Home Care for the Elderly

Letter to the Editor New York Times, July 13, 2008 To the Editor: Re “As Gas Prices Soar, Elderly Face Cuts in Aid” (front page, July 5): Elderly and disabled home-care patients are at risk of losing services and being forced to live in costly institutional settings. The cost of motor fuel is resulting in home care aides’ taking jobs with less travel, being unable to serve rural cases, and even running out of fuel on the way to visit patients. Government must begin to reverse this disturbing trend with greater investment in cost-efficient home care, which is also preferred by patients. Additional financing for Medicare must be made available for rural patients; telehealth services, in which patients are monitored remotely, should be reimbursable by Medicaid and Medicare. The desire and need for home and community-based care are growing. Government officials are urged to intervene immediately to maintain and enhance this kind of care. Phyllis A. WangEast Greenbush, N.Y., July 10, 2008 The writer is president of the New York State Association of Health Care Providers.