Some Democrats at the state Capitol says it’s time to take a new look at services for the elderly in Michigan, especially nursing home care. They say the need will become more critical as more Michigan residents get older and require assisted living.
State Representative John Hoadley says a study on the issue is a good first step.
“It turns out, we don’t have enough information to really have a handle on, what does our aging population mean? And so, by having this, then we can craft solutions – whether that’s a tax credit, a program for support, or anything in between.”
“Michigan is the 10th oldest state in the country. We’re ranked 44th in terms of care for our families. We’re going to continue to get older, and we’re not going to get any better in our rankings until we get to the heart of this problem.”
State Representative Stephanie Chang says the first step should be a study on who uses long-term care, who needs it, and how it’s paid for.
“We need to create some good policy solutions that are based on data, and, currently we don’t really have a lot of data when it comes to eldercare.”
There’s no word from state House Republican leaders on whether they’d support the study.