrics, and researching better ways to manage pain.
(Campaign website, http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/seniorsFactSheet.pdf)

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