Thinking Ahead
While my editor is busy looking for live music and ethnic food, I’m planning my retirement and long-term care. Or, at least, Gov. Blunt thinks that would be a good idea. The Columbia Daily Tribune Politics Blog reports that the state and federal government have teamed up to create “long-term planning kits” to help consumers in Missouri:
The program — dubbed ‘Own Your Future’ by the governor — is a joint project of the state of Missouri and the federal Department of Health and Human Services will be working together to increase consumer awareness about this effort to plan for long-term care.
Speaking of financial awareness and foresight, listen to this state official hem and haw about how taxpayers are paying for the program:
“We’re very involved with the development of the product,” said Doug Ommen, director of the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration. “Some of the materials that are going out are paid for by federal funds and some of it is being covered by other funding that’s available. I think with grants, but it’s coming from state production.”
My intuition is that if the state runs a huge marketing campaign to inform consumers about every product and service out there, it won’t be financially sound in the long term. But how do I tell Gov. Blunt? Should I send him a kit?
