Harris proposed to expand Medicare to provide home care to help with the costs of long-term care. This would be the first major expansion of Medicare since the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003

Although the proposal is not fully specified, it “recognizes that the vast majority of seniors with long-term care needs are still able to live in their homes with an average of 20 hours or less a week of care,”

* The new benefit includes cost sharing requirements that vary by income.

The proposal notes that similar home care proposals have been estimated to cost about $40 billion per year

KFF estimates that 14.7 million Medicare beneficiaries (23% of those living in the community) would potentially be eligible for the new Medicare home care benefit.

* This estimate is based on eligibility criteria used in similar proposals: having two or more limitations in activities of daily living and/or a serious cognitive impairment.
* Roughly 700,000 are on waiting lists for home care because the number of people seeking services exceeds the number of people states can serve.

Type of Care| Care Required |Annual Median Costs
—-|—-|—-
Home Health Aide|(40 hrs/week) | $68,640
Home Health Aide| (24/7)| $288,288
Assisted Living Facility | (Private One Bedroom)| $64,200
Nursing Home |(Semi-Private Room)|$104,025

* A total of 24,092 recipients received nursing home care from Alabama Medicaid at a cost of $965 million.
* To those not in Medicaid, wanting the best, The most expensive Nursing Home in Alabama is Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center & Nursing Home which costs $335 per day ($120,600 a year)

!ping Health-Policy

I really like this idea, getting patients home with what they need is a pain in the ass