Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) More than 10,000,000 Medicare beneficiaries need assistance with one or more activities of daily living, and current Medicare law does not cover long-term, personal care in the home. (2) The absence of a home care benefit forces beneficiaries and families to pay out of pocket, spend down into Medicaid, or forgo needed care, often at greater cost to the health care system through avoidable hospitalizations and institutionalization. Paying out of pocket for home care costs more than $60,000 annually. (3) The vast majority of people want to live and age with dignity in their homes when they need care, including 94 percent of older adults, 90 percent of people with disabilities, and 89 percent of adults overall. (4) Americans overwhelmingly and strongly believe Medicare should cover home care services, with 93 percent of adults agreeing. The majority of current Medicare beneficiaries either believe it already does or do not know if it does or not. (5) A modest, capped home care benefit under Medicare would allow older adults and people with disabilities to remain safely in their homes and communities. It would also take the pressure off of unpaid family caregivers who now provide over $1,000,000,000,000 in unpaid care to the economy filling in gaps in the systems.