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Where''s the budget surplus going? Not to helping people stay at home. Accordingto the Congressional Budget Office, Medicare spending for home caredropped from $17.5 billion in 1997 to $9.7 billion in 1999. This is theresult of changes in reimbursement rules Congress made in 1997 to stem thegrowth of Medicare spending, changes that have had a more severe effect thananyone intended at the time. The result is that many homebound seniors are not receivingthe care they need and many home health agencies have hadto merge or go out of business. Many have adopted strictrules on who they will accept as patients, turning downthose who need a high level of care or who the expect to need carefor a long time.
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