Avalere Health in association with The SCAN Foundation has launched a new web-based modeling tool named 'Long-Term Care Policy Simulator', that enables policymakers and the public to test the budgetary implications of a variety of federally run long-term care insurance programs.
According to Avalere, the new tool produces around 2,500 unique outputs, each illustrating how public long-term care insurance program designs and benefits translate into estimated coverage, participation rates, and costs to participants and taxpayers.
The company said that the policy options that can vary using the tool include participation; type of benefit; eligibility; vesting requirement before being able to receive benefits; benefit amount; length of benefit; low-income subsidy; and percentage of program funded through premiums.
In addition, after selecting each of options, the user sees how a selected benefit design affects various policy considerations, such as average monthly premium amount, potential federal medicaid savings, estimated enrollment in program, and percent of people with disabilities covered by the program.
Anne Tumlinson, vice president of Avalere Health, said: This tool allows a new level of transparency and interactivity that will benefit consumers, policymakers, and others with a vested stake in improving long-term care. Users can step into policymakers’ shoes to create long-term care policy and then see how their selections directly impact benefit design, individual and federal costs, and the potential popularity of the benefit.