Doctor and senior woman wearing facemasks during coronavirus and flu outbreak. Virus protection. COVID-2019..

The long-term care community, along with many others, is anxiously looking forward to President Obama’s first budget proposal. Obama is set to announce his spending plan on Monday.

While providers found some solace in the president’s declaration during Wednesday’s State of the Union address that Medicare and Medicaid (as well as Social Security and the Defense Department) would not be a part of his call for a three-year freeze on government spending, concerns linger. Medicare and Medicaid pay for about four-fifths of all U.S. long-term care services.