Archive for October, 2008
Medicare can help offset medical expenses, which is a good thing. However; there are gaps in coverage with Medicare, and they need to be filled. One way to fill these gaps is to take the money out of your pocket, your bank account your life savings or your retirement.
Especially if you have the original Medicare plan, you need to look into supplements, also called Medigap. These will help you pay for expenses that are not covered and pay for some – or most, or all – of those costs.
There are 12 Medigap policies and each is a little different and covers different things. The premiums can differ a lot, as well, so it is essential that you thoroughly check each company selling these supplemental policies to make certain which covers offered through
Study each Medigap plan before deciding which one to select. This is extremely important, particularly because there are so many people on Medicaid and/or Medicaid who don’t understand how the program works and often don’t realize that their billing. Information you receive could make a vast difference as to whether your medical bills will be covered and how much you could save by only having to pay a basic and affordable for the most part.
Why not find out what benefits you qualify for and which ones are right for you? Study all the Medigap plans to figure out the differences and which one would suit you the best. You can check the internet for a vast amount of information, you can talk to someone by calling 1-800-MEDICARE, and you can call your local insurance agent.
Whatever you decide, it is essential to find out what coverage is available and how it works, as well as, which plan will work best for you.
Aside from war, the economy and taxes, Medicare is a glaring issue on the agenda of both Barak Obama and John McCain who are running for president. There has been a tremendous amount of information being tossed about,especially Medicare coverage and he costs related to them.
We have been carefully checking statements and information that both candidates have put out for the public. Even if the new president can successfully address the issues of war, the economy and taxes, as well as lost jobs and a budget that is a mess, one of the difficult issues that will still need to be dealt with is Medicare. Health care costs are rising rapidly and Baby Boomers are beginning to look at Medicare for coverage which will add to the number of people Medicare must cover.
John McCain has said that repairing the Medicare system will be extremely difficult. It will be more difficult to fix than reforming the Social Security System. He has also said that he wants to see changes in the Medicare system to pay providers for disease prevention and care coordination. If he becomes president he would also like to see a zero tolerance policy to deal with Medicare fraud and would not pay for preventable medical mistakes or mismanagement. He has said, “What we have to do with Medicare is have a commission – have the smartest people in America come together and come up with recommendations.”
Barak Obama, on the other hand, proposes a plan to increase Social Security taxes on people earning more than $250,000 per year. The change would not be immediate, but would take a decade or possibly more to implement. Obama feels that a program like this would keep the Social Security program stable and sound financially.
In addition, Barak Obama opposes proposals that would give a portion of Social Security money in personal investment accounts. This type of privatization is not a good idea. Obama does, however, want to reduce Medicare costs. He wants the federal government to be able to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower, much more affordable prescription drug prices. He wants the “donut hole” in Medicare prescription coverage to be closed. Currently there is a coverage gap called the donut hole that leaves seniors very vulnerable by forcing them to pay for their prescriptions once they reach a certain limit. Often, this leaves vulnerable seniors on limited incomes to often pay out thousands of dollars that they cannot afford. As a result, many of these seniors are not able to afford their medications, so they just go without.
Obama has stated : "Privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George Bush proposed it, and it is a bad idea today."
There are over 44 million individuals who depend upon Medicare to cover the majority of their medical bills. The problem that the majority of people have with Medicare is that it is confusing and hard to understand.
There is hope for Medicare beneficiaries and it will come through in November and December. Open enrollment period for Medicare runs from November 15th to December 31st. Any new coverage or options that a Medicare beneficiary opts for will go into effect on January 1, 2009.
It makes sense that people want to understand at least the basics about Medicare as Open Enrollment time approaches. They need to have and understand accurate information so they can figure out if they should change coverage.
Realizing the situation, Health Alliance Plan (HAP), out of Detroit, Michigan, is offering help in the form of a DVD entitled “Making Medicare Work for You.” An article in the Wall Street Journal describes the DVD as a helpful tool to research Medicare, and goes on to state that HAP's new "Making Medicare Work for You" DVD offers helpful information. Local experts, including a physician, a pharmacist and a representative from the Area Agency on Aging 1-B Medicare Medicaid Assistance Program, explain the basics of Medicare, options for extra coverage, how to choose a plan and more. "Making Medicare Work for You" also explains the "A-B-C-s" of Medicare, what Original Medicare doesn't cover, and what to do when your employer cancels your retiree health benefits. The DVD also covers the importance of preventive services and managing chronic conditions.
