A test of our society: how and for whom we finance long-term care.

: Financing long-term care remains an issue of great national interest, but little action. This lack of action is due to a lack of consensus regarding both what we mean by long-term care and what roles the private and public sectors should play. Different solutions have been offered, some focusing on the public sector and others on the private. The reality is that financing the needed care will require participation of both sectors, as well as a redefinition of their roles that makes them complementary rather than competitive, as is now the case. This partnership can take many forms, but must, at a minimum, reflect an explicit societal commitment to what our population is entitled to with respect to long-term care; develop the infrastructure that meets the total--as opposed to only the medical--needs of the population; and make more efficient use of the resources that can be brought to bear on the problem.