Long-term health care

Brenda Wiemann has been with the Cayuga County Office of the Aging since January for one purpose: to educate the public about long-term care insurance. She gave the first of what she hopes will be monthly presentations about the public's options for preparing for a chronic health care situation that could arise in their life due to illness or injury.

New York state legislators want to reduce the number of tax dollars that fund programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, and they believe long-term care insurance may be a giant step in that direction. The state's legislators have developed a program called the New York State Partnership for long-term Care that combines Medicaid benefits with individual long-term care insurance.

“I would like to see people look at their long-term care needs,” Wiemann said, “and to do some long-term care planning. A lot of insurance doesn't cover long-term care. Medicare doesn't cover long-term care. Our office provides a neutral place to get information.”