"This DVD was created for the general public, and is meant to be useful resource for anyone trying to better understand Medicare," said Karen Wintringham, vice president, Medicare and Public Sector Programs. "The DVD also explains how to prepare for the open enrollment period and what to consider when making your decision about a plan for the coming year."
In addition to the DVD, a videotape of the information is available. To get information or obtain a DVD or videotape of “Making Medicare Work for You" Call 1-800-971-7878, or TDD at 1-313-664-8000.
Reports have surfaced showing that many states have underestimated and under-funded the cost of long term care. Medicare has done so as well. This has left many seniors understandably worried.
The estimates for the costs of long term care seem to be nearly $4.5 billion dollars below actual costs of providing quality care. The main states affected are California, Florida, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Texas.
Because of the fact that the gap between what quality care costs and what Medicaid actually pays is substantial, states are looking for a solution to eliminate at least part of the shortfall. Extreme budget pressures have states in a quandary as to what to do. They are looking for extra dollars, because if they cannot make up at least part of the difference between cost of care and payment for care, some seniors may not be able to get long term care services.
The American Healthcare Association (AHCA) President and CEO, Bruce Yarwood, feels that “a post-election stimulus package must include state Medicaid relief to help prevent problems with accessing this essential care in 2009.” The long term care industry hopes this will happen. One bright sign is that the head of the Federal Reserve recently indicated that in order to bolster the country’s economy, federal dollars need to be injected into state budgets to help provide essential services.
According to the National Governors’ Association, combined state shortfalls total $50 billion for the fiscal year from July 2008 to July 2009. Without federal help this will be an insurmountable amount. In addition, Medicaid is being “propped up” by Medicare, according to Yarwood, who feels that this leaves Medicaid in a very vulnerable and precarious position.
For now, all that seniors can do is to protect themselves the best they can with the coverage they can get and wait to see what lawmakers will do when working out the federal budget. Hopefully they will see the value in helping states stabilize programs such as Medicaid to ensure long term care for the nation’s senior population.
It’s election time. You know what that means – it means that we will hear a variety of predictions as to what will be happening in the country regarding taxes, education and more. And of course, Medicare is in the middle of the mix.
Candidates will say anything and everything from “everything is just fine” to “the sky is falling, but I can save the planet.” It’s not easy to figure out what to believe or who to believe.
What we do know is that Medicare has some issues to deal with. Enrollment is rising while funds are shrinking. As a result, certain aspects of Medicare need to be restructured. There are more out of pocket expenses for Medicare recipients and there are some things that used to be paid for by Medicare that are no longer paid for in the same way.
For all the plusses and minuses, Medicare is still a program that helps many people who need it. Over 44 million people are enrolled in Medicare and are able to get healthcare, medical and other services that many of them would not be able to receive any other way. Some of the most financially vulnerable and health challenged individuals are able to receive continuous care because Medicare is available.
Granted, there will be some changes in the coming years to keep Medicare a viable program. Both candidates and the lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have ideas on what will need to happen to overhaul the Medicare system and the healthcare system to make them work for as many Americans as possible.
One candidate says that taxes won’t be affected, another says that taxes will go up, and then there are the pundits and news people. You can watch news on quite a few 24 hour news channels and hear each person’s show come up with a different analysis about what is going to happen.
The one thing we can all say about the elections and Medicare is that at least the people who are making the decisions in Washington are paying attention to the issues and talking about making sure that everyone has health coverage. That’s a start. All that the rest of us can do is wait until after the elections are over and see what actually gets done.
During the past few years, Medicare Advantage has become a more integral part of seniors’ health planning. Using basic Medicare and adding Medicare Advantage has been helpful to many Medicare beneficiaries including giving them some perks, such as gym memberships which could otherwise cost thousands of dollars. The added benefit to both seniors and Medicare is that the extras, such as gym membership encourages healthy living and can help prevent illness.
It is important that individuals who are thinking of enrolling in Medicare Advantage compare rates and coverage carefully. Since Medicare Advantage is private insurance and is not offered through Medicare, there can be issues that arise. Instead of paying your claims directly, the government pays private companies to do this through the Medicare Advantage plans.
