Ensure access to
affordable care
for Oregon seniors
All seniors and people with disabilities deserve high-quality and affordable care options. Yet families across Oregon struggle to pay for care that allows their loved ones to live comfortably and with dignity.
That's why CareForward Oregon is working to protect and prioritize funding for essential services for our most vulnerable residents. To keep up with the care needs of our aging population and with rising costs of medical care and support, our state must continue to lead the nation in funding safe, affordable long term care.
Join us in showing up for Oregon seniors, disabled citizens and their caregivers.
OUR GOALS
Protect and prioritize funding for long term care for low-income Oregon seniors.
Oregon needs to keep pace with rising costs and growing demand to ensure all seniors and people with disabilities have access to safe, affordable, high-quality services.
Ensure Oregon continues to lead the nation in providing high-quality long term care.
Investing in long term care should remain a top priority for our state lawmakers. The affordability of access to essential health care for seniors is an important equity and quality-of-life issue and our state values should support this.
Continue to support higher wages and better benefits to recruit and retain more caregivers in Oregon’s long term care communities.
Oregon leads the nation in providing high wages for RNs, CNAs, and other healthcare staff. We need to continue to build this vital, valuable workforce, while still keeping care affordable for seniors who need it.
Caring for More Aging Oregonians
We all want high-quality care for our loved ones as they age, ideally in the setting and city of that makes the most sense for their care and support needs. High-quality care is a right all Oregon seniors should have access to, including lower-income seniors and people with disabilities.
Yet most people in Oregon don’t have adequate coverage or savings to fund their long term care needs and must rely on Medicaid at some point to help them pay for it. Oregon should continue to invest in long term care now, to ensure all Oregonians have access to care when they need it.
Oregonians are aging, and more and more Baby Boomers will need long term care in the coming years. Now is the time to strengthen the full continuum of care, so Oregon is ready to care for them.
Costs continue to climb due to inflation in wages, food and medical supplies, as well as significant increases related to new state and federal regulations.
Supporting long term care is not only the right thing to do for vulnerable Oregonians, it’s also a smart investment. Every dollar the state spends unlocks nearly 60 cents in federal matching funds to help provide more access and higher quality care.
Long term care providers continue to struggle to recruit and retain enough caregivers due to ongoing shortages of nurses and other skilled health care workers in our state. The state must support higher wages and workforce programs for the healthcare sector to ensure that qualified, passionate caregivers are available when Oregon seniors most need care.
WHO WE ARE
We are a coalition led by Oregon Health Care Association and long term care providers throughout Oregon who want our state lawmakers to continue to prioritize and support Oregon’s seniors and people with disabilities and the people who care for them. Questions? Contact us at careforwardoregon@gmail.com.
JOIN US TODAY
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When we invest in essential care for our most vulnerable residents, we also sustain local jobs, generate tax revenue and contribute to the local economy.
State funding for long term care is a moral and economic imperative.
DID YOU KNOW?
More than 75,000 Oregonians receive long term care services each day, and that number will grow as the state’s population ages. – Portland State University’s 2024 Community-Based Care: Resident and Community Characteristics Report on Assisted Living, Residential Care, and Memory Care; Oregon Health Authority; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
In 2023, an estimated 877,131 Oregonians were 65 or older, and, of those residents, 85,316 were over the age of 85 – the age group most likely to need some form of care and support. – Oregon Office of Economic Research
By 2030, there will be an estimated 110,343 Oregonians over the age of 85, a 29% increase over the next eight years. – Oregon Office of Economic Research
Oregon has nearly 700 licensed assisted living, residential care and skilled nursing communities, as well as 200 licensed in-home care providers. They are primarily local and regional providers who support jobs, tax revenue and the economy in their communities. – Portland State University’s 2024 Community-Based Care: Resident and Community Characteristics Report on Assisted Living, Residential Care, and Memory Care; Oregon Health Authority; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Every day in the U.S., 10,000 people turn 65, and the number of older adults will more than double over the next several decades as the Baby Boomer generation ages. – AARP
About 1 in 9 people over age 65 have Alzheimer's disease, and as many as 50% of people over 85 have the diagnosis. The number of people with the disease doubles every five years beyond age 65. – Alzheimer's Association
Public funding is the main source of long term care financing in the United States. Medicare pays for 59% of patient care in skilled nursing facilities and is the largest payer source. – Oregon State University College of Health’s The State of Nursing Facilities in Oregon (2023)
