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AARP  proudly endorsed the bipartisan “Medicare Transitional Care Act,” being introduced this week by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME). This critical legislation adds a follow-up care benefit to Medicare to ensure that people who leave the hospital get the care they need to stay healthy and avoid being readmitted. Such a benefit can help save some of the estimated $17 billion Medicare spends each year on preventable hospital readmissions.

“It’s unacceptable that 20 percent of people in Medicare who visit the hospital will return within a month, often because they aren’t getting the follow-up care they need,” said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond. “We’re sending home too many people with a handful of prescriptions and no support. Something as simple as help to set up a medication schedule could be the difference between getting healthy or winding up back in a hospital bed.”

AARP has urged lawmakers to ensure that comprehensive health care reform includes a Medicare follow-up care benefit to help people safely return to their homes after a hospital stay, coordinate their health care needs and prevent unnecessary hospital readmissions. The legislation being introduced this week by Sens. Shaheen and Collins marks an important step toward a stronger, higher quality health care system.

The “Medicare Transitional Care Act” would create a new Medicare benefit to coordinate care during a person’s transition from a hospital to their home or other care settings. With help from a team of nurses, doctors and other professionals, patients and their caregivers would receive critical follow-up care, like instructions for taking their medications, a medical professional to attend follow-up appointments with their doctors, referrals for care, and help to find the equipment and services they may need.

LeaMond added: “We’re proud to support this crucial bipartisan legislation, and we look forward to working with Senators Shaheen and Collins to enact this benefit as a part of comprehensive health care reform. We simply cannot afford to keep wasting our health care dollars on preventable readmissions. This bill is a win-win that should keep people healthier and save money.”

AARP has also endorsed a bipartisan House companion bill, H.R. 2773, sponsored by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Charles Boustany (R-LA).

For details on AARP’s health reform priorities, visit http://www.aarp.org/governmentwatch.