June 20, 2002 - The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing is to examine solutions to the nation's long-term care crisis and to release findings from the committee's series of hearings on long-term care.

Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, urged Congress to consider long-term care reform as he today released findings from the committee's 13 hearings on long-term care.

"Our nation is in dire need of comprehensive long-term care reform," said Sen. Breaux at a committee hearing to consider solutions to the long-term care crisis. "Our series of hearings illuminated the fractured way we currently address the nation's long-term care needs, costing billions of dollars for minimal benefit to American families. The potential solutions we heard today are welcome steps to confront this crisis head-on, and provide meaningful relief to those confronting long-term care problems each and every day."

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), ranking member of the Committee, added, "As we in Congress work on things the government needs to do to address long-term care financing problems, I encourage the public to examine their own long-term care needs and consider purchasing their own, private, long-term care insurance. Personally purchased private long-term care insurance may be one of the nation's best hopes."

At the hearing, the committee released findings summarizing the analysis of the governors, senators, members of the administration, state and local officials, and other experts who have testified before the committee on the nation's long-term care crisis.

By 2040, the number of Americans 65 and older will more than double. And, absent reform, these changing demographics will drive spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to consume nearly 75 percent of all federal revenue by 2030.

The aging committee heard from expert witnesses, including Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D-WV.), former Chairman of the Pepper Commission; Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT.), on behalf of the National Governors Association; and former Sen. David Durenberger, Chairman, Citizens for Long-Term Care Coalition. The panel presented five solutions to confront the issues raised throughout the committee's series of 13 long-term care hearings on the need for comprehensive federal reform.

Note: The committee's long-term care findings are available upon request and may be found on the committee's web site - http://aging.senate.gov .

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