Leading long-term care lobbyists appealed to presidentialcandidates and policy makers Tuesday to adopt industry recommendations toreform payment and post-acute care processes.

A primary focus is to draw more private resources intothe payment schema, according to leaders of the American Health CareAssociation, its sister group the National Center for Assisted Living, and theAlliance for Quality Nursing Home Care.

“We are offering solutions that provide morecomprehensive coverage, broader consumer options and responsible use ofgovernment resources,” said AHCA President and CEO Bruce Yarwood He said agoal was to “generate far more debate in the 2008 election.”

The plan will, among other things,”dramatically” restructure the Medicaid program, introduce a newpost-acute patient assessment tool and give individuals more options, officialsannounced at a media briefing in Washington.

Highlights of the proposal can be seen athttp://www.ahca.org.