Editorial Board
How Republicans Can Help Us Grow Old Gracefully
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If you thought the fight over Obamacare was bruising, brace yourself for the coming battle over long-term-care insurance. Demographic pressure and ill-fitting public programs make the current approach unsustainable, whether we like it or not.
Long-term care for the ill and impaired is a good example of market failure. With a year in a nursing home costing an average of $80,000, few families can save enough to meet their own needs. It may not even be rational to do so: About 9 percent of people over 85 live in nursing homes. Because few people aspire to be one of them, there’s little incentive to save for the possibility.