Independence at home project supported

  Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) recently pushed for early implementation of the ”Independence at Home” project, which would enable at-home care for Medicare beneficiaries with expensive chronic conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

  The legislators are asking that the three-year project, included as part of the health care reform law, get underway within the next six months; it can be implemented as early as 2010 and no later than Jan. 1, 2012 and allocates $5 million each year to the Centers for Medicare and Human Services (CMS) to implement the program.

  Under the project, people with two or more chronic diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, would have access to primary care in their homes under a team of providers managed by physicians and nurse practitioners. It is expected that this will help reduce emergency room visits and avoid hospitalizations, thereby freeing up much-needed hospital beds. In addition, health reform establishes a demonstration project, the Innovation Center at CMS, that would test new models of coordinated care.

  The legislation had received strong bipartisan support and was endorsed by 32 organizations, including AFA. (From GEM)