Increased Gas Prices Prompt Many Home Health Agencies To Reduce Services For Elderly Clients

Main Category: Seniors / Aging
Also Included In: Caregivers / Homecare;  Public Health
Article Date: 08 Jul 2008 - 6:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Many agencies that provide home health and other services to elderly clients have begun to reduce their services as a result of increased gasoline prices, with the problem most prevalent among agencies in rural areas, the New York Times reports. According to a survey recently released by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, half of the agencies have reduced services because of increased gas prices, and 90% plan to reduce services in fiscal year 2009.

The agencies maintain that they face a shortage of workers because the jobs are low paying and require a large amount of travel for only a few hours of work. A survey recently released by the National Association for Home Care and Hospice found that in 2006 home health and hospice workers drove 4.8 billion miles to serve 12 million clients.

The agencies have asked Congress to factor increased gas prices into Medicare reimbursements and to reinstate special increases in reimbursements for those in rural areas included in a program that expired in 2006. Val Halamandaris, president of NAHC, said, "If we lose these agencies in rural areas, we'll never get them back" (Leland, New York Times, 7/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.