Happy about the ObamaCare ruling?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Great little aside by Charlie Pierce in Esquire about an Alzheimer's pilot program that looks very progressive. If you have an aging parent you're worried about, you should read.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politic...4215b49d134735

One of the overlooked elements in Thursday's decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act is that, beyond the individual mandate and the hysterical politics surrounding it, the act itself is chock-full of innovative ideas and pilot programs and all sorts of other experimental goodness directed toward making easier the lives of people dealing with serious health problems. Like, for example, Alzheimer's Disease.

Tucked away in the act is a pilot program for 10,000 people called the Independence At Home program. This is a technique first developed by the Veterans Administration by which a patient with a chronic disease, like Alzheimer's, is treated in his or her own home by a team of doctors, nurse practitioners, geriatric pharmacists, and any other health professional whose specialty is required.

This is not only cost-efficient, being infinitely cheaper than hospitals and nursing homes, but it is a comfort for the patients and their families, for whom familiar surroundings can be essential for psychological well-being.

it is absolutely true that people do so much better when in their own home than elsewhere. whether for alzheimers (a pernicious, horrible disease) or something else. nursing homes are awful, just awful. staffed by people with little training and paid min. or just above wages. but man, they make money for the owners don't they? i found it interesting that while hospital stocks rose, home health took a nose dive yesterday. last i heard, the average monthly tab for a nursing home is currently $5k. that's obscene. you could stay at a nice hotel for less than that (and probably get better care).