In a recent article by Gary Passmore, vice president of the Congress of California Seniors, he outlines the problem with the current IHSS system and the solution currently being proposed through the Let’s Get Healthy at Home legislation. Mr. Passmore also explains why the Congress of California Seniors is standing behind this legislation.
That’s why the Congress of California Seniors has joined with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and representatives of In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) consumers and providers from across the state to strengthen the role home care plays in the health care experience for seniors and people with disabilities. Our plan keeps seniors and people with disabilities healthier, protects their independence and drives down costs.
California’s low-income seniors and people with disabilities rely on a fragmented system of medical care and long-term care services. These systems don’t talk to each other, much less work together to support our goals of living healthy at home.
Further, the current system is not structured to prioritize quality health outcomes. Since Medicare and Medi-Cal payments to medical providers are based on specific services performed in doctors’ offices and hospitals, providers do not have an incentive to keep patients healthy at home rather than in an expensive hospital or nursing home. Given the growing population of seniors and stark budget realities, a system with this kind of built-in bias is not sustainable.
California’s low-income seniors need an integrated system that shifts financial incentives in favor of long-term care that is focused on prevention and wellness, so we stay healthier and require fewer costly medical interventions and reduced hospital and nursing home stays. As the population of IHSS recipients is expected to double over the next 10 years to more than 800,000, we can confront these choices now or wait to have them forced upon us.
Read the whole article at: http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/coordinated-care-key-saving-health-care-seniors
