New York -- August 29, 2019
Medicare’s coverage for home health care does not currently match the demand. Non-medical home care is largely not covered. Coverage for medical home care is quite limited. Medicare should review policies in this area in light of the lower cost of home health care, its favorable impact on recovery and the preference seniors are expressing for it. For many, home health care may be an interim step to home medical care and then nursing homes. But if the elderly have their way, they want to stay home.
New technologies will make it easier for seniors to do so. An April 2012 Pew Research Center survey found for the first time more than half of older adults (defined as those ages 65 or older) were Internet users. As of 2013, the number had grown to 59 percent, a six percent growth in one year. In addition, 77 percent of older adults have a cell phone, up from 69 percent in April 2012. Seniors are adopting tools that help them develop a positive attitude about their health, and serve as a means to deliver new approaches to safety, socialization and more.