Seems our omnibenevolent masters in Washington are putting the squeeze on home health care.
Which seems backward, for a couple of reasons....
Strictly from an economic standpoint, a hospital is a frightfully expensive place to keep patients. Surely home care, for those who don't need to be in hospital, ought to be less expensive, no?
And then: it's been rather forcefully brought to my attention (at second hand, thankfully) that a hospital is a very unhealthy place to be. Apart from endemic MRSA, the place is full of sick people, many of whom have communicable infections. If, for example, your immune system is weakened for some reason, and you don't have a compelling need to have a room full of specialized equipment and a doctor available on a minute's notice, you're better off almost anywhere but a hospital. (Note: almost. An airliner is possibly worse.)
So, intuitively it seems that home care should be both less expensive and better for the patient's health than a hospital stay, in a lot of cases.
But when decision-making is centralized, and driven by lobbyists, what can you expect?
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