President Obama\u2019s mendacious political promise, \u201cIf you like your health care plan, you can keep it,\u201d continues to cast a long and disturbing shadow of doubt and confusion over millions of Americans who have lost coverage as a result of Obamacare. As 2014 unfolds, the most vulnerable senior citizens \u2014 those who receive home health care services \u2014 are about to learn they are out of luck. Obamacare opens a trap door under them, leaving this elderly population in freefall \u2014 with many citizens losing access to home health care.<\/p>\n
Add another compelling reason to reverse Obamacare. Whether by accident or intention, the \u201cAffordable Care Act\u201d empirically strips America\u2019s oldest and poorest cohort, all part of the World War II generation, of this basic coverage. Here is how.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 1, Medicare\u2019s home health care services, formerly serving 3.5 million elderly beneficiaries across the country, were cut under Obamacare. The cut deleted exactly 14 percent, or an estimated $22 billion, from these lowest-income Americans over four years. News of the forthcoming cut only trickled out the Friday before Thanksgiving, yet another stunning attempt by the Obama White House to reduce Medicare benefits without attracting notice.<\/p>\n
Guess what? We noticed. This cut does irreparable damage to recipients of Medicare\u2019s home health care services, those who are aged, homebound and sicker than the average Medicare population. Indeed, nearly two-thirds of Medicare home health care users live at or below the federal poverty level, meaning they are the most economically compromised of America\u2019s precious senior citizens.<\/p>\n
This cut is an indictment of White House policies. Home health care agencies have always provided services to homebound Medicare beneficiaries. No hoopla, but when these Americans needed skilled care, they got it. In contrast to expensive hospital care, critical health care services got into millions of American homes via clinicians. Home health care was \u2014 and still is \u2014 vital. It is also now effectively gone for these Americans.<\/p>\n
How did home health care save money for taxpayers? Using 2009 as a reference year, Medicare\u2019s average Part A and Part B payment for a home health care visit was $145, compared to $373 per day in a skilled nursing facility or a whopping $1,805 per day in a hospital. In addition, according to one leading expert, skilled home health care services saved the Medicare program $2.8 billion during the most recent three-year period. Approximately $670 million of that savings is attributable to 20,000 fewer hospital readmissions.<\/p>\n