Long-Term Care and the Law

The law exerts a significant influence on the quality, accessibility, and affordability of long-term care (LTC) services that are, or that at some future time may be, needed by older Americans. The interaction between the legal system and the various participants involved in the provision and receipt of LTC - consumers, family members, providers, payers, regulators, and advocates - is complex and multi-faceted. This chapter, written for a textbook on long-term care, attempts to outline some of the most salient aspects of this interaction so as to equip the reader both to more fully and accurately appreciate the roles of the law and lawyers in shaping the long-term care environment and to evaluate the actual impact of the legal system on those whom it seeks to benefit, empower, oversee, or punish. Specific topics covered include: the sources and functions of legal authority; specific forms of legal regulation pertaining to long-term care; legal implications of consumer driven home- and community-based LTC; and behavioral manifestations of the regulatory environment.