Crisis is Massachusetts Home Care for Elderly: State's costs up 82%

MassHealth is the Massachusetts name for Medicare.  Governor Baker has proposed a budget of $15.4 billion for MassHealth for next year, which would make MassHealth 40% of the Commonwealth's next budget of $38.5%.   Total Massachusetts spending on Health & Human Services is $20.3 billion, compared to $7.3 billion spent in 2000.  HHS has been described as "the blob that ate the budget."

The Boston Globe reported on February 4th that the governor had asked the attorney general to look into the 82% increase in home health care costs in the past two years for cases of fraud.  ("12 home health agencies probed") The state is on track to spend $755 mn this fiscal year for home care.  In addition to the investigation, the state has stopped paying some of the bills from home health care providers, jeopardizing their existence, according to the article.

This is very unfortunate.  It is true that MassHealth costs are out of control, but home care is part of the solution.  The state, operating under a Medicaid waiver, subsidizes home care in order to avoid the more expensive alternative of nursing home care.  This is also generally regarded by seniors as a much better choice in terms of the quality of their lives.  Of course home care is growing rapidly; this is because it is a success.

We must all agree, however, that supervision is appropriate provided it does not shut down or otherwise constrain the program's legitimate mission.

Looking at the bigger picture, MassHealth needs to be radically restructured if it is not to collapse as unfinanceable in a few years.  Good luck Governor Baker!