Long-term care

Nearly 75% of Americans with disabilities live with a family caregiver, many of them age 60 or older. Updating your care plan now, experts say, can help make sure everyone thrives.

The WA Cares Fund would help alleviate the financial burden of long-term care by providing workers a lifetime benefit of $36,500. The program was delayed while lawmakers addressed equity issues.

COVID cases and deaths are rising again in nursing homes across the country due to the highly contagious omicron variant. Staffing shortages are adding to strain and workers report "moral distress."

These services can make the difference between being able to live at home with family or landing in a nursing facility. But state Medicaid programs don't always pay for them.

Long-term care options are expensive and often out of reach for elders and people with disabilities. Part of the president's proposed infrastructure plan would help fund home-based health services.

Low initial vaccine uptake among staffers in nursing homes has ignited debates about whether to penalize, persuade or simply pay them more to get the vaccine. But a little patience might work best.

More than one-third of all COVID-19 deaths in America have been elderly residents and workers at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Family members of residents at Life Care Center outside Seattle where as many as 25 people have died, are anxiously watching their loved ones, infected with coronavirus, linger at the facility.