Calling All Advocates to Connect with Lawmakers!
Democratic Senator Bill Nelson and Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Palm Harbor), Vern Buchanan (R-Longboat Key) and Kathy Castor (D-Tampa) have been appointed to congressional committees with jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid matters, which include oversight over the home health benefit. (more…)
HCAF coordinated a home care visit this week with Congresswoman Kathy Castor and Gentiva Health Services in Tampa. Rep. Castor, a Democrat who has represented Tampa in Congress since 2007, serves on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over health care, including Medicare, and long-term services and supports. (more…)
Rep. Deutch
HCAF is excited to announce that because our tireless efforts to promote federal legislation that benefits the home health care industry, U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton) will cosponsor the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act. Rep. Deutch becomes Florida’s third cosponsor for the bill, joining Reps. Tom Rooney (R-Tequesta) and Kathy Castor (D-Tampa).
Introduced in June 2011, the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act (S. 227, H.R. 2267) would allow nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives and physician assistants to sign Medicare home health plans of care. To date, the bill has 116 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, and is currently the industry’s most promising piece of legislation in Congress. (more…)
Last month, HCAF and The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare partnered to commend federal lawmakers for their commitment to the home care industry by placing ads in newspapers across Florida. Six members of the congressional delegation, both Democrats and Republicans, were recognized for cosponsoring legislation and speaking out on industry issues such as the companionship services exemption and copays.
The six lawmakers recognized (click the names to view ads) are Senators Bill Nelson (D) and Marco Rubio (R), and U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor (D-Tampa), Rich Nugent (R-Brooksville), Tom Rooney (R-Tequesta) and Dennis Ross (R-Lakeland). Thank you ads for the lawmakers were placed in the Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, Tampa Tribune, Citrus County Chronicle, Stuart News and Lakeland Ledger, respectively. (more…)
Rep. Rooney
HCAF is excited to announce that our recent advocacy efforts in support of the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act have proven successful!
On Monday, Congressman Tom Rooney, a Republican representing the 16th District (Port Charlotte, Port St. Lucie, Palm Beach), joined Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor of Tampa as the bill’s second cosponsor. (more…)
This week, President Obama released his deficit reductions recommendations for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the “super committee”. President Obama’s proposal is intended to reduce the deficit by $3 trillion over the next ten years. It includes $320 billion in savings from federal health programs, including $224 billion from Medicare and $66 billion from Medicaid. These reductions are in addition to the $1 trillion in savings from spending caps enacted by the debt ceiling package that was signed into law this summer.
What Does This Mean for Home Care? (more…)
As most of you know by now, the new Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (also known as the “supercommittee”) is charged with coming up with a proposal by Nov. 23 to achieve between $1.2 and 1.5 trillion in deficit reduction.
If the bipartisan, 12-member supercommittee, equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, is able to report out by majority vote a proposal to achieve this goal, Congress must then vote up or down on the proposal by Dec. 23. (more…)
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