Allow Counties and Communities to Manage Elder Care, Using Savings from More Efficient Medicare Spending

Communities across America face challenges with population aging. Some are ready to develop personal care plans and manage their delivery systems for elders, aiming to increase access to food, housing, transportation, personal care, and medical care at home. The Obama Administration should direct CMMI to let pioneering communities try this “MediCaring Communities” approach in a demonstration, for which CMMI would waive certain rules and monitor quality and for which sustaining funds will come mostly from the savings from spending Medicare dollars more wisely. While health care overspends substantial Medicare funds on inefficient, ineffective services, supportive services are underfunded and often inaccessible. Families are impoverished, and moving to nursing homes becomes necessary.