[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 129 (Friday, September 21, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PROVIDING QUALITY HOME CARE SERVICES

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 20, 2012

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the need for 
strategies to maintain and improve access to home-based medical and 
long-term care services.
  As the Co-Chair of the Seniors Task Force, I am committed to ensuring 
seniors get the care that need in the setting that they prefer. Today, 
three and a half million Medicare beneficiaries get home health 
services, allowing them to live independently in their own homes while 
getting the medical care they need. Home healthcare provides skilled, 
safe and effective medical treatments that once were available only a 
hospital or doctor's office, allowing seniors and people with 
disabilities to receive necessary medical care without needing 
transportation to a doctor's office or admission to a hospital. Home 
health care is good for individuals and their families, and it also is 
good for taxpayers. Home healthcare services saved Medicare $2.81 
billion dollars between 2006 and 2009.
  As we head into this fall's debate on sequestration and alternative 
budget proposals, I urge my colleagues to remember the importance of 
home health care to seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare 
and to avoid cuts that will threaten the services upon which they rely.
  Twelve million adults--seniors and adults with disabilities--need 
long-term care services but Medicaid is currently unable to meet all 
their needs. The problem will become even more serious in the future, 
since it is estimated that 27 million Americans will need long-term 
services by 2050. Yet, our nation still lacks a comprehensive approach 
to meet current and future long-term care needs.
  I have introduced H. Res. 759 to express support for a comprehensive 
approach to provide the home care workforce and long-term care services 
we need in order to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities 
are able to live at home and enjoy a dignified quality of life. It is 
time not just for a national discussion, but for national solutions.
  We know that we have to address the cost of health and long-term 
care, but there is a right way to deal with those costs and a wrong 
way. The wrong answer would be to target vulnerable seniors and people 
with disabilities--denying them home healthcare and long-term care 
options or shifting the financial burdens to family caregivers. Large 
Medicare and Medicaid cuts, vouchers and block grants would do real 
harm to real people. Higher cost-sharing requirements will price 
essential services out of reach.
  Instead, we need to look for ways to lower health care costs across-
the-board by eliminating fraud and abuse, giving Medicare authority to 
use its bargaining power to negotiate for lower drug prices as the VA 
does, encouraging greater efficiency in the delivery of care, and 
encouraging the use of cost-effective health care services, including 
home healthcare services.
  As we undertake serious budget discussions this fall, we must 
carefully consider the real-life impacts of the choices before us. I 
will be working to make sure that we protect and improve our ability to 
meet the home healthcare and long-term care needs of seniors and people 
with disabilities.

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