Who Will Have Unmet Long-Term Care Needs and How Does Medicaid Help?

Many older Americans will need at least some longterm services and supports (LTSS) as they age. At the same time, a substantial number do not have sufficient resources to provide for LTSS care needs. The questions are whether those who cannot afford care are the same ones who need care; the extent to which Medicaid reduces any shortfalls; and the types of individuals that continue to fall short after Medicaid. This brief is the final in a three-part series examining the need and resources for LTSS among retirees. The first brief looked at the likelihood of a 65-year-old developing minimal, moderate, or severe care needs, while the second examined the resources available to 65-year-olds to cover the different levels of care. This final brief combines the findings from the two earlier studies to determine the share of individuals projected to have inadequate resources for their specific care needs and explores the extent to which Medicaid makes up the difference. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section projects what share of older Americans may fall short of affording the care they need based on their private resources, which include both family members and the finanical means to cover paid caregivers. The second section explores the role of Medicaid and estimates the extent to which it reduces the share of individuals that fall short. The third section explores the disparities in unmet care needs across sociodemographic groups, taking account of both private resources and Medicaid. The final section concludes that while Medicaid covers a substantial share of the cost of long-term care and reduces disparities, a\ significant minority of retirees will still face varying degrees of unmet needs.