Wisconsin Senior Medicare Patrol

A new group is trying to improve delivery of home health services in western Wisconsin that qualify for Medicare reimbursement.

Poor staffing and misconceptions about reimbursement from the federal medical program were two key issues identified by the group at a meeting last weekend in Sparta.

Registered nurse Pat Conway explained it best in a recent story in the Tomah Journal:

“The primary obstacle to the delivery of Medicare-reimbursed home health aide services is the perception that Medicare does not reimburse enough to make providing the service profitable,” Conway said. “Most Medicare-certified agencies lose money on hiring, training, paying for travel and benefits to home health aides. Thus, they hire a few aids to cover a small geographic area.”