Home health care providers pinched by gas prices

CLEVELAND - High gas prices hurt us all in the pocketbook. Thankfully, there are some measures individuals can take to help lessen the pain.

Carpooling, public transit and avoiding unnecessary trips are all ways to combat gasoline costing $4 per gallon.

But for people who have to drive their personal vehicles as part of their job and for organizations that rely on travel, high fuel costs are especially problematic.

Visiting nurses and other home healthcare providers are one group currently struggling with high fuel costs. The home health care workers -- who can make numerous house-calls each day -- do get reimbursed for their mileage, but the 51cent-per-mile reimbursement has not changed with the rapid rise in gas prices.

The amount of the business milage reimbursement is set by the Internal Revenue Service. The figure is used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. According to the IRS website, the 2011 rate was set back in December 2010 -- before the recent run-up in gas prices.

"We have some concerns," said Chief Clinical and Quality Officer Susan Paschke of the Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio (VNA). "Although in many other areas, people are able to use carpools or public transportation -- when you're going to visit individuals in their homes, people really need to have access to their own vehicles to do that."

Paschke said the VNA offers a range of comprehensive home health care services provided by more than 200 nurses, home care aides, social workers and therapists. The organization serves eight counties in Northeast Ohio.

"We haven't heard a lot from our nurses. They realize what they do is a mission and a service to patients," Paschke said. "They are concerned, but there certainly is no issue about anybody not going or questioning whether or not their going to provide the care and service that is needed.

"In the future, we might need to look at things like carpooling or providing vans or cabs for transportation -- But for those who provide direct services to patients in their individual homes, we will need to continue to work the way we work," said Paschke.

For more information here is a link to the Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio .