McKnights Home Care
By; Liza Berger
Lest anyone had any doubts about where President Biden stands in his long-term care preferences, Tuesday’s executive order helped cement it: He is a home care proponent.
The executive order, which offers more than 50 provisions to expand long-term care and child care, leans heavily toward improving the state of home care. The president orders the following in the document:
- Direct federal agencies to identify which of their grant programs can support long-term care for individuals working on federal projects and consider requiring applicants seeking federal job-creating funds to expand access to care for their workers.
- Direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve access to home-based care for veterans who require support with activities of daily living, like bathing and getting dressed, by giving them more decision-making power over who delivers that care and when.
- Leverage Medicaid funding to ensure there are enough home care workers to provide care to seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in Medicaid.
- Direct the Department of Health and Human Services to consider testing a new dementia care model that will include support for respite care and provide more support to family caregivers during the hospital discharge planning process.
Biden’s persistence here is remarkable. Build Back Better, as you may remember, was heavily focused on home- and community-based services. Last month he called for $150 billion in HCBS in the budget. (That came around the time Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced legislation to support Better Care Better Jobs, which would provide enhanced funding to Medicaid programs for HCBS. No doubt he knows where the president sits.)
The various provisions supporting family caregivers in the most recent executive order reinforce the president’s belief in protecting those who provide care in the home setting.
As someone who is tasked with dissecting the government’s moves vis a vis home care, I just have one question: What’s next?
About Corridor
For over 30 years, Corridor has partnered with home health and hospice providers, delivering powerful solutions to support the unique challenges of caring for patients in the home. Our team of operations executives, clinicians, and nationally renowned industry experts have run provider organizations and resolved the same challenges you face.
To receive the most important industry updates, insights and news impacting home health and hospice, please make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
