I don't think we can expect Medicare to make sense. Consider the source.

"Your thoughts?? " I'm not sure you really want them. I get so disgusted with ignorance and stupidity in things like this that I could scream. They spend thousands where a few dollars would suffice. That's why when anyone mentions national health care, I want to scream.

My special needs sister is on medicaid and also prone to UTI's. I've not had the problem that your DM has though. When they suspect a uti, they do a urine test. (She's also DNR). Maybe it's because they call her dr and he orders the test.

Shirley

the bottom line is the $$ isn't there, so no amount of logic matters. social security, medicaid and medicare are insolvent in 6 yrs and counting, according to the treasury dept last spring, back then they had 7 yrs pre-economic meltdown. who knows now. in FL most if not all pregnant women come off the medicaid rolls as of the end of april no matter what the circumstances, we have no $$ for it. either taxes go up across the board and we get services or they don't and there are cuts in services. the treasury dept's fix for ss, medicare, medicaid is 30% cuts in benefits ($$ paid) and services and tripling the payroll tax to workers just to keep those programs going. w/o that they don't exist.

these problems were supposed to be addressed back in Feb and i'm very interested to hear what my 26 yrs of paying in to ss is going to get me in the future lol, i've financially planned to not get anything. my ss statement already has me topped out at the $2K a month max and i'm only 40 yrs old. no govt officials want to deal w/ the issue in this economy because there is nothing that can be done that won't p.o. everyone. but the pres does sayhe will deal w/ it, i just want to know asap if there will be nothing ~ liz

I'm sorry, but if the feds can bail out the stupidity of Aig and others then there had better be money available for those that have paid into the social security and medicare system for forty years or more. It's not as if seniors are asking for a handout. The money was deducted from their pay and matched by their employers. I fully understand that if they live long enough the amount they paid into the system may not cover their needs but they are not to blame for the mismanagement of those dollars once the govt. got hold of them. If they had been invested properly and not spent on things not originally intended, then the money would have earned enough to cover extended benefits beyond the actual amount contributed.

Climbing down off my soapbox now.

They make over-the-counter test kits for urinary tract infections now, for about $5 or $10 each. Medicare really should pay for the tests, but since they won't maybe using the over-the-counter tests would be helpful without being too expensive. I don't know if the over-the-counter tests are as sensitive as the 'official' tests so they might not necessarily rule out a UTI, but if it shows positive, that should be enough justification to run an official test and get the antibiotics prescribed.

Don't even get me started on the Medicare system. I've ranted on and on about it here for years.
I've got, roughly, 20,000.00 in our trust account from different clients that we need to reimburse to Medicare and I can't find one flippin' live person to tell me how much we owe them. I've been trying to get a balance on one client for over two years now. I'm working on my 10th letter to Medicare on her case now. We keep getting the same form letter over and over and over again BUT THEY WON'T TELL ME HOW MUCH WE OWE THEM.

See my old "Hey, Medicare I HAVE YOUR MONEY" post for a longer rant. LOL

Yes indeed, our government has done a great job with Medicare and Social Security. And if you have had any experience with Veteran's hospitals you know what type of health care is offered to our veterans. Gee - with that type of experience I can only imagine what they'll do when the government decides to socialize all health care in the country.

I'd just get one of the otc tests or pay the home to do the test out of pocket. It would be worth the cost to me, NOT to put the poor soul through an unnecessary hospital visit. Seems, though, the home should be working with you to find a better solution to the problem. Although--rereading your post, it sounds as if your dad is more the problem than medicare, even. Can you talk to him and explain how hard it is on her to keep moving her like that? And talk to her dr. to find out what he/she recommends as a better solution so that she isn't hospitalized everytime something like this happens.

It is very difficult, though, to deal with the needs of Alzheimer's patients. Such a terribly sad disease, that affects the entire family--sometimes more than the patient, even.

Thanks for the responses. I agree about the socialized/national health care and the example of the VA hospitals. I do not want to see national health care in our country either.
About the OTC urinary tests...I don't think we could do that with Mom. She's in a wheelchair and wears Depends type panties. She can't follow directions/instructions. I think the staff still takes her to the restroom during the day, but I'm not sure anymore.
Azzalea: I'm planning on calling the Home tomorrow and talk to the Director of Nurses again. The part about my Dad...I meant that if the Home thought she'd had a stroke and left her lying in bed unresponsive (waiting to die?), he'd be upset. He'd feel like she should be in the hospital. He still has a tough time with the DNR, even though it's what he and Mom both have had set up for themselves. Which brings up a subject I want to discuss with the home...since Mom didn't have a stroke and if we'd elected to leave her in the Home...what might have happened? Would Mom have just laid there for a few days until she died?
I also want to talk to the doctor and hope I can soon. Since tomorrow is Friday, I'll be lucky if I get through to anyone.

My thanks again...
Leslie/KS