It sounds like a great idea: Move people out of long-stay nursing facilities and back into their communities, and give them flexibility to spend government dollars on the care they need. Such a change could make care more person-centered and reduce costs. But a federal/state demonstration aimed at achieving that goal has moved very few people. For six years, the federal government and state [...]
For years, it has been an article of faith that Medicare would not pay for services such as skilled nursing or physical therapy unless that care improved a patient’s health status. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard doctors, nursing homes administrators, and even case workers say Medicare would stop paying once a patient was no longer getting better. [...]
A new Medicare payment model would encourage health systems to provide fully-integrated medical care for people with chronic disease, according new bipartisan legislation sponsored by senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and congressmen Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and Peter Welch (D-VT). The measure would allow, but not require, participating providers to offer long-term services and supports as well as medical [...]
Congress is about to agree to a bipartisan budget for 2014 that will at best freeze federal spending for many critical senior services. In a few cases, the fiscal plan will increase funding a bit from the low levels driven by last year’s across-the-board “sequester” spending cuts. But for the most part, programs will have to meet growing demand for [...]
Imagine your widowed father is 96 and living alone in a distant city. He’s got severe heart disease and mild dementia but is still competent to make his own choices. And is decision is: He refuses to move to a care facility but will not accept any supports and services that could help him remain safely at home. He won’t let [...]
The Washington Post published an extensive investigative story on hospice the other day. The take away: Hospices (mostly for-profits) are making big bucks by manipulating their case loads to maximize Medicare payments. In short, they are taking on many patients who are frail but not dying and thus staying on hospice care for a very long time. But the Post [...]
Despite widespread claims that doctors are fleeing Medicare, more than 9 in 10 still accept new Medicare patients and fewer than 1 percent have quit the program. The vast majority of seniors have regular access to a doctor and can find a physician when they need one. And Medicare patients are no more likely than others to have to wait [...]
After Thomas J. McInerney took the helm of insurance giant Genworth Financial Inc. last January, he ordered an intensive review of the firm’s long-term care insurance business. Genworth was one of the biggest players in the market, but the industry was struggling and investors unhappy. In an exclusive interview, McInerney tells Caring for Our Parents about his decision to stay [...]
After an intense internal review, the nation’s dominant long-term care insurance company has decided to continue selling policies. However, Genworth Financial Inc. is making major changes in the way it plans to manage its future business including asking regulators for smaller but more frequent premium increases on new policies. Genworth CEO Thomas J. McInerney told institutional investors this morning that [...]
Despite the fears of consumer advocates and the predictions of many insurance companies, seniors are flocking to Medicare Advantage managed care plans. It shouldn’t be a surprise since premiums for these policies are a fraction of the cost of traditional fee-for-service Medicare. This shift may be one driver of the recent slowdown in the growth of health care costs and [...]