Health Care Reform on the Backs of the Elderly?

There's something about the air in Washington, D.C. that apparently addles the brain of lawmakers. Witness the debate in the U.S. Senate on proposed cuts to home health care services for the elderly in order to pay part of the bill for expanding health care coverage to 30 million additional Americans.

Under the proposal, according to the New York Times on Saturday (December 6, 2009), home care would absorb a disproportionate share of the cuts.It currently accounts for 3.7 percent of the Medicare budget, but would absorb 10.2 percent of the savings squeezed from Medicare by the House bill and 9.4 percent of savings in the Senate bill, says the Congressional Budget Office. Over the next 10 years, that translates into a $55 billion cut if the House version prevails or $43 billion if the Senate has its way. Any way you slice it, that's a substantial reduction to a service that you'd think would be untouchable, because it keeps the elderly out of hospitals and nursing homes, which are more costly to the Medicare system in the long run given the rapidly aging population.

Perhaps U.S. lawmakers should check out a new report on health care strategies for an aging society that was prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (www.GetinsideHealth.com) before slashing coverage for the elderly. The international news magazine was commissioned by the Phillips Lifeline medical alert service to explore future directions for health care systems.

"People tend to put older people in a ghetto and talk about them as an added burden for everyone else. We have to 'mainstream' aging, and not keep it a segregated issue," says Susan Eng, vice president, advocacy for CARP, the largest advocacy association for older Canadians, in an advitorial for the study. That seems like sound advice for lawmakers who are coming up for re-election next year.

And, That's That...