Long-Term Care for the Elderly and Disabled

OF all the difficult health-care issues facing the nation today, none is more complex or urgent than the formulation of a viable policy of long-term care for the elderly and the chronically ill and disabled. The tragic irony of the existing neglect is clearly evident in the plight of millions of frail and dependent elders, rejected by both Medicare and Medicaid as well as by most private carriers of health insurance, even as the costs of these programs soar.Although many of the current remedial proposals recognize the importance of long-term care, they appear to be prepared to settle for . . .