Over 10 million seniors are enrolled in Medicare Advantage. Experts advise that especially during these difficult financial times seniors should look beyond some of the perks offered and compare private coverage to their traditional Medicare coverage.
There are various problems that seniors run into when they have left traditional Medicare for private coverage. One of the most common problems is that many physicians don’t accept Medicare Advantage; therefore many seniors are finding that they are in a position where they have to change doctors. For many, this can be traumatic for many reasons. Finding a new doctor who doesn’t know you (and who you don’t know) can be quite an ordeal. It has taken some people several months to either find a new doctor or go back to their old Medicare plan. Some individuals have had to go without medication during that period of time.
Many individuals are happy with Medicare Advantage. It is important, however, to determine what the plusses and minuses would be for you. Just because the agent tells you that you can continue with your old doctor, does not mean that it will be possible for your doctor to continue seeing you. Also, some individuals are finding that some medications and other out of pocket expenses are not covered as well as they were by their old Medicare policy, therefore costing them more money.
Before you change your coverage make sure you research to determine what will happen to your benefits in advance.
Studies that were just completed showed some interesting – and critical – facts about hospital care for those on Medicare.
Just as there are differences in the quality at various restaurants and hotels from 5 stars on down, the same is true of hospitals. There are hospitals that provide the best service and they are considered 5 star hospitals and there are hospitals that run all the way down to 1 star. The ratings are based on performance and outcomes.
The studies show that hospitals that treat mainly individuals on Medicare do not do nearly as good of a job as the ones that treat individuals with other forms of healthcare coverage.
The 11th Annual HealthGrades Hospital Study in America found that nearly 240,000 deaths of people covered by Medicare could have been prevented between 2005 and 2007 if the patients had been treated in higher level rather than lower level hospitals. This number represents 12% of all Medicare patient deaths.
Overall death rates declined during that period, however, the hospitals performing at the 5 star level reduced deaths much more quickly than those performing at lower levels. The higher performing hospitals had substantially fewer deaths than the lower performing ones.
The study did not publish names of individual hospitals, however the conclusion was that the best place to have treatment or surgery was in the “rust belt” the area of the Midwest where General Motors and Ford are located, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The worst place for good outcomes was the Deep South, especially in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Most of the deaths were related to preventable issues that are caused by the hospital in the vast majority of cases. The hospitals that performed more surgeries did better at controlling these issues. The more experience a surgeon has, the better choices they make and the less complications arise.
The study concluded that the chances of a death in the lowest rated hospitals is 70% higher than that in a 5 star hospital. The chances of death in a 3 star – or middle grade - hospital are 50% higher than in a 5 star hospital.
If you have to go to the hospital be sure to check the quality rating before you go, if possible. Before an emergency presents itself, check the ratings for all the hospitals in your area.
To check hospital ratings, you can look on the web at www.HealthGrades.com, a website designed to help people find hospital performance.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have been providing information regarding Medicare for a long time. Most of the information is geared toward individuals who are Medicare beneficiaries
Though this information is essential, CMS has realized the importance of providing information for caregivers. They have designed a web page for this purpose. The web page, www.medicare.gov/caregivers, discusses accurate information regarding many aspects of Medicare including what the Medicare program covers, access to services and resources to help care for a beneficiary.
Many times caregivers are family or close friends, and though they save the Medicare system over $350 billion per year (figures from 2006), they often don’t think of themselves as “official” caregivers and, until now, have not had access to information and tools specifically designed to make their caregiving easier.
The new web page will help in many ways. A caregiver’s job is exhausting. There is a lot for a caregiver to learn about benefits. A caregiver must be a staunch advocate. To help with these and other responsibilities, which can be quite overwhelming, there are direct links to other organizations who can help the 4.4 million unpaid caregivers who are simply trying to find enough information to help their loved ones.
Some sections of the page include “Navigating Medicare”, “Help with Billing” and “Care Options.” For caregivers who are overwhelmed and need help or support themselves there is a section that lists various options for help. A newsletter will come out on a bi-monthly basis starting in November of 2008.
An essential part of the goal of this web page is to lighten the load for caregivers, making it easier to care for the people they love. If you are a caregiver – paid or unpaid – take the time to check into this new web page. You may find the support you are looking for to help your loved one and yourself.
