The aging population and the increasing demand long term care are two devastating concerns for the lawmakers of the state of Minnesota and across the United States. The baby boomer generation will hit retirement years and residents aged 85 and above will most likely need long term care services, and the percentage of those needing LTC is projected to double by 2030. Minnesota is the nation"s second highest expectancy rate than any other state. It ranks second only to Hawaii and one of the country"s highest population of elders aged 85 and above. Nevertheless, it implies a greater demand for long term care and more government funding. Currently, nursing home and home and community-based services take almost 16.4 percent or $4.3 billion of the overall Minnesota expenditure and 31 percent of state-sponsored health budgets worth $3.5 billion. Aside from getting the pride of the nation"s healthiest people, Minnesota is leader in long term care innovations. In 2000, a legislative session was conducted for the state government to hear the public protest on long term care. Both consumers and insurance providers appealed on the state government about the shortages of help, declining occupancy rate in nursing homes, and insufficient funds for home care. The legislative session aimed to strengthen home and community-based services and reduce the dependence on more expensive nursing homes. Officials screened patients and determined what should have been changed in the policies: increased funding for Elderly Waiver and Alternative Care Services, tax credits to policyholders, nursing home incentives to shorten the patients" stay, higher compensation for home workers with inflation protection. Otherwise, most of the pending reforms were ripped out by Gov. Tim Pawlenty"s budget cut in 2003. The proposed funding for home care was not achieved and 1,200 adults were forced out of the Alternative care program due to stricter budget cut-offs. The budgetary cuts worsened the system. The governor increased the surcharges of nursing homes between $900 and $2,815 a year. The surcharges went up to $98.5 million, but seniors did not benefit from it. The governor placed the money in the General Fund to cover the state"s %4.5 billion deficit. The governor"s decision has left grave problems in the state, wherein the costs and qualify of nursing home care were affected and strained families and nursing home workers. There was also labor shortage because the wages for nursing home workers were low. However, the Minnesota lawmakers distinguished the solutions that must have been developed in the first place. The state recognized the importance of families in providing care to elders and disabled. The state also came up with much stronger and efficient financial support to its residents. Through this, the Minnesota Long Term Care Partnership Program was established. Under the partnership policies, Minnesotans will be able to protect their assets even though Medicaid requires a maximum asset limit. This help people take control of their finances without the financial pressures. As everyone knows, a consumer must reduce his or her personal assets first to be eligible for the Medical Assistance., but with partnership policies a consumer does not need to lose his or her assets because of the asset disregards feature.
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