As people age, they typically need more help doing everyday things, whether it's getting the groceries or taking a shower or remembering to take their meds. In many cases, even limited assistance can allow a senior to remain in their home for many years, even decades.
The logical program to provide in-home services is Medicare, which pays for most of seniors’ medical care. But Medicare does not cover them. Medicare does cover skilled medical services like physical therapy or nursing care when you’re ill or recovering from an illness or surgery, but you must be certified by a doctor as homebound, and even then it will not cover non-medical home services such as help bathing or dressing or preventive aids such as grab bars. The end result is that many seniors end up spending down their resources to be eligible for Medicaid to get the non-medical care they need in order to live at home. The system makes middle class people become poor to get the care they need – and, ultimately, states pick up the tab. Medicaid has been covering a growing portion of long-term care in the U.S. – 53% in 2018.
But 2019 ushers in help at home services for Medicare – and the change may be the catalyst for a more dramatic transformation in healthcare delivery and effectiveness. In a move that was largely overshadowed by other political turbulence, the CHRONIC Care Act – sponsored by Sens. Orrin Hatch and Rob Wyden – became law last February as a part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The act allows Medicare Advantage (private Medicare) plans to offer a wider array of supplemental benefits to the chronically ill, and exempts these benefits from the requirement that they be “primarily health-related.” [...]
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