Partnership Commends Harris Campaign Announcement to Lengthen Care within the Home for Older People

Washington, DC, October 09, 2024 –(PR.com)– The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare – a coalition of leading Medicare dwelling successfully being suppliers dedicated to fighting for safe entry to to quality care within the home – commends Vice President Kamala Harris and the Harris for President marketing and marketing campaign’s contemporary proposal to cowl extra dwelling care services for older People.

“At a time when investment in dwelling-primarily based adore Medicare beneficiaries is declining, the Partnership applauds plans to prolong safe entry to to care within the home for extra ageing People,” acknowledged Joanne Cunningham, CEO of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare. “People desire extra care within the home, now not much less, and we strongly give a take to this announcement, which aligns with our mission to give a take to, give a take to, and give a take to the Medicare dwelling successfully being program.”

At the unique time’s announcement, while welcomed by the Medicare dwelling successfully being community, comes at a time when dwelling successfully being investment and affected person safe entry to are declining across the nation. Following years of dwelling successfully being price price cuts since 2020, data level to that fewer patients (an estimated 500,000 fewer yearly than 2019) are receiving Medicare dwelling successfully being services. Unfortunately, divestment in Medicare dwelling successfully being will continue unless now not decrease than 2028, unless the Administration or Congress acts to cease the cuts.

A contemporary diagnosis of Medicare dwelling successfully being claims data found that nearly about 35% of patients directed to dwelling successfully being after being discharged from the successfully being facility didn’t safe entry to dwelling successfully being internal seven days in 2022. The dwelling successfully being referral rejection price has elevated vastly (from 49% in 2020 to 71% in 2022), that manner extra patients are pressured to slay within the successfully being facility and aren’t in an area to switch with out pickle from the successfully being facility to their properties. Additional, patients who didn’t safe entry to dwelling successfully being after successfully being facility discharge had a 41% greater mortality price than these that gained safe entry to to dwelling successfully being. Making certain greater safe entry to to dwelling successfully being services, therefore, is a must-gather.

“Whereas we applaud plans to procure extra dwelling care available to older People dwelling with chronic illness and debilitating stipulations, we additionally creep Administration and Congressional leaders to cease extra to provide protection to the existing Medicare dwelling successfully being program that offers clinically developed care within the home,” acknowledged Cunningham. “One thing must be performed to handle unique declines in affected person safe entry to to lifesaving care within the home, starting with stopping Medicare’s planned cuts to dwelling successfully being in 2025 and beyond.”

For CY 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Products and services (CMS) has proposed extra cuts despite troubling declines within the gathering of dwelling successfully being patients and affected person visits. The Partnership has warned the everlasting -4.067 p.c price minimize to dwelling successfully being services proposed by CMS will extra undermine the provision of high-quality dwelling healthcare services to hundreds and hundreds of older People.

“Access to dwelling successfully being in The United States is getting worse, now not better,” added Cunningham. “We need leaders to stabilize the Medicare dwelling successfully being program by stopping the cuts to this a must-gather program, which is a distinction maker for beneficiaries desiring care following a successfully being facility slay or to handbook obvious of nursing dwelling placement. We additionally welcome efforts to modernize Medicare’s dwelling successfully being program to cease extra for patients and families with the finest need.”

The Partnership helps bipartisan legislation to forestall future cuts to dwelling successfully being, at the side of cuts proposed for CY 2025. The Preserving Access to Home Health Act of 2023 (S.2137/H.R. 5159) would safeguard safe entry to to main dwelling-primarily based, clinically developed healthcare services for The United States’s older adults and folks dwelling with disabilities by stopping extra price cuts and fighting any future cuts.

About PQHH
The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare represents community- and successfully being facility-primarily based dwelling healthcare companies across the U.S. and is dedicated to increasing innovative reforms to give a take to the usual, efficiency, and integrity of dwelling healthcare. To be taught extra, focus on over with www.pqhh.org.