Delivering Long-Term Services to Ohio Elders: Good Progress, but Challenges Await

Ohio is growing up, with more of its citizens reaching age 60 and older than ever before (2.4 million over 60 in 2012). This reflects an almost 20% expansion in the last 15 years. The most dramatic change has been among those age 85 and older, whose numbers increased by more than 75,000 in this same time period. While this 50% growth rate of the 85 plus age group is dramatic, even more startling are Scripps projections that the age 85 and older population will more than double over the next two decades, as will the number of older people with severe disability. While a larger older population is a mark of societal progress, it is also accompanied by a new set of challenges: a growing need for long-term services. These future changes are problematic because most individuals do not have long-term care insurance or adequate resources to finance their long-term care needs. In Ohio, two-thirds of nursing home residents are supported by Medicaid. With Medicaid consuming about one-quarter of Ohio’s entire state expenditures and long-term care accounting for 36% of this total, the projected growth in long-term expenditures represents an enormous future concern.