With the economy in a mess these days and the presidential elections only a few weeks away, candidates and lawmakers are saying all sorts of things about what they will be doing to fix the problem. They are “debating” about raising and lowering taxes, bailing out insurance companies and banks, and a thousand other ways to help the economy get straightened out.
One question that is continually asked by the public – especially seniors – is: What is going to happen to Medicare? We know that Medicare has its own financial struggles and needs support to stay solvent. The candidates say that they will continue to support Medicare.
The reality, however, is that there may be support for Medicare in the beginning – to get elected – but over time, there could be problems. For instance, John McCain has a record of trying to cut Medicare benefits and has stated that if he becomes president, he will cut $1.3 trillion from Medicare during the next 10 years to fund his healthcare plan. $1.3 trillion is a ton of money!
With Medicare struggling as it is, cutting this amount of money would severely limit the amount of new enrollees to the program and would create the need for extensive changes in coverage in order to save money. With the system running slim right now, how much more could we cut?
This would also cause individuals with private insurance to pay for many things out of their own pocket. Individuals who are retired and on limited incomes and who rely on Medicare are not usually in a position to do so. There would also be ramifications to individual states and to their Medicaid and CHIP programs.
In addition to all of this, there are hidden taxes that we don’t see. Besides shifting the cost of many types of care and procedures to the private insurance companies, the public would end up with the tax burden of funding the shortfall.
This may or may not be a good plan. It is not for the writers of this column to decide. It is important, however, before you vote, that you determine what the candidates propose to do regarding Medicare. They have finally laid out their plans to rescue the economy and somewhat deal with Medicare. Do your research so that you know what you will be voting for.
It stands to reason that the most vulnerable individuals in the United States who have some of the most extensive health problems and have paid into Social Security and Medicare while they worked for years, should not have to worry about how they will be able to get their medication. In their minds – and most of the rest of the nation’s – they have paid their money dutifully, month after month and year after year, and they were told that they wouldn’t have to worry when they got older and retired. They have been thinking that Medicare would take care of them and they would have the medical treatment – and medication – that they need to live as full a life as possible with their medical symptoms controlled as much as possible.
Unfortunately, for individuals who are in this situation and happen to have a very low income, it is not working out that way. What has happened is that with the “new and improved” Medicare prescription coverage, things have changed.
The new Medicare drug plans were introduced three years ago. At that time, numerous health insurance companies made bids to provide prescription coverage for low-income Medicare recipients because Medicare paid for part of the premiums, therefore the company was reimbursed, theoretically making money, not losing it.
Companies started realizing that they were not making the money on low-income individuals – especially those with serious or chronic illnesses – so they began bidding higher rates so that they would not get chosen to supply this coverage. Last year 1.2 million people had to be moved from one plan to another due to lack of companies providing prescription coverage. This year, the number will be even higher because there are even fewer companies offering low cost prescription coverage for low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
As a result, many of these Medicare enrollees could be left without enough coverage. They could be in a position where not all of their prescriptions are covered, yet they are among the sickest among us, and they cannot afford to be without their medication because it will seriously compromise their health and could lead to fatalities.
Studies have been done showing that this is the case, however, Medicare says that there will still be several choices of companies and prescription plans for low-income Medicare beneficiaries. The government automatically assigns these individuals to a plan that should cover their needs.
If you are on a limited or low income and have prescription drug coverage you can contact Medicare and/or your prescription plan and ask what will be happening for 2009. You are allowed to change plans at any time during the year. Make sure that you are covered. If you are not sure, contact your local Office on Aging, Medicaid Office or talk to your doctor’s billing office to get your questions answered.
We have been hearing a lot about computerized electronic prescriptions lately. The old joke about doctors’ handwriting seems to be true in many cases, and unfortunately, in too many situations, pharmacists can’t decipher the scribble and end up dispensing the wrong medication to patients. This is never a good thing, and though in many cases, the patient catches the mistake or the medication is not harmful to the patient, in a lot of cases the medication is not only harmful but fatal.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have been trying to get doctors to switch to electronic prescriptions to eliminate the high number of problems with prescription errors due to handwriting, but so far many doctors have been resistant. CMS has offered some bonuses if the doctors will at least give it a try, but there hasn’t been much acceptance of the idea.
