RI ranks 34th in long term care for elderly, disabled
Today The Commonwealth Fund, AARP, and The SCAN Foundation came out with their first nationwide assessment of long term care for the elderly and disabled. The three organizations created a scorecard for each state, using data on 25 indicators examining topics such as affordability and access, choice of setting and provider, and quality of care.
Here’s the info on Rhode Island-
We’re near the bottom of the pile for affordability and access and looking pretty bad in every other category except quality of life/care. Here’s the detailed report if you want to dig into the numbers.
Although New England usually scores pretty well on state health indicators, only Maine shows up in the top ten. Here are the top performers-
Top ten states for Long Term Services and Supports
1 Minnesota
2 Washington
3 Oregon
4 Hawaii
5 Wisconsin
6 Iowa
7 Colorado
8 Maine
9 Kansas
10 District of Columbia
Rhode Island and Massachusetts don’t appear until the 3rd quartile of states.
Do we need to pay more attention to long term care in the state? What about the Global Medicaid Waiver, which was supposed to save money and make these programs better?
I have calls out to the AARP , The Commonwealth Fund, and Rhode Island’s Office of Health and Human Services. In the meantime, what do you think? Are RI’s services for the disabled and elderly below average?
