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H. C. Covington (ach1@sprynet.com)
Mon, 26 Jan 1998 23:28:53 -0600
NEWS AND ADVOCACY NOTES:
The Medicare Commission
Friday, January 23, 1998; Page A26 The Washington Post
THE ADVISORY commission on the financing of Medicare now has a chairman --
Sen. John Breaux <D -Louisiana>-- and an agreement between the two
political parties to share control. The panel is ready to start work. The
task of narrowing the gap between projected revenues and costs is obviously
complicated. Since a seventh of the population already looks to the program
for its health care, *it is also important that it be done well*. To that
end, we offer some guidelines as the members begin their year of
deliberations.
<snip>
Full text can be found here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/23/039l-012398-idx.html
------------------------------
Personal comments:
Please remember if you are in Louisiana, Senator Breaux and Senator Landrui
are very interested in Health Care as a whole and have been VERY helpful to
the State in Medicare/Medicaid issues. They hear from groups all over the
nation, but most of all they need to hear from US directly by fax, phone
and mail.
Each of you that write a letter represents the hundreds that do not, and
our Senators listen to those that write or call them. I have made seven
trips to Washington in the past year and have seen first hand what a little
common sense and persistence can do.
Remember, in Home Health, the issue is NOT about our agencies. The issue
is about the patients and the dozen or so voters attached to every home
health patient in the state. If you agency has 150 patients then your
voice (in their eyes) may be representing 1500 to 2000 voters in your area.
That is quite a large number and they will listen to your concerns about
your community's needs.
They nor HCFA are able to really care about your agency, but they can
relate to the void in Health care Delivery that may develop -- particularly
in the rural and more remote areas with the Elderly and at-risk populations
we serve. If your agency is also serving the medically needy children, you
have an even louder cry from the wilderness as each of the States
implements additional services and funding in this area.
As you can appear to be more of a Health Care Delivery System to the
elderly, disabled adults, at-risk children and Mentally Challenged in your
community the more support that you will find financially and politically.
We must get out of the box of "Medicare Only Traditional Home Bound Care"
and into the business of extending the Doctor's, Clinics and the Hospitals
reach into the community. We in Home Health are NOT the beginning of the
Continuum of Care, but we are one of the most important links to
maintaining the Continuum and extending it into the home where (Wellness)
Illness Prevention can be taught and practiced.
This is a time of opportunity not one of disaster, but we must open our
eyes and lift our sails WITH the wind of change and not against the winds
of change. Here in Cajun Country, there is a common saying that "If it
ain't broke, don't fix it!" Well, the truth is that Home Health is broken,
whether we had anything to do with it or not -- we now can be a continuing
part of the problem or we can decide that we WILL be part of the proactive
solution to extend Home Health to the position of total health delivery in
the community that it was (is) intended to be for the people -- young and
old of Louisiana.
In the rural and small town areas, we must truly learn to work and join
together -- otherwise we will all fall alone, wondering "What happened?"
........ At the start of the year, HCFA published data that indicated
there are 10,000 stand alone HHA's in the country and of those, some 40% to
60%are at risk due to low patient census, high administrative cost or other
factors which indicate (to us) they will not survive the next three to six
months, no matter what the "Bonding Issue" does to the industry.
In our area (and even on this list) agencies are "giving away"(?) patients
to other HHA's as they have realized they can not operate with the current
and the coming changes to the industry. Others are selling out wholesale
as they are now having trouble making payrolls and keeping cash flow
moderated to match expenses.
Soap box is now put away -- have a great week!
H. C. Sonny Covington @ I CAN! America
427 St. John Street - Lafayette, LA 70501
(318) 235-7005 Fax 318-234-0953