Kansans seek to prevent Medicare cuts

Judy Bellome, CEO for Douglas County Visiting Nurses, Rehabilitation and Hospice Care, attended a National Home Care Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.

Bellome and Jane Kelly, Kansas Home Care executive director, met with Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback to help prevent cuts to Medicare Home Health.

President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains a recommendation from the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee to reduce funding to home health agencies by $13 billion beginning in 2010. Bellome and Kelly also met with the other members of Kansas’ congressional delegation who were asked to vote against the cuts. The cuts could possibly result in closure of home care agencies.

Consumers and health care providers are encouraged to write Congress to prevent those cuts. For more information, visit helpuschoosehomecare.com.