You Can't Have Everything. Where Would You Put It?

Having just returned from Washington DC seems a good time to be quoting from our a favorite philosopher comic Steven Wright who's observations always manage to be both spot on and funny. It so often seems that when it comes to getting something done in Washington, it's hard to get anything, even from the best intentioned officials. Because it's a zero sum proposition (government term: budget neutrality). When it came to talking about how we need our elected officials to stand up for home care and against cuts to a service area that has gone from about 9% of Medicare spending in the late 1990's to less than 4% today, even our best supporters need to identify who - or what other program - to "take the funds" from.

That having been said, I am proud to say that Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern, along with Rep Doug Petersen (R-PA), is taking the lead in the US House of Representatives in getting sponsors on a letter to the budget committee leadership in support of retaining the full funding update for home health required under current law.

Home care agencies have turned to Congressman McGovern before and he has always come through for us. We and our patients owe him our thanks.

More on this to come.

Eat Pray Love

Apropos of nothing too home care, just a post to highly recommend this book I just finished. Eat Pray Love One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia is exactly what the title suggests: three very different experience in three very different countries. With a hefty book advance, the author was able to spend an extended period in each country. Far more than a travel memoir, this is a lovely, witty book with some universal themes about self discovery and recovery after a loss (in the author's case, a divorce). I had not read - or heard of - Elizabeth Gilbert before; but I may now check out her other works. Great beach reading - is it almost that time?