Long-Awaited Long-Term Care Reforms Approved by Legislature

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There’s no place like home for Tennesseans who need long-term care, and Tennessee lawmakers have finally acted upon those wishes. The House and Senate unanimously approved legislation that seeks to create consumer-directed care options and provide quicker and easier access to services that would allow recipients to stay home as long as possible. Currently, 99 percent of Tennessee’s federal long-term care funding goes to nursing homes, ranking the state last in the nation. AARP has been fighting for more than a decade to change that and will continue to work with Gov. Phil Bredesen and others to ensure that the “Long-Term Care Community Choices Act” provides adequate services and protections for Tennessee’s citizens.

A study earlier this year found nearly nine in ten Tennessee voters want to be able to access long-term care services at home and that 57 percent of respondents are worried that they can get care in the setting of their choice.

It certainly would be more cost-effective for consumers and for the state to have more alternatives to institutional care. A nursing home costs about $66,000 a year, while two hours of daily care in the home costs about $14,000 a year.

“Thousands of Tennesseans, many of them AARP volunteers, have worked and hoped for more than a decade to see the state climb from the bottom of the nation in long-term care options,” said AARP Tennessee State Director Rebecca Kelly. “The Long-Term Care Community Choices Act certainly is the Legislature’s greatest accomplishment this year and perhaps for several years to come. It will provide a greater quality of life for generations of Tennesseans who want to stay home but need a little help to do it.”