The Preserving Access to Home Health Act of 2023 (S. 2137) has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Susan Collins, R-Maine.
This bipartisan legislation would reverse cuts to home health care services that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implemented following Medicare’s adoption of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model, or PDGM, payment system. S. 2137 would make the following policy changes:
- Repeal permanent and temporary payment adjustments. The bill would repeal the requirement that CMS make determinations related to the impact of behavior changes on estimated aggregate expenditures and would eliminate the agency’s authority to adjust home health payments based on such determinations under PDGM.
- Instruct MedPAC to analyze the Medicare Home Health Program. The bill would instruct MedPAC to review and report on aggregate trends under Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and other payers, and consider the impact of all payerson access to care for Medicare home health beneficiaries. To verify MedPAC’s calculations, the commission would be required to make its calculations public. This provision would also require Medicare home health cost reports to include data on visit utilization and total payments by program to facilitate this MedPAC analysis.
Please take a few minutes to contact your senator and urge them to cosponsor the Preserving Access to Home Health Act (S. 2137). Click here to contact your officials!
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