MLTC Solutions that Bring Managed Care Home (Even If It's '25 Miles Away on Top of a Giant Hill')

In the rural upstate town of Canajoharie, New York (population 3,800), hard on the Eerie Canal, an elderly couple in their nineties lives deep in farm country, dozens of miles from the nearest healthcare facility. Mrs. Cormac*, 93, requires regular dialysis for kidney failure, and she and her husband need ongoing help with the basic activities of daily living. Because of the distance to their home, it's difficult for an agency to send a home health aide to the Cormacs. Their granddaughter, who lives upstairs in the two-family house, has been caring for them, but she has a full-time job and can't afford to take any more time away than she already does. Their story is all too common in rural America, a part of the country that is aging rapidly and now has a higher concentration of residents age 65+ than the nation's urban and suburban communities. At the same time, social, human and healthcare resources to support aging in place are few and far between in these communities. Many rural elders own their own homes, but those homes can be isolated, in disrepair and difficult to reach, far from the shops, pharmacies, doctor's offices and hospitals they need to stay healthy and functioning. Yet this is a way of living that many rural seniors are deeply attached to--which is why Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) health plans are developing ways to provide this portion of the aging population with the same type of care coordination services that are being employed to support elderly Amer...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news