A Wisconsin county’s home health care services may get discontinued by the middle of next year in an effort to save up to $200,000 a year, reports the La Crosse Tribune.
The La Crosse County Health Department is looking into phasing out its services, which are not being fully reimbursed by state and federal programs.
“The reimbursement from Medicare and BadgerCare is too low to cover the costs,” Health Director Doug Mormann says in the article. “The county’s property tax has been subsidizing it for a number of years.”
Each year for the past few years, the county’s property taxes have been subsidizing home health care services by between $150,000 and $200,000, according to Mormann.
Since the beginning of 2013, La Crosse’s home health program has provided services for 38 people, ranging from medication assistance to wound care to activities of daily living such as bathing.
There are 10 part-time home health staffers in the county, according to Mormann, who says the department’s visiting nurses and aides could possibly get absorbed into other county health programs or care facilities.
Last Tuesday, the La Crosse County Health and Human Services Board heard the proposal to phase out the home health services as it prepares the county’s budget considerations for next month, says the article. The board is seeking information regarding whether existing home health recipients will be able to receive care from other sources.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
