HEARING - U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

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Mrs. FISH. Right. Even when my mother went to the hospital,
and these were all major surgeries that she had, I did not myself
realize that Medicare did not cover all these extras, like the doctor
bills, which sometimes she gets bills from the associates and from
the doctors. There will be five doctors in one group, and each one
sends a bill. I have the proof for that, which is devastating to the
patient, having to pay all these extra doctors and cardiologists and
whatever.
In fact, she received a bill the day before I came, still for lab
work which they did 10 months ago.
Chairman MELCHER. Your statement just a moment ago, recommending
that there be some way of taking care of the patient at
home with some assistance in home health care--
Mrs. FISH. Yes. That is all so many of us ask for, is just some
assistance.
Chairman MELCHER. Some assistance, because after all if you
have 16 hours out of the day where you are doing it all, the 8 hours
that can be provided in home health care by a nurse's aide would
make it possible to continue on with the type of care that is best
for your mother.
Mrs. FISH. Right.
Chairman MELCHER. All right. I want to confess that the Bowen
bill that Senator Kennedy and I introduced into Congress a couple
of weeks ago does not cover that, and it is another shortcoming of
the bill. So I think the Bowen proposal is a good starting point, but
I would not want anybody to draw the conclusion that somehow it
took care of some of the major difficulties that are catastrophic. I
just wanted to mention that to you. But before we get done, I hope
that Congress does enact a type of catastrophic that does pick up
what is needed in home health care assistance for patients and also
when it becomes one of the better solutions for that particular patient,
in circumstances as a nursing home, that it picks that up,
too, because those are the two major areas where the testimony we
have received today tells us simply are not covered.
Mrs. FISH. To me it would be profitable, as I said, for the Government,
in paying a much less amount for the patient to stay in the
home. I understand-I have worked in a nursing home--
Chairman MELCHER. Oh, yes, by far the best.
Mrs. FISH. Right. I understand that there are patients who absolutely
cannot be taken care of at home, like my mother when she
first came home, it took two of us to handle a little 93-year-old lady
with one leg. It is very, very difficult.
Chairman MELCHER. Senator Heinz?
Senator HEINZ. Mrs. Fish, obviously, you have recounted the
kinds of financial difficulties that you have had and the need for
some assistance to defray some of those. But beyond the financial
difficulties, aren't there many others in terms of rendering the
kind of care-does it not put strains on you-or are you able to
handle it pretty easily?
Mrs. FISH. Can I handle the strain easily?
Senator HEINZ. Yes. Is it a strain on you emotionally?
Mrs. FISH. Yes, yes. I do have a heart condition, which does not
help that much. I am on heart medication.