New Poll Finds Strong Public Support for Home Health
A recent poll, conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the Partnership, found that a majority a respondents support greater patient choice and access to home health care. The findings also highlight the importance of passing the Choose Home Care Act of 2021, which has wide support among the public and bipartisan lawmakers. The data…
The Choose Home Care Act: A New Option for Medicare Beneficiaries
Recently, the Choose Home Care Act (S. 2562), a bipartisan bill to allow more American seniors to come home safely after hospitalization, was introduced by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Todd Young (R-IN). This important legislation would ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have increased access to care at home following hospitalization—a needed policy change that would…
Q&A with Dr. Steven Landers on the Evolving COVID Pandemic & Vaccination Efforts
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolved over the past year, the home health community has worked tirelessly to protect patients, home health care providers, and the communities we serve. Now, with the focus shifted to vaccination efforts, the Partnership spoke with Dr. Steven Landers, President and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, Inc., about…
Bipartisan Senators Work to Expand Access to Home Health via Telehealth
Recently, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) re-introduced the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act. If passed, this legislation would expand access to home healthcare by providing Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services furnished by home health agencies during the COVID-19 public health crisis and future…
Five Health Industry Trends on Which Home Healthcare Can Capitalize
By Annie Erstling, Chief Strategy Officer at Forcura The Partnership’s Corporate Leadership Council (CLC) members are companies with similar policy interests and business objectives to the Partnership who support efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of home healthcare for our nation’s seniors. In a new blog series, the Partnership has invited the CLC member…
Congress: Extend Sequestration Relief Beyond March 31
Update: Representatives Brad Schneider (D-IL) and David McKinley (R-WV) recently introduced the Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act (H.R. 315) to extend the current moratorium on the automatic 2% Medicare sequester cut through the duration of the pandemic. The Partnership applauds this bipartisan effort to stabilize our nation’s healthcare infrastructure, and urges Congress to work quickly…
Our Home Health Regulatory Priorities for 2021
It might be a new year, new Congress, and new Administration, but our priorities haven’t changed. Now more than ever, it is important to keep advancing policies to ensure patient access to high quality home health care. To that end, the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (the Partnership) will focus on three key administrative and…
Home Health Patient Demographics Shift as Demand for Home Health Surges
Data reported in the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation’s annual Home Health Chartbook provides a timely look at the growing role of home health care in the lives of older Americans. The Chartbook, composed and compiled by Avalere Health, provides an overview of home health patients characteristics, the home health workforce, the economic…
Home Health Champions Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Ensure Access to Telehealth
Recently, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and the Senate introduced the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act, legislation to protect Medicare beneficiaries’ access to home health via telehealth. If passed, the legislation would reimburse home health agencies for telehealth services furnished during the COVID-19 emergency and any future public health…
Fact-Checking Medicare’s Assumptions About Home Health
On January 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began implementing the Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), which included a 4.36% rate reduction to the Medicare home health benefit purely based on three behavioral assumptions. Yet, according to a new analysis, CMS’s assumptions have been significantly incorrect in two of the three areas of assumed…