Marilyn Moon Testifies Before Commission on Long-Term Care About Ways to Improve the Nation’s Health Care System
Washington, D.C. – Marilyn Moon, a nationally recognized health care expert and senior vice president of the American Institutes for Research (AIR), testified today before the congressionally created Commission on Long-Term Care on ways to improve the nation’s health care system by providing long term supportive services through Medicare.
“Our current makeshift patchwork of public and private programs leaves many people without adequate care and contributes to inefficiencies,” Moon, a former public trustee of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, told the bi-partisan commission in written remarks submitted yesterday.
Moon testified at the third of five hearings being held by the 15-member Commission created by the American Taxpayer Relief Act to advise Congress on better ways to provide and finance long-term care for the nation's older adults and individuals with disabilities.
“The Medicare program could be a good place to build a viable long term supportive services program. It is, despite the criticisms leveled at it, a remarkably successful program. It has provided care to the sickest members of our society at rates lower than what would be the case in the private market-- both in terms of absolute amounts and in rates of growth over time, it has innovated many changes in the health care system, and it is among the most popular of government programs,” Moon said.
“Certainly there are improvements needed in the program to meet its acute care needs, but it could offer a number of advantages in creating a more comprehensive environment for providing care to those requiring long term supportive services,” she said.
The text of her prepared remarks is available on the AIR website.
About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.
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