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[Page S1167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Kennedy, Mr.
Jones, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Paul, and Mrs. Shaheen):
S. 433. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to
improve home health payment reforms under the Medicare program; to the
Committee on Finance.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to
support two bills that I have introduced that will help to preserve and
to expand access to home healthcare.
I have been a strong supporter of home care since my very first home
visit early in my Senate service. This experience gave me the
opportunity to meet and to visit with home healthcare patients, where I
saw firsthand what a difference highly skilled, caring visiting nurses
and other healthcare professionals make in the lives of patients and
their families. I have been a passionate advocate of home healthcare
ever since.
The highly skilled and compassionate care that home health agencies
provide in the State of Maine and across the country have enabled
millions of our most frail and vulnerable individuals to avoid
hospitals and nursing homes and to stay just where they want to be--in
the comfort, privacy, and security of their own homes.
As we look to the future, home health services will continue to be in
high demand. The Census projects that by the year 2030, the proportion
of U.S. residents older than age 65 will have nearly doubled from 2010.
The Home Health Payment Innovation Act, which I have introduced with
Senator Stabenow, Senator Kennedy, Senator Jones, Senator Cassidy, and
Senator Paul, preserves access to existing home health services under
the Medicare Program, while also providing a pathway for innovative
approaches to using these vital services. This bipartisan legislation
is endorsed by the National Association of Home Care and Hospice, as
well as by the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare.
Our bill would make two key adjustments in home health payment reform
provisions that were passed last year. First, it would prevent
unwarranted payment rate cuts by basing any behavioral adjustments on
actual evidence. Second, it would limit the risk of disruption in care
by providing a phase-in for any necessary rate increases or decreases.
This phase-in is critical for home health providers, as CMS has already
proposed cutting Medicare payment rates in 2020 by more than $1 billion
in the first year alone, based purely on assumptions of changes in
behavior.
Our bill also provides the pathway to expanded use of home healthcare
in the Medicare Program without increasing program spending
It provides flexibility on waiving what is called the ``homebound
requirement'' for home health services when a plan or innovative care
delivery model, such as an accountable care organization, determines
that providing care to the patient in the home would improve outcomes
and reduce spending on patient care.
As plans and providers continue to experiment with innovative ways to
deliver care and improve value in Medicare spending, allowing them the
flexibility to waive this limitation--the homebound limitation--will
help to advance the goals of ensuring that care is delivered at the
right time, in the right place, and at the right cost.
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