To the editor:

The Visiting Nurses Assn. got a slap in the face when Medicare and Medicaid cut their reimbursement rates for badly needed services and then required installation of an expensive computer system to handle the claims for reimbursement.

Although the nurses clearly did everything necessary to trim expenses and balance their budget, they have been overwhelmed by requests for additional services. The response from the commissioners was another slap in the face as they refused to approve any additional funds.

Of course, any current client or potential client that is denied service will continue to suffer and decline until they are forced into the Lawrence Memorial Hospital emergency room. These uninsured, elderly and disabled patients will be given proper care, but at the expense of LMH. The hospital has been incurring about $2 million per year in unreimbursed treatment expenses. So, what Visiting Nurses could treat in the clients’ homes for a low cost will now become more serious health problems that will be treated in LMH at two to 10 times the cost. LMH unreimbursed expenses will mount even higher.

This is not good government, it is not good public health policy and it represents an unfunded county mandate on LMH.

Graham Kreicker,

Lawrence