Home Health Firms Met With OMB, But Failed To Avert Proposed Pay Cuts

By John Wilkerson, Inside Washington Publishers

Representatives of the home health industry met with Office of Management and Budget officials to make a case against pay cuts shortly before CMS proposed the 2014 pay rule for that sector, but the proposed rule that industry had been awaiting since the Affordable Care Act passed still made pay cuts that the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare called “alarming.” Industry is arguing for more targeted pay cuts and is lobbying for an alternative fraud-fighting proposal that it estimates would save nearly $20 billion – industry’s earlier preliminary estimates put the savings at around $15 billion.

The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare on July 10 issued results of a national poll of registered voters that finds that 93 percent of seniors surveyed think Congress should stop Medicare fraud instead of cutting Medicare payments or increasing fees on seniors’ Medicare services.

Analysis: Florida Home Health Medicare Margins on Steep Decline

The Home Care Association of Florida in coordination with the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare today released data demonstrating that the rebasing of Medicare home health payments within the proposed Home Health Prospective Payment System (HHPPS) rule for 2014 will negatively impact Florida’s home health sector and the 342,570 vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries receiving home health by driving Medicare margins to an all-time low. Leaders are urging regulators to carefully consider home health sector’s current-law economics when implementing this policy.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is directed to rebase home health payments between 2014 and 2017 by a percentage determined appropriate by the Secretary.  This percentage is to be implemented in equal increments during each year from 2014 through 2017.

MedPAC Offers Positive Comments for Future of Home Health

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met in Washington, D.C. last week for its annual review of draft recommendations for legislative consideration related to Medicare providers. HCAF’s Bobby Lolley and Monica Smith were in attendance, at which the Commission reviewed Medicare home health services.

Hospitals, Home Health Care Services Lobby Against Cuts in Deficit Deal

By Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News

As lawmakers and President Barack Obama discuss possible changes to federal entitlement programs as part of a larger deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, expect provider groups to make their case loud and clear: Don’t cut us.

The American Hospital Association is circulating a list of alternatives that are well-known and included in other deficit-reduction plans, such as raising Medicare’s eligibility age, “modernizing” cost-sharing for Medicare and Medicaid and taxing junk foods and sugary drinks.

Florida Lawmakers Recognized for Commitment to Medicare Home Health Services

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.

Home Health Industry to Get Out the Vote

By Matt DoBias, POLITICO

Home health agencies in more than a dozen states will be asked to take part in a get-out-the-vote effort that could give the sector more political clout while allowing thousands of seniors to participate in the November elections.

Under the initiative, backed by the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare and the Council of State Home Care Associations, caregivers could assist patients and their families in registering to vote and help them request absentee ballots if needed.

Thanking Florida’s Congressional Delegation

Across Florida last week, many of you saw ads thanking members of Florida’s congressional delegation for ‘Standing Up for Florida’s Seniors’.

The newspaper ads, orchestrated to run while they were at home during their August recess, recognized U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and Representatives Bill Young (R-Indian Shores), Gus Bilirakis (R-Palm Harbor), David Rivera (R-Miami), Dennis Ross (R-Lakeland), Rich Nugent (R-Brooksville), Tom Rooney (R-Stuart) and Sandy Adams (R-Titusville) for their support of millions of seniors who receive skilled care at home.

These elected officials have taken steps to assure that the 90% of seniors who prefer to live independently in their homes will continue have that option. The thank you ads mark the sustained progression of home health’s proactive partnership with Congress to assure quality, innovation, continued cost effectiveness and benefits integrity.

The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare, which collaborated on these ads with state associations across the nation, was established in 2010 to partner with government to assure access to high quality home health services for all Americans.