November is National Home Care & Hospice Month

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and many Americans will be making their way home to spend quality time with family and friends. And while there is much to be thankful for, perhaps “home” might be the most important of all.

November is National Home Care and Hospice Month, a time dedicated to preserving andrecognizing the need for home health and hospice, while giving thanks to the many dedicated skilled nurses, therapists, and aides across the United States who care for our homebound seniors.

Home healthcare is not only the preferred choice of most seniors; it also provides the most value. Seniors who rely on Medicare for vital home care services costs an average of $44 per day, compared to hundreds – or even thousands – of dollars per day for care in costlier settings. With baby boomers becoming eligible for Medicare last year, home health services are poised to play a key role in the coming years.

Despite its bright future, home health services are facing deep Medicare cuts by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This past summer, CMS proposed cuts of 14 percent totaling about $21.5 billion, which do not include over $72 billion in prior funding cuts to the home health community since 2009.

Drastically reduced reimbursements for home care would be devastating for the more than 3.5 million seniors and disabled Americans who rely on Medicare’s home health benefit. So while thinking of home and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, please take just a few moments to join the thousands who have already written letters to lawmakers in Washington D.C., urging the President to protect seniors from the impact of home health cuts.  Click here to write the Obama Administration to ask it to protect funding for home healthcare for America’s seniors.