For most dementia patients and their families financing long-term care is a major problem. President Clinton's plan for health care reform was one of a series of recent legislative bills attempting to provide public insurance for long-term care for persons of all ages with chronic diseases and disabilities. Enactment of such a policy, however, will require resolution of a number of practical issues. Among the most important are: how to finance the tens of billions of dollars a year that would be required; and whether the various constituencies in need of care - persons with dementia, older people in general, persons with AIDS, younger disabled adults, and children with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and other developmental disabilities - can overcome their disparate philosophies and practical concerns regarding the nature of long-term care, and become a unified coalition to provide powerful political support in the legislative process.