Posted Wednesday, August 2, 2023
McKnight’s Home Care
By: Liza Berger
Home health providers are applauding the introduction of the Preserving Access to Home Health Act of 2023 in the House on Tuesday. The bill, which would repeal Medicare payment cuts related to the implementation of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model, represents companion legislation to a recently introduced Senate bill. Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced the act.
“The Medicare home health community strongly supports this legislation and thanks Representatives Sewell and Smith for their leadership on a Medicare issue that truly threatens access to care for the more than 3 million beneficiaries who rely on this care,” Bill Dombi, president of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, said in a statement Tuesday.
Joanne Cunningham, CEO of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH), pointed out that the permanent behavioral adjustment of -3.925% enacted in 2023, has affected the home care workforce, making it difficult for patients leaving hospitals to receive care at home. A recent report by the technology firm WellSky found that the home health rejection rate has risen by 40% since 2022.
“Patients leaving the hospital need of a smooth transition home but are finding it increasingly difficult to find Medicare home health providers, signaling an immediate need for Congress to intervene and block Medicare from making such strident cuts to home health again this year,” she said in a statement. “Data suggest that Medicare’s continued cuts to home health are restricting patient access to the safest and lowest-cost care setting following a hospital stay.”
Home health providers have been relentless in their efforts to stop CMS from enacting a 2.2% reduction in Medicare payments for 2024. NAHC and PQHH recently penned a letter to the agency to “sound the alarm” about the devastating impact of the proposed cuts. Last month, NAHC filed a lawsuit against CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services over the proposed payment reductions.
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