Some doctors worry that all the software available to the pharmacies and the physicians will not be compatible, leading to other problems in addition to the handwriting issue. CMS says that Medicare expenses are increasing (as we all know), and that these mistakes due to handwriting issues are increasing expenses even more – especially when the wrong prescription has to be thrown away and a new one has to be filled.
CMS has gotten very serious about making the change to electronic prescriptions. They are offering cash back to the doctors who make the change and are error free. In order to get doctors to switch, which CMS says will make the system better, safer, more effective and efficient and more cost effective, doctors who go electronic will receive a 2% increase in their Medicare payments in 2009 and 2010 and a 1% increase in 2011 and 2012.
Only about 2% of all prescriptions are filled electronically every year. Because this number is so small and most of the rest of the prescriptions are handwritten, over 1.5 million patients – over 530,000 Medicare recipients – are harmed every year due to prescription mistakes. The Pharmacy Board has investigated thousands of prescriptions at random and found that there were high percentages of errors involving the type of medication prescribed, the dosage and wrong or incomplete directions.
At present, the Pharmacy Board is working on 48 different prescription programs. They are working with pharmacies and physicians to work out compatibility issues. In the meantime, if you can get your doctor to at least give you your prescriptions typed into his computer and printed out; there will be less room for error. CMS hopes to begin the electronic program by the end of this year.
Medicare fraud is not a new thing. It has, unfortunately, been going on for years. The problem is that years ago the amount of money at stake was not nearly as high and the Medicare system was not in nearly as much trouble financially. When you put those two factors together in today’s system, fraud is hitting Medicare harder during its most difficult time in the last 60 years.
For one thing, Medicare fraud has become a multi-billion dollar business. There are people making multiple millions of dollars defrauding Medicare every year. With Medicare funding being cut and with lawmakers trying to keep payments to doctors and healthcare professionals competitive enough so that they can afford to continue treating Medicare patients, just eliminating part of the fraud could provide the funding for the shortfall.
CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has been looking into the situation for quite some time now and is in the process of enhancing its anti-fraud efforts. They have announced that they will be implementing some aggressive new steps in cracking down on fraud.
Some of the changes CMS will be making include enlisting program integrity contractors who will study billing trends throughout the Medicare system. In doing so, when it finds providers whose billing is higher than or otherwise out of sync with the majority of other providers in their region, these providers will be audited. Since it is impossible for Medicare to look behind every claim, this is a cost effective way to look at any red flags that are going up.
In addition, another way that CMS will fight fraud will be to actually contact beneficiaries to be sure that they received the equipment or supplies that Medicare is being billed for and that these were the right equipment and were in good condition. Billing will be reviewed before and after payment and physicians who order an unusually high number of the same or related item(s) will be audited and/or reviewed as well.
These ideas alone, when implemented, should save Medicare millions of dollars. They should also discourage some individuals from engaging in fraud, as the penalties will be quite stiff and will be handled by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI if necessary. With this new program and the strength of law enforcement, hopefully fraud will decrease and the money saved by Medicare will be used to help the beneficiaries who need it.
Just when we are talking about going back to the basics of house calls on one end of the spectrum, the other end of the spectrum is beginning a pilot program in telemedicine.
House calls will begin being expanded soon and paid for by Medicare for those with multiple serious conditions and other situations that make house calls the best form of care for them.
Now, with that out of the way, Medicare is still looking for ways to provide effective and adequate treatment to patients while containing costs. They are finally looking at telemedicine.
Telemedicine has been around for quite some time now. Some private insurers have paid for certain treatment by telemedicine. For example, I have a nephew who was born with serious heart problems and had a pacemaker installed when he was younger, nearly a decade ago. Once his initial treatment was completed, telemedicine was used to keep him in sync of his heart surgeon and keep his heart surgeon abreast of his condition.
At the time, what would happen was that we would call a particular phone number and use our phone and another instrument to measure my nephew’s heart rate, heart rhythm, blood pressure and other vitals, as well as whether the pacemaker was working. The doctor would get the reports and then we would have a conference by phone. If there were problems or complications we would go to the local emergency room where my nephew’s doctor would communicate with the emergency room doctor by phone and computer. If things got too serious, we would get my nephew up to the Children’s Hospital where his doctor was on staff.
