Budget Proposal Seeks Home Health Care Copay

As we head into the wrap up of OEP Congress and the President will be busy trying to work on making Medicare a fiscally viable program. One of the latest proposals would affect Medicare’s Home Health Care benefit:

• A large portion of the proposed budgetary increase is supposed to come from instituting $100 Medicare copayments for Medicare patients who use home health care. 
• The $100 copayment is supposed to produce $730 million from patients who currently use home health care but do not pay for the services they receive.
• The proposed copayment would apply to episodes of care requiring five or more visits over a period of 60 days or less, which in 2008 would have applied to 63 percent of episodes.
• The problem with the assumption that many people are using home health care that could instead seek outpatient care is that home health care prevents a lot of inpatient hospital stays.

Join us at Senior Marketing Specialist for the first of two webinars this Wednesday November 20^th to find out more about an inexpensive answer to help your clients recover at home, regardless of other coverage including Medicare.

Paying the Bills When Medicare Stops

UPDATE: Did you miss the webinar? Good thing we recorded it!

If you have any questions after the webinar give us a call at 1-800-689-2800.

 

  

In 1983 Medicare implemented the DRG Prospective Payment System for hospitals. This system caused patients to leave the hospital as soon as their condition was stabilized in what the Mayo Clinic would call “Quicker and Sicker."

October 1, 2012 Medicare Limits Hospital Readmissions*. More than 2,000 hospitals — including some nationally recognized ones — will be penalized by the government starting in October because many of their patients are readmitted soon after discharge.

Together, these hospitals will forfeit more than $280 million in Medicare funds over the next year. 

Nearly 2 million Medicare beneficiaries are readmitted within 30 days of release each year, costing Medicare $17.5 billion in additional hospital bills.*

So, what does all this mean??? The aforementioned phrase from the Mayo Clinic, “Quicker and Sicker”,  resonates today more than ever.

At Senior Marketing Specialists we have dedicated the month of June to Home Health Care and our NEW product from Kemper, Senior Solutions Home Health Care Insurance Plan.

 

With all the changes taking place in Medicare and health care in this country the need for policies paying cash to seniors in addition to Medicare and their Medicare supplemental plans is growing at an unprecedented rate.

Watch for webinars and more articles this month and ask yourself; “How will my clients pay the bills when Medicare stops.”

*http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2012/August/13/medicare-hospitals-readmissions-penalties.aspx