The hidden health care cost
 In a Boston Business Journal op-ed, Jean Sullivan discusses the cost of long-term care

By Jim Fessenden
UMass Medical School Communications

Jean C. Sullivan, JD, director of the Center for Health Law and Economics

In an op-ed for the Boston Business Journal, Jean C. Sullivan, JD, director of the Center for Health Law and Economics in the Commonwealth Medicine division of UMass Medical School, takes a hard look at the financial ramifications of the likelihood that most Massachusetts residents will require long-term care services in the future. In the article, Sullivan notes that most people have not planned financially for the cost of long-term care and, as a result, the commonwealth could be on the hook for the bulk of the cost.

A 23-member advisory committee, including Deputy Chancellor for Commonwealth Medicine Thomas D. Manning, was formed by Gov. Deval Patrick in 2009 to examine these issues. The committee's recently released report, drafted by Center for Health Law and Economics staff under leadership of Principal Associate Stephanie Anthony, lays out a 10-year road map with financing strategies designed to increase the use of private financing, promote government-organized programs that help people set aside money over many years, and make access more equitable, according to Sullivan.

Read the introduction to the article in the Boston Business Journal:
(Subscription required to read the full article)
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/print-edition/2011/07/08/the-hidden-health-care-cost-long-term.html?page=all

Read the committee's report, Securing the Future

http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/eohhs/ltc/ma_ltcf_full.pdf