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Rita W.... Thanks for providing us with this "HEADS UP" report, Rita. Heck... a patient might live an hour and a half away from their physician, have to wait 45 minutes in the waiting room, another 15 or 20 minutes in the examining room, be seen by the MD for 15 minutes (IF they're lucky enough to get that much of the doctor's time), have to wait 1/2 hour to get a prescription filled, be driven home - another hour and a half - and the next thing they'd know, by the time they'd FINALLY returned home, they'd have lost their "homebound" status! I'm appalled at the thought that the severity of one's medical condition might be counted AND judged in MINUTES by the federal government in order for the government to save money!!! Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange On Behalf Of [log in to unmask] Sent: Monday, June 02, 1997 5:49 AM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Fed Budget:Long term care Reading an editorial in the Omaha World Herald, I was disturbed by the following information: Writer is Secretary of Iowa Citizen Action Network and involed with the National Long-Term Care Campaign...(she has a child with a disability). Those of us with Parkinson's in our families may be affected by these issues: "...Proposal in the federal budget that makes no sense at all: to restrict the definition of "homebound" as it related to Medicare home health services. Under current law, seniors and people with disabilities must be confined to their home to be eligible for home health care coverage. They are allowed unlimited medically related absences from the home, as well as infrequent or short non-medical absences based on each patient's circumstances." Under the new definition, beneficiaries will be denied home health services if: they leave their home for more than 16 hours per month ...or more than five times per month... or more than 3 hours at a time. Absences for medical reasons will be allowed only when services CANNOT be provided in the home. Seniors and adults with disabilities would have to choose between being prisoners in their own homes or losing the home health services they depend on. I am not trying to fragment our Udall efforts, but some on the Parkinsn listserv may be directly affected by this issue. Rita Weeks --LAA10000.865274453/upsmot04--