You are the newly appointed director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). With health care costs continuing to soar, the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) rollout and Medicare Prescriiption Drug Improvement Plan in place, and the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in progress, you are confronted with potential increases in payments for Medicare and Medicaid programs. Meanwhile, the Director for the Administration on Aging continues to send you data about the portending rise in the number of older people and those with disabilities and the needs of such persons for comprehensive care, not just acute care.
• Detail the impact the changing consumer demographics will have on long-term care.
• Based on the statistics from the Director of Administration on Aging, detail how the CMS can expect facilities to focus on quality and outcomes relating to long-term care. How will this focus impact providers operationally?
• Detail how these changes will impact the delivery of long-term care.
• Detail what policies and regulatory measures you would take as the Director of CMS.
• Detail what additional long-term strategies you would pursue to make national resources meet the nation’s need for chronic care.