Mitch Perry
While Florida has the highest percentage of senior citizens in the nation, when it comes to elder care, the Sunshine State is one of the worst in the country, according to a newly released AARP national study.
The report, Picking Up the Pace of Change: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers ranks Florida 46th of 50 states on a detailed list of 23 specific indicators across five critical dimensions.
“Picking Up” was issued by AARP with the support of the Commonwealth Fund and SCAN Foundation.
“We are the grayest, but far from the greatest state in America when it comes to supporting family caregivers and caring for frail older people and the disabled,” said Jack McRay, AARP Florida advocacy manager. “While there are some bright spots in Florida’s long-term care record, it’s clear Florida is falling further behind other states.”
Florida ranks 46th in the county on six indicators of affordability and access to long-term care services, such as the cost of private nursing home care as a percentage of annual household income, the number of private long-term care insurance policies in effect and the proportion of people receiving Medicaid-financed in-home care. The state ranked even worse (49th) for where and from whom older Floridians can choose long-term-care services.
The quality of long-term care, as measured by three indicators, earned Florida a ranking of 10th worst in the nation. Support for family caregivers was ranked fourth-worst.
It’s not all bad. Florida ranked 21st nationwide on ensuring transitions between hospitals and long-term care in the home or nursing homes.
According to the AARP, nearly 2.7 million Florida residents help aging parents, spouses and other loved ones at home by providing assistance with bathing, dressing, transportation, finances, complex medical tasks (like wound care and injections), and more. For 2013, they estimate the value of this unpaid care totaled about $29.7 billion.
As for the best state for older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers is Washington, followed by Minnesota, Vermont, Oregon and Alaska.
Three states that fared worse than Florida: Tennessee (47), Mississippi (48), Alabama (49) and Kentucky (50).
