Mom and Dad Are Moving in

Mom and Dad Are Moving In

Charles Combs

COMM/215

January 19th, 2012

Susan Olson

Mom and Dad Are Moving In

The government wants, or as some like to say, needs to make cuts to Medicare funding in order to reduce the national deficit. Proposed Medicare cuts have dominated the headlines over the past few months. One industry in particular has weighed in heavily on the debate over such proposed cuts, Americas long term care industry stand to lose at least 20,000 jobs nationwide in 2012 with more job loss to follow in the next two years. With the bad reputation that nursing homes already have in the public eye it has been difficult to find support from local communities. In this debate it has been the employees of the long term care industry, and the families of those who are cared for who are leading the battle to get the government to spare Medicare and the lives that will be changed when funding is reduced. America will be faced with a hard question, where will the 1.5 million people who are cared for everyday go when long term care facilities are forced to close their doors because there simply is no more money to run them (Baker, 2011).

On October 1st 2011 Medicare benefits paid to skilled nursing facilities were cut by 11 percent. This is the first round in what is to be a devastating blow to nursing homes. Staffing accounts for more than two-thirds of an average nursing homes expense. Unfortunately some long term care companies say they will have no choice but to reduce staff numbers to help compensate profit loss.

So how can this issue affect a typical American household? We can look at a simple scenario that could happen to anyone. Your mother or grandmother is at home where she lives alone. One day while doing housework she falls and breaks her leg. She goes to the hospital and due to the severity of the break she requires surgery to repair it. She spends a few days in the hospital and then they are ready to discharge...