LETTER: Cuts to home health are unwise

Seniors across North Carolina rely on the Medicare home health benefit to receive clinically advanced, cost effective and patient preferred care at home.

Despite the many benefits of home health, the Obama Administration imposed deep cuts of 14 percent on the Medicare home health benefit on Jan. 1, which data show will have devastating consequences on our state’sMedicare beneficiaries, small businesses and jobs.

Recent analyses demonstrate that every state — including NC — will experience job loss and business closures due to the Medicare home health cut. As a result, the Medicare program’s most vulnerable patients could lose access to quality skilled home healthcare.

Nationally, the home health community lost 3,800 jobs just last month according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the largest cut seen in home health in more than a decade. I fear that unless this cut is corrected, the Obamacare Medicare cut will cause thousands of additional jobs to be lost.

I urge our lawmakers in Congress to recognize the devastating effect this cut is having on seniors and jobs across our country, and work together to advance much-needed relief to the Medicare program’s frailest patients and home healthcare professionals. We need their help to save home health.

Phillips is regional director for BAYADA.

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