The Nation - News from Feb. 7, 1988

The Administration is cutting back home health care benefits under Medicare at a time when they are needed more than ever, Rep. Claude Pepper (D-Fla.) said in releasing a study by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO said the trend runs counter to what experts expected to find in the wake of a new hospital payment system, started in 1981, that encourages quicker discharge of patients. The payment changes have reduced the elderly’s hospital stays from an average of 9 1/2 days in 1983 to 7 1/2 days now, Pepper said. Over the same period, studies have shown a doubling of demand for some home health services, he said. Pepper said that since 1984, the Administration has spent $2.4 billion less than Congress estimated was needed for home health and nursing home benefits. Pepper, chairman of the House Select Committee on Aging’s health subcommittee, has introduced a bill providing comprehensive home health care services to the chronically ill of all ages.