If a senior or homebound patient is eligible for home health care, there are a number of caregiving professionals who can open a case and begin an assessment. Those include nurses, physical therapists and others. One profession that is not on that list is an occupational therapist. However, a new proposed bill could change that. […]
Two senators introduced a bill Thursday that would create a pilot program aimed at expanding the scope of hospital-at-home care in the U.S. Dubbed the At Home Observation and Medical Evaluation (HOME) Services Act, the bill was introduced specifically by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.). Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) was an original […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule that will have a significant impact on the test used to determine whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The rule — aimed at addressing the misclassification of workers as independent contractors — could potentially […]
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended that the Medicare base payment rate for home health care be reduced by 7% for CY 2025. The recommendation is another chapter in the contentious relationship between the commission and the home health industry. It also recommended that Congress eliminate any payment updates for hospice providers in 2025. […]
Access to home- and community-based services (HCBS) has increased over the last few years. But, despite some of the spotlight that the current administration has shone on HCBS, there is still a lot of work to be done to unlock the full potential of these services. “The reality of the funding aspect of Medicaid does […]
Over the past several years, many states have strengthened their home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs by covering more services and increasing rates. Now, over a dozen members of Congress are trying to give states additional funding to help expand those HCBS programs further. “A vast majority of seniors and people with disabilities would prefer […]
In an attempt to lower administrative burden, Cigna Healthcare — the health insurance arm of The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI) — announced that it is removing nearly 25% of medical services from its prior authorization requirements. Broadly, prior authorization is the process that occurs when a health care provider requests a patient to receive a […]
New legislation that would establish the first minimum wage requirement for health care workers advanced in the California State Assembly earlier this month. Although the news will be greeted warmly by caregivers in the Golden State, experts in the home-based care space are worried the minimum wage increase will have adverse effects on providers. “It […]
The Preserving Access to Home Health Act of 2023 was introduced Thursday. Its largest objective is to prevent further cuts to home health payments in 2024 and beyond. The bill, if passed, would also strip the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of some of its payment-rate setting power and force the The Medicare […]
A group of lawmakers have rolled out a new Senate bill that would direct the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to develop a palliative care-specific payment model demonstration. The bill is dubbed the Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Barrasso (R-Wy.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) […]
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