Home Health Leaders Applaud Introduction of Legislation to Strengthen

Medicare Home Health Reforms

Partnership and NAHC commend bipartisan lawmakers for introducing legislation to ensure
Medicare payment reductions are based on actual changes in provider behaviors.

Washington, DC, February 12, 2019 --(PR.com)-- Home health leaders with the Partnership for Quality
Home Healthcare (Partnership) and National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) applaud the
introduction of S. 433, legislation to improve home health payment reforms to ensure beneficiary access
to quality care services is not compromised for America's growing senior population. Introduced by
Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), John Kennedy (R-LA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Rand Paul (R-KY), Debbie
Stabenow (D-MI), Doug Jones (D-AL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the legislation will refine home
health payment to ensure behavioral-based payment adjustments are rooted in evidence and observed
data.

“We commend Senators Collins, Stabenow and their bipartisan colleagues in the Senate for introducing
this Medicare legislation to protect consistent and seamless access to home health services. Refining the
PDGM approach is critically important to home health care for America's growing senior population,”
said Keith Myers, Chairman of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare. “We strongly support this
legislation, which ensures CMS uses actual data and observed evidence when making payment
adjustments to properly align payment with patient characteristics and quality.”

“The transition to the new PDGM payment model promises to be disruptive for home health agencies that
have operated under the current model since 2000. It is not prudent to magnify that disruptive impact by
reducing payment rates based on pure assumptions on how agencies will react. The legislation will
provide protection from such disruption and ensure continued access to care for nearly three and a half
million Medicare beneficiaries who rely on home health services every year,” said Bill Dombi, President
of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice.

Finalized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last year, the Patient Driven
Groupings Model (PDGM) is the most significant payment change to the home health system in 20 years.
If implemented as designed, PDGM will make payment adjustments based on behavioral assumptions as
opposed to observed evidence or actual provider billing behaviors. The new payment structure could
result in a 6.42 percent payment reduction in 2020 - equaling an estimated $1 billion. Home health
leaders warn that without the elimination of the behavioral assumption cut, PDGM could lead to
instability to all providers, threaten access to care and harm the Medicare home health program for
seniors.

The bill (S. 433) instead would require Medicare to implement adjustments to reimbursement rates only
after behavioral changes by home health agencies (HHAs) that affect Medicare spending actually occur
instead of assuming changes might happen. By requiring the payment model to utilize observed evidence
of behavioral changes, the bill would ensure a smoother transition to the new payment system. The bill
also provides a phase-in of payment changes, limiting losses or gains to two percent per year, while still

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ensuring budget neutrality is maintained. The bill also includes important provisions that allow for the
“homebound” requirement that limits Medicare beneficiaries' eligibility to receive home healthcare
services to be waived in certain instances.

“We will be working with lawmakers in the House and Senate to advance this important patient-centered
legislation so vulnerable beneficiaries do not experience any unintended consequences as a result of
Medicare's payment new model,” added Myers.

About the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare

The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare was established in 2010 to work in partnership with
government officials to ensure access to quality home healthcare services for all Americans. Representing
community- and hospital-based home healthcare agencies nationwide, the Partnership is dedicated to
developing innovative reforms to improve the program integrity, quality and efficiency of home
healthcare for our nation's seniors. Visit pqhh.org to learn more. To learn more, visit pqhh.org.

About National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC)

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) is the voice of home care and hospice.
NAHC represents the nation's 33,000 home care and hospice providers, along with the more than two
million nurses, therapists, and aides they employ. These caregivers provide vital services to Americans
who are aged, disabled, and ill. Some 12 million patients depend on home care and hospice providers,
who depend on NAHC for the best in advocacy, education, and information. NAHC is a nonprofit
organization that helps its members maintain the highest standards of care. To learn more, visit nahc.org.

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Contact Information:
Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare
Ellen Almond
703-548-0019
Contact via Email
http://pqhh.org/

Online Version of Press Release:

You can read the online version of this press release at: https://www.pr.com/press-release/776963

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