Urge Congress to Support the Home Health Payment Innovation Act

LeadingAge New York urges all Certified Home Health Agencies and affiliated health systems to urge Congress to support the Home Health Payment Innovation Act  (H.R. 2573/S.433) which prevents a destructive 8% payment cut to Medicare home health services for the country’s growing elderly population. 

Last year, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 made significant changes to the Medicare home health payment system by allowing the Centers for Mediare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reduce Medicare rates to home health providers under the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) based on faulty behavioral assumptions that providers are upcoding their services and inflating diagnoses.

This bill requires the use of evidence, not assumptions, to make home health payment changes allowing for a more accurate reimbursement system that better aligns payment with patient care needs. The bill also limits these reductions to no more than two percent annually and waives homebound rules for certain Medicare beneficiaries.

This legislation has bipartisan support in the House and Senate. It would help safeguard the availability of home health services in our communities and allow seniors to receive the care they need in their own home.   

Please take a few minutes to communicate your support. To send an email to your members of Congress, please click here.

Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518 867-8871.