Family and social burdens come with an aging population and comparatively fewer young workers. There is virtually no legal restriction on the ability of people to acquire long-term care insurance with pretax dollars at work. For people who must buy insurance outside the workplace, however, tax breaks are stingier.            

Because Medicare does not cover most long-term care, seniors must provide for their own needs, or exhaust their assets to qualify for Medicaid.

Because women are more than twice as likely as men to experience a long stint in a nursing home, this is a "women's issue/human rights issue."

Four states allow seniors to protect assets against Medicaid by buying insurance, but Congress has prevented similar arrangements in the other 46 states.

Why can't we have a level playing field?  People who save for retirement, purchase health insurance, long-term care insurance and/or day care should receive just as much tax relief as people who obtain those benefits at work!

And what about portable health and retirement benefits, so that people are not penalized when they switch jobs?

Why can't everyone protect assets by buying long-term care insurance, using Medicaid only for catastrophic costs?

Beyond expressions of sympathy or empathy, what are the respective positions of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain on these issues?

You tell me…

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