In spite of a few laws remaining at a stalemate in Congress, the role of the home care agencies however cannot be overlooked in reality. Courtesy, the Kaiser Family Foundation you will come to know a lot of facts and figures that will make this point very clear to you.
As expected, the use of home health care and their demand increases when people grow old. With age people face a lot of disabilities in their daily life, especially if they have undergone a recent surgery. As per the recent findings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services it is revealed that:
- In these present times the baby boomers are contributing significantly in reducing the rate of Medicare spending.
- It also shows that most of the people are in the early stages of Medicare which means that they have turned 65 very recently and have enrolled in a program.
- This results in a younger average age for the beneficiaries of Medicare which in turn promises a healthier group of senior population overall.
However, in reality the picture is a little different from what it should have been. It is seen that since 2011 there were about 77 million baby boomers only that were found to be eligible to qualify for Medicare.
About the projections and provisions
According to the projections made at that time by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the rate of health care spending in this decade was supposed to rise but it will rise at a rate that is significantly lower rate than the spending rate in the past. However, it was eventually found that in reality the situation was dire in the period that followed.
The report of the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that:
- The populace of people of 80 years and over will be more in the near future
- It is expected to triple between 2010 and 2050
- There will be a slightly declining deficit this year and in the next but soon after that it will start moving further north.
Why? This is because people are less likely to be healthy as they age and as a result will need more health care. This will in turn and invariably raise the cost of health care.
Analyzing the data of Kaiser Family Foundation
According to the data of Kaiser Family Foundation it is found that at present there are more than two thirds of all of the elder patients are enrolled in a Medicare home health program for different types of medical requirements such as:
- Chronic conditions
- Specific functional impairments such as difficulty in walking
- Recovery from a surgery and others.
This has resulted in a provision in the Medicare Home Care Act that specifically allows the government to pay for these particular beneficiaries so that they can receive due care from a home care agency at their homes, provided the doctor certifies and suggests that it is required for the specific medical conditions.
- According to the provision however, Medicare will not reimburse the costs of nursing home services.
- On the other hand, the provision allows Medicaid to assist those specific patients who have an asset value of less than $2,000.
With such provisions made in accordance with the laws of the government, it has helped the players and policy makers in the medical industry. They can formulate better policies knowing what type of and how much the rise in demand for home health care is expected in the coming years. The data of Kaiser Family Foundation more significantly points out that:
- The demand will be much more than it was in the recent past years
- It will increase from 7% share of Medicare that was in 2000 to 8.8% in 2011.
However, in spite of such predictions and projections, the home health care providers seem to be more optimistic about the future of this industry. They are now able to handle the situation and outcomes in a much better way.
Results of the analysis
Therefore, it can be concluded that the need for home health care service providers will be rising continually and there will be more and more new players taking entry to this specific industry. This will result in a few concerns as all will not be created equally.
- These resources must be restricted and governed properly so that people who want them get exactly the type of services that they require and
- You should choose the right type of health care service provider for your at-home care.
This means you will need to know exactly what you are entitled to receive and how exactly you should interview a home health care aide.
Tips to interview home care aides
According to the Institute of Medicine report, people feel that home care provides them with dignity and a better quality of life. It is also a less expensive. However, in order to make sure that it stays that way you will have to focus more on the quality and value and not only the cost. If you cut the cost which is very easy to do, you may run into the risk of having more horrific outcomes. Here are a few steps to follow to interview a home health care aide:
- Ask about the service plans of the home health care agency
- Ask about the qualities and experience of the home care aides
- Find how their services and qualities match with your needs
- Ask whether or not they assist in informal circumstances apart from medical services
- Always hire the services of a trained and licensed professional nurse or any assistant who is certified but remember license requirements can vary from state to state and also
- Check their personal characteristics as they will become an intimate part of the senior patient.
Since personal care is more about companionship you will need to check the dynamics between the care giver and the patient to ensure building a place of trust with the elderly patient.
Lastly, ask for information of preceding job history and call these references for additional background checks and evaluation.
