America’s system of caring for elderly people who need long-term care is strained to the breaking point.

Assisted-living facilities and the federal-state Medicaid system that’s supposed to provide medical insurance for low-income people are at odds over reimbursement rates — how much the facilities should receive for caring for people whose bills are paid by Medicaid.

People whose nursing home bills are paid by Medicaid are protected by federal law from eviction, but assisted-living facilities aren’t similarly regulated. Maybe it’s time they were.

According to a report in the Washington Post, there’s a disturbing trend of elderly people being unceremoniously evicted from facilities that have become their long-term homes.

Imagine: An elderly man or woman reaches the point where it’s no longer safe or even possible to live at home without some help. That person finds a new home at an assisted-living facility and, for a time, things go reasonably well.

Then, often without much warning, that vulnerable senior citizen is told he or she must leave that home because the facility is no longer accepting Medicaid. Odds are, the person being evicted has no idea where to go.

America’s senior citizens should never be treated this way.

Making matters worse is the reality that our “system” of making sure elderly people are cared for, even if they have no money, is hardly a system at all. Full-fledged nursing homes, the Post reported, are regulated differently than assisted-living facilities. The federal government monitors and regulates nursing homes, and their residents whose bills are paid by Medicaid are protected from eviction.

Residents of assisted-living facilities who are on Medicaid are not protected from eviction.

The difference in the two facilities is, essentially, that nursing homes are for residents with more serious medical problems, in need of medical care and personal assistance. Assisted-living facilities are for those who need assistance of various types but are less dependent on others.

In reality, the lines can be blurry. Some assisted-living facilities offer more levels of care and services than others. Millions of American seniors live in some sort of long-term care, and about 4.4 million of them depend upon Medicaid to pay their bills, in assisted-living as well as in nursing homes.

But long-term care for seniors is facing a crisis. Seventy-three million baby boomers are beginning to reach that age where many will need some care. At the same time, long-term care facilities are still recovering from the pandemic and related economic pressures. They are short-staffed and paying more for labor, food and supplies. Medicaid pays significantly less than many facilities charge residents paying for their own care.

It’s time to evaluate how assisted-living facilities are or aren’t regulated, and to ask whether Medicaid should raise reimbursement rates, at least enough to offset inflation.

While any reforms are being worked out, something must be done to protect assisted-living residents on Medicaid from eviction. What kind of country would accept such inhumane treatment of its vulnerable elders?

The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service