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 in our nation’s healthcare system.

Following this hearing, Senator Cardin wrote a letter to his constituents highlighting the critical importance of home healthcare.

In the letter, he stated, “The current policies and payment incentives in the home health benefit make it hard for individuals with chronic conditions, who need skilled care, to access it in their home…At present, the Medicare home health program is not optimized, or well-suited, for aging in place for most beneficiaries. As more Americans retire each day, it is vital that programs, like Medicare Home Health, function as they should when people need them.”

The Partnership applauds Senator Cardin for his leadership in championing home health.

From helping hospitals free up capacity by discharging eligible patients to the right setting, to empowering older Americans to recover from serious illness or injury in the place they love most, to saving Medicare billions of dollars annually, home health is a critically important benefit whatever way you slice it.

We look forward to working together with Senator Cardin and his colleagues in Congress to ensure that the 65 million aging Americans covered by Medicare, many of whom want to age in place, and are able to access these essential services.