Fifty-seven percent of Hawai'i adults surveyed believe a "crisis" exists or there are "major problems" with healthcare and long-term care in the state, according to a new poll from AARP.

The lobbying group for people over 50 years old surveyed more than 1,000 Hawai'i residents on healthcare and long-term care issues, finding that more than half were "extremely" or "very" concerned about having to pay more for healthcare in the future and about the availability of affordable care in the next five years.

"This report is an alarm that is loud and clear," said Stuart Ho, president of the state chapter of AARP. "It's saying let's get serious about this — no more palliatives, no more kidding the elderly along. We have a problem and it's time to get serious about it."

The AARP is calling attention to problems with long-term care in the state as people over 65 become a bigger segment of the population. The group said the number of people 65 and older will rise by 86 percent between now and 2030, when a little more than 20 percent of Hawai'i residents will be a senior citizen.

That's a concern, because people require more healthcare as they age. The AARP says lawmakers need to examine the feasibility of providing all residents with access to quality, affordable health and long-term care services. Ho said there are a number of problems with long-term care, including the federal government cutting back on Medicaid subsidies to states, a shortage of nurses and nurse assistants and not enough state assistance to programs like Meals on Wheels.

At the same time, Hawai'i has the third-lowest number of nursing facility beds per capita in the nation, according to an earlier AARP study. Hawai'i also has one of the highest occupancy rates in the country for existing beds. The problem is such that hospitals can't always release patients well enough to be cared for in long-term care facilities because there aren't any vacancies.

The Healthcare Association of Hawaii earlier this year reported that, on average, 200 long-term-care patients per day were wait-listed in hospitals for transfer to nursing homes or other places. On some days there are as many as 275 patients awaiting transfer.

AARP "is becoming very concerned about the subject of long-term care and, more than that, the lack of articulation of rational policies to deal with these subjects," Ho said.

He said the problem will also affect the state's business community because employees may drop out of the workforce to care for their aging parents.

The survey found that about 75 percent of those polled were "somewhat" to "extremely" worried about being able to obtain long-term care in the setting of their choice, while 59 percent weren't confident about being able to afford one year of care.

The AARP also polled people on their views about whether they'd support Hawai'i developing a public long-term care insurance program.

More than six in 10 said they'd "strongly" or "somewhat" support a proposal requiring everyone to pay a small monthly premium to become eligible for a limited payment for one year of long-term care services in the future.

The report also found 55 percent were either "extremely" or "very" concerned about being able to pay for a major illness in the next five years, while a similar majority were concerned about having to pay more, getting adequate health care coverage and having fewer healthcare services covered.

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.