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Nashville, TN - Adding their voices to those of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries who are directly benefitting from the services provided by Healthways, Inc. in its Medicare Health Support program in Maryland and the District of Columbia, over 300 individual physicians, as well as group practices and health systems including the Washington Hospital Center and Midatlantic Cardiovascular, have appealed to Congress to preserve the Medicare Health Support program. Together, these physicians and practices have served more than 75% of the 20,000 Medicare beneficiaries originally eligible for the program. In addition, these physicians' petitions have been echoed by more than 500 other health care professionals and over 400 family caregivers who have seen the benefits of the program over the past three years.

"We are gratified, but not surprised, by this unprecedented level of support from physicians," said Healthways president and CEO Ben R. Leedle, Jr. "Healthways has always understood that the fundamental interaction in health care is the one between patient and physician. Our programs are designed to support and strengthen that relationship. Our Medicare Health Support program has clearly met this objective, and has proved invaluable to the physicians and caregivers who dedicate themselves to improving the health and the quality of life of the approximately 14,000 chronically ill senior citizens we are continuing to serve."

The importance of the Medicare Health Support program to these senior citizens and their physicians was clearly identified by Dr. Jose T. Loveria, co-director of the Braddock Medical Group (Cumberland, Md.) in a letter to Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, respectively the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over Medicare in the Senate. In his letter, Dr. Loveria wrote, "The calls our patients receive from Medicare Health Support nurses between office visits help educate the patients about their conditions, and reinforce the physician's plan of care. Ending Medicare Health Support would do a great disservice to all chronically ill patients who require the most support. We ask that the Medicare Health Support program be continued and expanded so more of our Medicare patients can participate."

Comments from other physicians who are taking care of Medicare Health Support program participants have also made it clear that the services provided by Healthways cannot be provided in the typical practice setting. "Doctors want our patients to be healthy, interested in their own welfare and, ultimately, leading healthy lives," said Dr. Richard Walsh, a Baltimore internist. "The Medicare Health Support program is reinforcing that to patients in a way that can't be done through just a doctor's visit. I have a better relationship with my patients because they are more involved, and that involvement is more likely to prevent future problems."

Physicians who have patients in the Medicare Health Support Program believe it is making significant contributions to reducing utilization of healthcare services by eliminating unnecessary care. "I've seen how much more informed the patients in the Medicare Health Support program are," said Baltimore cardiologist Ethan Haskel, MD. "They come to me with their concerns, know what their risk factors are and just seem to be more organized about their medications. Overall, Medicare Health Support is a great tool for keeping patients healthy long term and out of the hospital."

Post-hospital support is also an important benefit of the program according to Wm. James Howard, MD, vice president for academic affairs at Washington Hospital Center. In his letter to Senators Baucus and Grassley, he wrote, "When patients are discharged from the hospital, it is important that they have the resources to follow through on their physician's plan of care. Medicare Health Support provides that support to frail elderly patients, and offers the education and assistance that helps them in following their physician's care plan and improving their health and quality of life."

While many of the of the chronically ill senior citizens participating in Medicare Health Support are self-sufficient, a significant number are not and rely on the help of family and friends as caregivers to coordinate care, assure adherence to pharmacy regimens and assist in self-management in the periods between office visits. These caregivers – many of whom are aging spouses or adult children struggling to help manage the care of their aging parents – are the only thing that enables these beneficiaries to continue to live at home instead of in much more expensive long-term care facilities. Healthways recognized the critical importance of these caregivers to the overall health and well-being of Medicare Health Support participants and designed its Medicare Health Support program accordingly.

"A Medicare Health Support nurse regularly calls my father who is 90 years old, homebound and lives alone. He had been in a nursing home recovering from surgery. They even visited him there … they were an enormous help," said one Medicare Health Support beneficiary's caregiver in calling on her elected officials to protect Medicare Health Support. "He came home in December. I don't know what we could have done without this help. It will be a hardship on the entire family if we can't depend on this help in the future. The calls to him did as much good mentally as physically."

The Medicare Health Support program was authorized by Congress under the provisions of the Medicare Modernization Act and provides for the delivery of services to a limited number of Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) beneficiaries with chronic disease (about 68,000 of the estimated 14 million). Administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the five active programs are scheduled to be terminated over the five-month period beginning August 1, 2008. Absent Congressional action, Medicare FFS beneficiaries will be the only segment of the population denied access, for at least another three years, and perhaps longer, to the type of services provided by the Medicare Health Support program.

Dr. Marie Savard, an internist for 25 years, best selling author and advocate of individuals taking charge of their own healthcare, said that while older patients often feel vulnerable visiting doctors, interactions with Medicare Health Support nurses make them more confident and in control, which leads to more meaningful interactions with their doctors and lower health risks.

"Patients want to be informed about and involved in our healthcare," Savard continued. We want to do what's right so we all can get the best healthcare possible. By embracing this Medicare (Health Support) program, we are allowing our seniors, the very people that we respect and need to care for the most, to transform the whole model of healthcare. We're giving our seniors a chance to be at the center. We're supporting their caregivers. We're giving the patients the tools to be in charge. And we're supporting the doctors. Truly, this program has a chance to really transform how we think about healthcare and really take that first step into seeing that we all get the best healthcare possible."

SOURCE: Healthways, Inc.