For the first time since President Bush's ill-fated effort to privatize Social Security five years ago, the future of the nation's flagship retirement program is back on the policy agenda. For example, Social Security will almost certainly be an issue for President Obama's deficit reduction commission. Unfortunately, we may be headed for the same non-productive shouting match we had over the Bush [...]
The Senate Finance Committee has begun an investigation into four big home-health agencies that, it alleges, artificially inceased their home therapy visits to take advantage of higher Medicare billing rates. A May 12 letter from committee chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and senior Republican Charles Grassley (R-IA) asked the four for-profit agencies--Amedisys, Almost Family Inc. Gentiva Health Services, and LHC Group-- for records and [...]
Receiving personal care at home, as opposed to in a nursing facility or other institution, is not possible without two things: Somebody to provide the assistance and an appropriate place to live. A southern Virginia minister has come up with a possible solution to the second. MEDCottage is a portable, modular self-contained 24x12 dwelling that could be attached to the home [...]