Opinion: To protect a safety net and taxpayers, reforms to Medicaid Long-Term Care are needed

Elizabeth New (Hovde) says limiting Medicaid LTC to people in need is not punitive or unjust

Elizabeth New (Hovde)
Washington Policy Center

Right now, qualifying for taxpayer-provided help with services and supports for long-term care (LTC) is too easy. People can appear impoverished when they’re not. And a lack of more aggressive estate recovery efforts helps seal the deal for those wanting to use other taxpayers’ money for their LTC needs, preserving their assets and life savings to pass on to heirs. 

Medicaid is not an inheritance-preservation program, but it is being used as such. State and federal lawmakers can and should better protect resources for the vulnerable and contain program costs for taxpayers.

Limiting Medicaid LTC to people in need is not punitive or unjust. The real injustice lies in allowing people with means to use a taxpayer-provided safety net they do not need. Read more about these policy solutions here. 

Elizabeth New (Hovde) is a policy analyst and the director of the Centers for Health Care and Worker Rights. She is a Clark County resident.