Right now in Washington, as part of the Medicare Reform Bill,
U.S. Senators and Representatives are debating whether or not to
cut back on yet another health care program for seniors and people
with disabilities. This time, Congress wants Medicare patients who
receive home health care services to pay more for their care.
Right now in Washington, as part of the Medicare Reform Bill, U.S. Senators and Representatives are debating whether or not to cut back on yet another health care program for seniors and people with disabilities. This time, Congress wants Medicare patients who receive home health care services to pay more for their care.
California’s Rep. Bill Thomas has been the chief architect of the House Bill and has described the co-payment as a way to deter unnecessary use of home care, saying “Requiring beneficiaries to share the cost of home health services encourages them to use care more prudently.”
This would be a catastrophe for many seniors and disabled individuals who want to live independently at home with their loved ones rather than in a nursing home. Most people who receive Medicare-covered home health services live on fixed incomes and pay approximately 40 percent of their income for health care, including personal assistance with bathing or dressing, or for wheelchairs, walkers or other assistive devices. And now Congress wants them to pay a co-payment for home health care on top of all the other out-of-pocket expenses that they already incur.
Making seniors and people with disabilities pay more for the same exact service is unfair, especially when most of these individuals have paid into Medicare all of their lives to ensure that they have affordable health care when they need it.
Someone once said, “you judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable – the young and the old.” The nonprofit Central Coast Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice urges California Senators and Rep. Thomas to adhere to this noble and decent standard by opposing the Medicare home health co-payment.
Carol Snow,
President
Central Coast VNA and Hospice
Monterey, Salinas, King City and Hollister
