U.S. seniors may lose free Medicare home health services
U.S. seniors may lose free Medicare home health services
Elderly Americans may soon lose their free home health services provided by Medicare if a Congressional panel approves changes to current rules.
Home health visits to seniors are currently free of charge but a co-payment scheme might be implemented to prevent the system from being abused, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). The commission was established by Congress to identify issues in Medicare and to make recommendations for legislative purposes.
The present set-up costs almost $20 billion every year and officials are worried that fraud attempts may be rising.
The advisory panel gave a preliminary estimate of a new $150 charge for a set of home health visits, which have been exempt from co-payment rules ever since.
The American Association of Retired Person (AARP) opposed the changes but the commission went ahead and voted 13-1 to submit the proposal to legislators.
"At the extreme, this benefit can turn into a long-term care social support system," said commission chairman Glenn Hackbarth. "A modest co-payment is one tool to help deal with that problem." The proposal comes amid dwindling revenue brought by tax cuts and a weak U.S. economy.
About 3 million elderly and disabled Americans rely on Medicare home health services which was once viewed as a savings mechanism against ballooning health care costs. It has since become a budget- drainer itself because of rising costs and increasing fraud.
The panel's proposal does not cover low-income seniors and recently discharged patients whose co-payments will be paid for by Medicaid. But 30 million others will have to pay out-of-pocket if the recommendation is legislated.
Posted by
George Daniels
on Monday January 17 2011, 2:55 AM EDT.
Ref: AP.
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