LASORSA--NY

Adult day health care should be included as a supplemental benefit offered by Fully Integrated Special Needs Plans.
Adult day health care (ADHC) programs in New York state have effectively provided community-based, long term care to people in need of nursing, personal care, case management, clinical management, rehabilitative and recreational therapies on a regular basis.
Registrants in ADHC programs are the frail elderly, disabled and chronically ill, many of them with multiple chronic conditions. ADHC programs are staffed with medical professionals, including licensed registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, NYS-certified nurse aides, activity staff, social workers and professional physical, occupational and speech therapists.
ADHC programs have proven to reduce the quantity and cost of health care. A 2006 study completed by the ADHCC Evidence-Based Practice Collaborative involving approximately 1,000 registrants found that registrants with five ore more chronic conditions in ADHC programs have less than one-fifth of the hospitalization rate found in similarly-situated individuals in the general Medicare population.
A 2009 acuity survey of the 13,432 ADHC enrollees conducted by the NYS Department of Health showed that over a 12-month period 70 percent of registrants had no hospitalizations, 16 percent had one hospitalization and 6 percent had two or more hospitalizations.
The continuous health monitoring by nurses and other professional staff provided to ADHC registrants while at the centers reduced their hospitalizations. The same Evidence-Based Practice Collaborative also demonstrated improved outcomes in the management of patients with diabetes in 11 ADHC centers that were part of the study.
Thank you for this opportunity to share the cost-saving benefits of adult day health care.
Please consider expanding Medicare Part C to include adult day health care as a supplemental benefit.