Community and home-based care for the elderly is popular with Medicaid policy makers because it is generally viewed as a more cost effective alternative to nursing home care. Also, the vast majority of people prefer to live in their own homes than in a nursing home. But a recent study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society finds that seniors who left a nursing home for community care were 40% more likely to become hospitalized for a potentially preventable reason than those who stayed in the nursing home.
The researchers reviewed records from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of thousands of dually eligible seniors from Arkansas, Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas, Vermont, and Washington who entered nursing homes between 2003 and 2005. They say the findings suggest that some medical needs are not as well addressed in community settings as they are in nursing homes.
A Connecticut public act (PA 13-250) made several changes in the law to help seniors remain in their own homes or community settings of their choice, regardless of age or disability.
