In October the state is set to begin a study into how best to provide long-term care for Michigan’s senior citizens.
The one hundred thousand dollar appropriation is part of the 2019 state budget.
Democratic Representative Jon Hoadley sponsored the legislation for the study. He said the state’s population is aging quickly and supports need to be in place.
“While thousands of Michiganders will need these types of services and we know that we’re already spending close to three billion dollars a year on these types of services we don’t actually have a real good handle on who is using what types of services and how that is expected to change over time.”
Hoadley said the study will determine what services people need and then test different healthcare models.
“One that would say ‘what if we expanded existing long-term care benefit that works in the state?’, what if we created something new that everybody could access regardless of their income, or what if we did something like a reinsurance for the private market on the long-term care insurance that already exists?”
Roughly 17% of Michigan’s population is over the age of 65, and Hoadley said the state needs to prepare to take care of their growing ranks.
He said the study should take roughly one year.