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Contact: Jodi Omear, 202-624-5346
Office of Communications

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The nation's governors will discuss the future of long-term care and the challenges and opportunities facing states during the upcoming National Governors Association (NGA) Winter Meeting, which convenes later this week. The discussion will occur during NGA's Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee meeting on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 2:30 p.m. at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C.

"Increases in life expectancy, improvements in medical technology and the aging of the baby boom generation are contributing to unprecedented growth in the population of individuals over the age of 65 and in younger adults and children who are living with disabilities," said Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, the committee's chair. "This session provides governors the opportunity to examine the challenges we all face when it comes to long-term care, and I look forward to hearing from my colleagues, as well as several experts, about this issue."

"Growing populations, the rising demand for long-term care and the increase in health care costs are fueling important discussions on two key challenges: how to improve the quality of long-term care and how to pay for the escalating costs of these services," said New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine, the committee's vice chair. "We must find ways to meet these growing health care needs, especially at a time when family members or other unpaid, informal networks of care are becoming more scarce."

Governors Douglas and Corzine will lead a discussion on this topic with state and national experts including Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office, who will provide insight into how long-term care costs fit into the federal budget perspective and Roger Auerbach, senior consultant at the Lewin Group, who will discuss a wide array of potential solutions, including critical roles for the federal government and private financing.

Governors then will hear from Patrick Flood, deputy secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, and William A.B. Ditto, director of the New Jersey Division of Disability Services, who will share some of their states' successes and innovations and how they could be replicated elsewhere.