Health Care Reform and Older Americans: Achieving Better Chronic Care at Lower Costs

Older Americans face unique health care challenges—many not supported in Medicare’s current payment systems— that tend to promote fragmented, high-volume, and high-intensity care and can undermine quality. Health reform legislation now moving in Congress includes a range of new payment and delivery system reforms designed to improve overall care for patients with complex health needs and chronic conditions.

On January 28, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings hosted a forum to discuss strategies for improving care for older Americans across a range of institutional and community-based settings. Experts and key stakeholders examined the components of health care reform most likely to influence the care this population receives, and discussed promising models for payment and delivery-system reforms designed to improve quality and efficiency, as well as to better coordinate services across the continuum of care. Participants also outlined specific, practical strategies that policymakers and government agencies can consider when transitioning from legislative action to implementation so older Americans benefit directly from innovations in care delivery. After each panel, participants took audience questions.

An informal information session on the new Long-Term Quality Alliance (LTQA) followed the concluding remarks.