CAREGIVERS USA NEWS

Vol. I, No. 24
April 21, 2003

NEW MEDICARE THERAPY CAPS
To the surprise of many seniors and their health care providers, Medicare will implement a $1,590 annual limit on physical and speech therapy, and a separate $1,590 annual limit for occupational therapy, effective July 1. The new caps would affect up to 13 percent of all seniors. They slipped under the political radar as attention was focused on the fight in Congress over a Medicare prescription drug benefit.

MIKULSKI PLANS CAREGIVER TAX CREDIT BILL
The Maryland Democrat tried to tack a $5,000 caregiver family tax credit onto the budget bill last month. She now says she will introduce legislation to provide the tax credit to the millions of families who care a family member with a chronic illness.

SELF-DIRECTION IMPROVES SATISFACTION, STUDY FINDS
A study finds that disabled persons who manage their own care are significantly more satisfied than those who receive services through home health care agencies. Quality of life was improved substantially and unmet needs for care were reduced, without compromising health or safety, the study found. "The Cash and Counseling program offers Medicaid consumers flexibility and a sense of control over their care," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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NO MEDICARE "REFORM" THIS YEAR
The Bush Administration's plan to restructure Medicare is going nowhere this year, Capitol Hill observers agree. Members of both political parties were cool to the plan to begin with and now flee when it is mentioned. Instead of a broad restructuring, lawmakers are rushing to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare despite warnings from conservatives that the measure could bankrupt the program unless it is part of an overall reform package.

DRUGMAKERS TO PAY $345 MILLION IN FINES
Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline have agreed to pay a combined $345 million to settle federal allegations that they overcharged Medicaid for some of their drugs. Under the agreement, Bayer will pay $251.6 million in civil damages to settle federal False Claims Act liabilities and a $5.6 million criminal fine for breaking the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for allegedly overcharging Medicaid for the antibiotic Cipro and the high blood pressure treatment Adalat.

REMEMBER THE MAINE?
The Medicare Rights Center wants HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson to fully restore the state program Healthy Maine, which offers prescription drugs at discount prices to more than 110,000 residents. "Choose the public interest, not the pharmaceutical industry's interests, in supporting this life-saving, innovative state initiative," Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, said in a letter to Thompson.

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"THE AGING GAME" NOW AVAILABLE
The trail-blazing University of Minnesota Medical School program that gives medical students "real life" experience as frail seniors is now available on videotape - suitable for use in health care and caregiver training courses and discussion programs.
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HHS LAUNCHES PREVENTION PROGRAM
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson last week introduced his strategy for developing a national health care system that addresses the prevention and treatment of heart disease and stroke. "These leading causes of death for men and women are largely preventable, yet we as a nation are not taking the steps necessary for us to lead healthier, longer lives," Thompson said.

MIRIAM CHARNOW DIES
Miriam Charnow, 79, director of the National Council on the Aging's Family Friends Program, died last week at her home in Reston, Va. An unflagging activist for caregivers, she founded and built the program, which links senior volunteers with families who are caring for children with disabilities or chronic disease. She worked until a few weeks before her death. A tough-minded, sharp-tongued advocate, Charnow was an aggressive and effective administrator and a demanding mentor to many now in leadership positions in aging services organizations and on Capitol Hill. She was remembered at an overflow memorial service in Reston last week.