Senator Cardin Advocates for Home Health in New Letter, Senate Committee Hearing
Over the past week, Senator Ben Cardin has been recognizing the importance of home health and fighting to protect our community from steep Medicare cuts! On Sept. 19, Senator Cardin led a hearing of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care on aging in place, in which Senators discussed the vital role home health plays…
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…
Home Health Leaders Offer Medicare Solution to Address Increased Labor Costs
Home health providers are experiencing significant Medicare reimbursement constraints, including reductions in fee-for-service payments, and increasing enrollments in Medicare Advantage, which provides comparatively low payments. While the annual Market Basket Adjustment is meant to keep pace with inflation, actual price inflation in the market has not been reflected in the forecasts of the market basket…
The Partnership Urges Congress to Act on the Workforce Shortage
The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare recently submitted comments to the U.S. Senate HELP Committee, proposing solutions for the healthcare workforce shortages. In the letter, the Partnership outlined the constraints home health providers experience in attracting and retaining home health nurses, therapists and other caregivers that are needed to ensure high quality care delivered through…
New Report: Home Health Serves an Older, Sicker, Poorer Patient Population
A new report confirms what we have always known: Home healthcare patients are among the sickest and most vulnerable beneficiaries in the Medicare program. The 2022 Home Care Chartbook, recently released by Research Institute for Home Care (RIHC), offers a detailed overview of the home health landscape. According to the Chartbook, compared to the Medicare…
Proposed Medicare Cuts to Home Health Threaten Access to Care
Last month, CMS proposed to cut rates for Medicare home health services in 2023 by an unprecedented and permanent -7.69%, equaling $1.33 billion in 2023 alone. If implemented, payment cuts included in the CY 2023 Home Health Prospective Payment System (HHPPS) Proposed Rule will threaten patients’ access to care as America’s home health agencies could…
Specialized Clinical Programs – The Future of Home Health?
Representing some of the nation’s leading home healthcare providers, the Partnership’s members are dedicated to developing innovative reforms to improve the program integrity, quality, and efficiency of the Medicare home healthcare program for our nation’s seniors. An example of this innovation can be seen in LHC Group’s new clinical program, Choose Control. We spoke with…
Congress: Provide Much-Needed Stability & Support for Medicare Providers
Last year, Congress extended the temporary suspension of the 2% sequester to Medicare providers in response to the ongoing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this 2% relief is set to expire at the end of March. As the impact of the pandemic on our health care system continues to cause strain, sequestration relief…
Reflecting on Our Home Health Patients During National Patient Recognition Week
February 1 marks the start of National Patient Recognition Week, and this week, PQHH is recognizing the estimated 3.5 million seniors who reply upon Medicare home health services. Home healthcare is an essential care option for many patients who are often among the Medicare program’s sickest and most vulnerable. On average, home health patients are…