SENIOR NEWS LINE
Medicare Slashes Home Health Care
BYMATILDACHARLES

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch wrote an opinion piece recently that warns of the coming (or is it already here?) nightmare of home health care.

It appears that the Medicare home health-care budget is being slashed so much that those of us who could easily stay in our homes if only we had a bit of care each day are being shoved into nursing homes -- before we need to be there.

They've slashed $410 million from the 2008 proposed budget with $9.68 billion to be cut over the coming five years. Meanwhile, the budget for nursing-home care has continually increased.

It seems that the home health-care industry just doesn't have the lobbying clout that the big nursing-home industry does, nor the funds to maintain active campaigns to urge Congress to pay attention to the needs of millions of us.

It's no wonder the nursinghome industry has more money. The opinion piece from Koch says that the cost of a home health-care visit is $109, while the cost of staying in a nursing home for one day is $499.

A friend of mine is caught in this situation. She needed help at home, but there wasn't any. She had to sell her house and move into a nursing home to get the daily living care she requires. But she isn't ill enough that she can't drive. So she has a specially outfitted van that she uses for her "escapes," but comes home at night to a nursing home.

The nursing-home industry might have a lot of lobbying money, but we have something bigger -- we have voting clout.

Matilda Charles regrets that she cannot personally answer reader questions. Do not send any material requiring return mail. Write to her in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL32853-6475.

(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.