Wisconsin in study to improve nursing home care - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Wisconsin in study to improve nursing home care - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Wisconsin was one of four states chosen to participate in a national project designed to improve care and quality of life for residents of nursing homes while reducing Medicare costs, the state Department of Health Services said Thursday.

The Medicare Nursing Home Value Based Purchasing Demonstration, run by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is designed to include 100 state nursing homes that will participate on a volunteer basis……

Jewish Organizations Urge “Fiscal Discipline” and LTC Reform at PHInational.org

Jewish Organizations Urge “Fiscal Discipline” and LTC Reform at PHInational.org

Nineteen national Jewish organizations and nearly 90 local ones have signed a letter to the U.S. Congress that urges “fiscal discipline” in crafting the FY2010 budget and singles out long-term care as one of the areas most in need of attention in the push for comprehensive health care reform.

The letter points out the Jewish community’s longstanding commitment to ending poverty and applauds “President Obama’s pledge to fix our broken healthcare system and his commitment to safeguarding funding for the most vulnerable members of our society during these unprecedented economic times”…..

Somerset Dementia Patients Trial Global Tracking Technology

Somerset Dementia Patients Trial Global Tracking Technology

Somerset dementia patients are amongst the first in country to benefit from a new personal tracking device which makes use of up-to-the-minute Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to avoid people with dementia wandering or becoming lost.
The tracker is carried by the patient, or fastened to their clothes, and allows their location to be monitored by their carers on a map via a secure website……

Primary Care Shortage In US: Workforce Solutions Proposed To House Health Subcommittee By President Of American College Of Physicians

Primary Care Shortage In US: Workforce Solutions Proposed To House Health Subcommittee By President Of American College Of Physicians

"The United States is experiencing a primary care shortage the likes of which we have not seen," Jeffrey P. Harris, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), told the House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee. "The demand for primary care in the U.S. will grow exponentially as the nation's supply of primary care dwindles."
The reasons behind the decline in the supply of primary care physicians are multi-faceted and complex, Dr. Harris added. They include the rapid rise in medical education debt, decreased income potential for primary care physicians, failed payment policies, and increased burdens associated with the practice of primary care……

Michigan Elder Law--Asset Protection and Planning for Long-term Care

Michigan Elder Law--Asset Protection and Planning for Long-term Care

When both spouses of a married couple need nursing home care, the most immediate result is a catastrophic bill of $12,000.00 per month or more. Without the advice of an elder law attorney, the couple will continue to spend down assets until their assets reach just $4,000.00 in cash. Substantially better results can be achieved with some planning, but understanding how to proceed in these circumstances is a delicate matter. The rules are counter-intuitive.

Michigan’s Program Eligibility Manual (which is used by the Department of Human Services to determine eligibility for Medicaid) does not have any clear policies on point to help families facing this situation. The rules allowing a healthy spouse to shelter assets above $2,000.00 do not apply because both spouses are in the nursing home. There is therefore no community spouse….

The Role of Long-Term Care in Health Reform

The Role of Long-Term Care in Health Reform

….Reform should offer more alternatives to Medicaid in order to divert people from needing Medicaid in the first place and Medicaid itself must be rebalanced. In this respect, Vermont provides a model for serious consideration. Patrick Flood, Deputy Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, has described how Vermont has abandoned the out-dated Medicaid structure of long-term care, and leveled the playing field between institutional and home care with the option of self-direction:

In 2005, Vermont received approval from CMS for an 1115 Waiver to re-design our Medicaid long term care system. The goals for the Waiver were to:

  • Provide equal access to either a nursing home or home based care services
  • Serve more people
  • Manage the overall costs of long term care.

Three years later, it is clear that the Waiver has succeeded beyond what Vermont hoped for. We are serving many more people than we could have under the old system. The number of new persons we can admit each year to our home based alternative programs has grown 2-3 times over what we could in the old system. Nursing home use continues to decline gradually. Overall costs of the system have remained manageable.[10]…..