Long-Term Health Care Absent From U.S. Debate

Even as the health care debate rages in Washington, scant attention has been given to providing long-term care for the elderly and disabled. Meanwhile, the issue is driving millions into poverty, stressing families, and straining federal and state budgets.

President Barack Obama has remained largely silent on a long-term care plan -- one of the pieces the late Sen. Ted Kennedy saw as key to an overhaul bill.

Such a plan is included in the bill Kennedy's health committee wrote, but it has not become regarded as a must-have component.

Although it's unlikely that plan would solve the long-term care crisis, it would address an issue that has vexed policymakers and caregivers for decades.

And it would mark the first time the government provided nursing homes and other care for the masses.