Today’s telemedicine is more advanced than it was a decade ago. There are cameras and TV screens that allow doctors and patients to see one another. Patients have some of the instruments such as stethoscopes, so that they can be instructed by the doctor when and how to use them so he can help them remotely. There are also touch screens patients can use to answer doctor’s questions to aid in a diagnosis.
Now that insurance companies – and Medicare – have realized what doctors and patients have been saying for years, they are finally trying telemedicine out. Doctors and patients have been telling insurers that it is better for everyone that telemedicine evaluations, where appropriate, cost under $1,500 on average as opposed to a hospital admission or other tests that often add up to somewhere between $2,500 to $15,000.
It is good news that Medicare is now looking at ways to see if telemedicine will work well for certain patients. If it only keeps a few patients out of each hospital, Medicare can save potentially over $100,000 per hospital while patients receive quality care. This is an issue to keep an eye on.
We have been hearing a lot lately about a new way that Medicare plans to keep the highest quality of procedures and services in hospitals. Most of the feedback has been excellent, except for – you guessed it – a few hospitals whose track records aren’t so great.
The new rules are considered a bold new plan to help the elderly, seniors and those who are ill. Basically, the rules have been put into place so that hospitals can and will be more careful in the way they perform everything from drawing blood to inserting a catheter to performing serious surgery.
Any and all of these procedures can cause complications such as serious infections, blood clots, pneumonia, the need for another surgery due to mistakes during the original surgery and more. Medicare has proposed not paying for these avoidable issues for a long time now, and the rules regarding the situation went into effect today.
It is important for patients to know that hospitals are not allowed to charge the patients for these types of issues that Medicare will not pay for. The reason that Medicare will not pay for them in these cases is because the hospital was at fault due to negligence or carelessness and should have to absorb the cost. It is hoped that if this happens in a particular hospital enough times, the amount of errors, problems and complications will decline.
This is a great step toward hospitals providing higher levels of service and keeping patients safer with better outcomes. Unfortunately, some states are not following Medicare’s lead and they are reimbursing certain hospitals – especially in low-income areas – anyway. Even though Medicare states that these complications and other issues are not acceptable, some areas are reimbursing them which lets them know that some losses are acceptable, service does not have to get better and in low-income areas you get what you get.
Most states are following Medicare’s lead and looking to hospitals to make the necessary changes to become safer. Hopefully this will eventually take place throughout every state in the country. Until then, depending upon where you live, you are most likely a lot safer in the hospital today than you were yesterday before the rules went into effect.
Home health care is not a new concept. In fact, for centuries, that was pretty much how health care was administered. A person fell ill and someone in the household fetched the local doctor to come to the home, make a diagnosis, prescribe treatment and a plan and wait to see how the patient fared.
This method of health care worked pretty well for several reasons. For one, the person who was ill – especially if they were quite ill – did not have to struggle through the exertion of leaving their home, their family and their bed to go out and take the ride to the doctor’s office which could be quite a distance away. In addition, they could stay home and sleep or rest while waiting for the doctor, not exposing themselves to the elements especially during the cold times of year that brought rain, sleet, ice, hail and snow. Most of the time the doctor knew his patients and when given the description of the medical situation at hand by the individual who went to fetch the doctor, the doc knew what medicines and tools were needed and brought them to the house.
Today we live in a medical world full of incredible research, extensive hospital systems and services and doctors who specialize in everything from headaches to heartburn to hangnails to heart replacement. Medical breakthroughs happen daily and the progress being made is extraordinary.
All of this being the case, however, there are still those among us who would do better having more of their healthcare performed at home. Chronically ill patients – especially with more than one serious illness – and seniors who find it harder and harder to get around could benefit from having health care performed at home more often than having to go to a doctor’s office, a clinic or a hospital for routine care.
In recognition of the situation, two senators have sponsored a bill that would keep seniors at home and pay for doctors, nurses or other medical practitioners to visit them there. The bill would involve doctors or nurses creating a plan of care with the patient and showing that overall, the plan which would include more home care, would help the patient more and save at least 5% of what they are paying now. If doctors could do this, they could keep 80% of any savings over 5% as an incentive, which would help the doctors and save the Medicare system money.
Even with all the fancy medicine we have available to us today, it is good to know that we have come full circle on a few things that will help seniors and chronically ill patients get good care while remaining comfortable at home when possible.
