Home Health Champions Stand in Support of Protecting Seniors’ Access to Care

On July 2, Senators Susan Collins and Debbie Stabenow and Representatives Terri Sewell and Vern Buchanan joined together in support of America’s seniors.

In a letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, these bipartisan lawmakers urged CMS to take action to prevent a $1 billion cut to Medicare home health services based purely on assumptions.

“We are concerned that CMS has not taken into account what may happen to Medicare beneficiaries and their access to home health services as a result of this substantial cut. In the absence of observed experience and data, CMS should take a cautious approach in its 2020 behavioral assumptions, knowing that data-based adjustments can be made in the years that follow,” they said in the letter.

Fortunately for the home health community, these home health champions are not relying on CMS to act. In February, Senators Collins and Stabenow joined five of their colleagues in introducing the Home Health Payment Innovation Act of 2019 (S. 433) and Representatives Sewell, Buchanan, and nine of their bipartisan colleagues in the House followed suit in May with the introduction of H.R. 2573.

If passed, this legislation would require CMS to rely on actual data before imposing cuts, which would limit the risk of disruptions in care and protect senior access to home health.

Momentum continues to build in the House and Senate, with dozens of new bipartisan co-sponsors joining in support, but we need your help. Ask your lawmakers to support this vital bipartisan home health legislation: Click here to get started.