Home Health Advocates Ask Lawmakers to Support Choose Home During National Home Care & Hospice Month

Bipartisan Choose Home Care Act will expand home-based care options for Medicare beneficiaries following hospitalization

WASHINGTON – Advocates with the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH) will virtually meet with lawmakers this month – in recognition of National Home Care & Hospice Month –  to increase support for the Choose Home Care Act of 2021, bipartisan legislation designed to increase access to home health care following hospitalization for eligible Medicare beneficiaries by offering a safe, high-quality post-acute option for nursing home level services in the home. The Choose Home Care Act is sponsored in the U.S. Senate (S.2562) by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Todd Young (R-IN) and in the U.S. House (H.R. 5514) by Representatives Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and James Comer (R-KY).

If enacted, the Choose Home Care Act would enable eligible Medicare patients to receive extended care services as an add-on to the existing Medicare Home Health benefit for 30 days post-discharge. Patients would receive all care services provided under the Medicare Home Health benefit––as well as additional services such as transportation, meals, home modifications, remote patient monitoring, telehealth services and personal care services for 30 days. This legislation would help seriously ill individuals recover safely at home while increasing patient and family satisfaction. An independent analysis shows the Choose Home model would also save up to an estimated $247 million annually by offering nursing home level services in the home setting instead of in a skilled nursing facility or other institutional settings.

“We continue to see strong bipartisan support for the bill, with more and more lawmakers recognizing the critical role of home health and the importance of advancing legislation to increase seniors’ access to care in the setting they overwhelmingly prefer,” said Partnership Executive Director Joanne Cunningham. “In recognition of National Home Care & Hospice Month, Partnership members will be meeting with and educating lawmakers throughout November about the value of home health and the importance of modernizing the Medicare Home Health Benefit through the Choose Home Care Act, which will enable more American seniors to choose home after hospitalization.”

The Choose Home Care Act is also supported by AARP, LeadingAge, Allies for Independence, the National Council on Aging, Moving Health Home, the Council of State Home Care & Hospice Associations, and the Forum of State Associations.

###