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BATON ROUGE, La.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Many Americans say they are not financially prepared to be a caregiver for an elderly loved one, according to a new survey. In a survey conducted online earlier this month by Harris Interactive for Amedisys, a leading provider of home health care and hospice services (NASDAQ: AMED), 36 percent of Americans who anticipate being a caregiver for an elderly family member, friend, partner or neighbor say they are not at all prepared for the financial burden. In comparison, that is 11 percentage points higher than the next two concerns cited by people who expect to be caregivers: not having enough time to take care of another person and not having enough expertise about diseases or conditions (both 23 percent).

"Many people want to help family members or friends get the comfort and care they need at home, but it can be stressful"

The survey was conducted as part of Amedisysa Annual Home Care Matters Initiative around National Caregivers Month, a month of recognition that takes place each November across the industry.

AARP statistics show that at any given time, nearly 44 million Americans are taking care of an older family member. Caring for an elderly loved one can be an expensive proposition. The out-of-pocket annual cost for caregivers, which includes necessities such as food, travel, transportation, medical insurance co-pays and medications, is nearly $5,500, according to a study by the National Alliance for Caregiving.

aMany people want to help family members or friends get the comfort and care they need at home, but it can be stressful,a said Samuel Oliver, a chaplain with Amedisys. aCaregivers often feel overwhelmed by having to learn an enormous amount of information in a short amount of time, manage finances and manage their own lives.a

One of the best options for elderly adults is home health care, which gives patients access to highly skilled nursing service in the comfort of their own homes. Early use of home health care services following a hospital stay by patients with at least one chronic disease saved $1.71 billion in 2005-2006, according to a 2009 study sponsored by the Alliance for Home Health Quality. The cost savings were largely due to a reduction in preventable complications and re-hospitalizations.

While keeping patients in their homes makes good financial sense, itas also a popular idea with patients. Eighty-nine percent of people age 50 and older want to remain in their homes and receive medical services as they age, according to research by the AARP Public Policy Institute.

aHealth care at home lets the family focus on the person they love, not just the disease that person has,a said Oliver.

In the study conducted for Amedisys by Harris Interactive, 25 percent of adults who are currently serving as caregivers say they were not at all prepared financially to take care of a loved one. About 35 percent of the people surveyed who say they were unprepared financially were from the lowest income brackets with annual household incomes of less than $35,000. But 22 percent of those surveyed with a household income of more than $75,000 a year, the highest income bracket, also say they were unprepared for the financial burden of being a caregiver.

Other survey findings:

*Forty percent of U.S. adults arenat sure if they will have to rely on someone from their personal network (e.g., family member, partner, close friend, neighbor) for caregiver support in their senior years, while 42 percent donat anticipate needing help from their personal network. Sixteen percent of those polled say they do anticipate having to rely on others from their personal network for caregiver support in their senior years.

*Forty-two percent of respondents say the word anervousa best described how they felt about their current or future responsibility of being a caregiver for an elderly loved one.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Amedisys from November 3-7, 2011 among 2,574 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Timothy Boone at (225) 252-6239.

About Amedisys:

Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) is a leading health care company focused on bringing home the continuum of care. Amedisys delivers personalized health care services to patients and their families in the comfort of patientsa homes, with approximately 10 million patient care and education encounters per year. Amedisys has two divisions, home health care and hospice. The Companyas state-of-the-art advanced chronic care management programs and leading-edge technology enables it to deliver quality care based upon the latest evidence-based best practices. Amedisys is a recognized innovator, being one of the first in the industry to equip its clinicians with point-of-care laptop technology and referring physicians with an internet portal that enables real-time coordination of patient care seamlessly. Amedisys also has the industryas first-ever nationwide Care Transitions program. Amedisys Care Transitions is designed to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions through patient and caregiver health coaching and care coordination, which starts in the hospital and continues throughout completion of the patientas home health plan of care. For more information about the Company, please visit: [ http://www.amedisys.com ].

This press release includes statements that may constitute aforward-lookinga statements, usually containing the words abelieve,a aestimate,a aproject,a aexpect,a aanticipatea or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Many of the factors that could cause or contribute to such differences are described in the Companyas periodic reports and registrations statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and include, but are not limited to the following: general economic and business conditions, changes in or failure to comply with existing regulations or the inability to comply with new government regulations on a timely basis, changes in Medicare and other medical reimbursement levels, ability to complete acquisitions announced from time to time, and any financing related thereto, the ability to meet debt service requirements and to comply with covenants in debt agreements, adverse changes in federal and state laws relating to the health care industry, demographic changes, availability and terms of capital, ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, ongoing development and success of new start-ups, ability to successfully integrate newly acquired agencies, changes in estimates and judgments associated with critical accounting policies, business disruption due to natural disasters or acts of terrorism, and various other matters, many of which are beyond managementas control. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.

Our company website address is [ http://www.amedisys.com ]. We use our website as a channel of distribution for important company information. Important information, including press releases, analyst presentations and financial information regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible on the aInvestor Relationsa subpage of our website, which is accessible by clicking on the tab labeled aInvestorsa on our website home page. We will also use our website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the Company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (aSECa) disclosing the same information. In addition, we make available on the Investor Relations subpage of our website (under the link aSEC filingsa) free of charge our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, ownership reports on Forms 3, 4 and 5 and any amendments to those reports as soon as practicable after we electronically file such reports with the SEC. Further, copies of our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, our Code of Ethical Business Conduct and the charters for the Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance Committees of our Board are also available on the Investor Relations subpage of our website (under the link aCorporate Governancea).

About Harris Interactive

[ Harris Interactive ] is one of the worldas leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American and European offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us a" and our clients a" stay ahead of whatas next. For more information, please visit [ www.harrisinteractive.com ].