"Nearly half of California voters aged 40 and older say they will need long-term care for a close family member within the next five years, yet just as many say they couldn't afford even a single month of nursing home care, according to a new poll from The SCAN Foundation and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The poll, now in its third year, shows that Californians — regardless of their political party or income level — are struggling in the weak economy to save money for future long-term care expenses. One month of nursing home care in California costs an average of $6,800."
Here is one of my favorite economics papers on financing long term health care.
So, middle aged people in California recognize that they will need to provide long term care for a family member but they can't afford to pay even a single month of the bill. What happens next? Will an angel such as Warren Buffet provide this for the people of California? I don't think so.
There are some possible solutions;
1. We can open up the borders and allow more workers to move to California to work at low wage in the long term care industry.
2. We can jaw bone the nursing home care business to lower their prices and perhaps take losses.
3. We can allow more entry into this industry and perhaps allow some unregulated firms to enter.
4. Government can intervene and offer "long term care" vouchers to households who need this service and then allow these households to shop around for a good deal.
#4 would add up to billions of $ of new expenditure obligations for government. What taxes should be raised to pay for this?
It is interesting that the desire for more government in our lives is a growth industry!
