Home Health & Hospice Week

States making big Medicaid cuts to home care are also making a big mistake. So says one newspaper in a state with significant reductions, North Carolina. "The slashed home-care budget ... means people are being forced into institutional care instead of getting the services they need at home -- which is the best and least costly way to care for many patients," says a recent editorial in the Fayetteville Observer. New cuts will eliminate home care services for about 20,000 of 37,000 recipients in the state, according to the newspaper. "Whenever it's possible, people who need care should first get it in their own homes," the editorial says. "The outcomes are better and the cost is lower, in just about every instance."