Bipartisan Legislation Provides Hope for Protecting Home Healthcare from Proposed Cuts

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the Calendar Year (CY) 2024 Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) Rate Update. This new rule includes an additional 5.653% payment cut to home healthcare services. The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare is deeply concerned that the cuts to home healthcare services included in this Proposed Rule will only continue to degrade beneficiary access to home healthcare services.

You can find more information about PQHH’s thoughts on the proposed rule and its negative impacts in our recent press release.

Fortunately, Congress is taking action to protect home health.

The Preserving Access to Home Health Act of 2023 (S. 2137), introduced by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Susan Collins (R-ME), would safeguard access to essential home-based care.

The bill is specifically designed to:

1. Repeal permanent and temporary payment adjustments. The bill would eliminate CMS’s authority to adjust home health payments based on such determinations under PDGM.
2. Instruct MedPAC to analyze the Medicare Home Health Program. The bill instructs MedPAC to review and report on aggregate trends under Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and other payers, and consider the impact of all payers on access to care for Medicare home health beneficiaries. It also requires all calculations and findings to be public to ensure accurate information.

The Partnership applauds Senators Stabenow and Collins for their leadership in protecting home healthcare and recognizing the importance of this essential care for the over 3 million older Americans who rely on home health. The Preserving Access to Home Health Act is immediately needed to protect the future viability of the Medicare home health program, and we need your help to get this legislation passed. Send an email to your Senators today to help us protect home healthcare