Continental General Agrees to Acquire Elevance LTCI Policies

• AARP has published data on the number of family caregivers in each state, the number of hours of care those caregivers provide, and the estimated hourly value of the care the caregivers provide.

In 2021, the estimated value per hour ranged from $11.84 in Louisiana, up to $21.88 in Washington state, with a national average of $16.59. The total value of family caregiving was about $600 billion, or about 2.6% of the United States' $23 trillion in gross domestic product. The estimated output of U.S. family caregivers was comparable to the 2021 GDP of Belgium.

• The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services recently told Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that expanding Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) could be a good way to provide long-term care services for people who live in rural areas.

PACE plans give private organizations a chance to provide soup-to-nuts, home-based care for people who need the kind of care that has traditionally been provided in nursing homes.

The HHS advisory committee recommended that HHS organize a PACE pilot aimed at rural people who qualify for Medicare but not for Medicaid to see how well PACE plans work in rural areas and how much startup capital the plans need.

• President Joe Biden proclaimed April to be Care Workers Recognition Month. The proclamation recognizes workers who help older people and people with disabilities as well as workers who care for children.

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