‘The Wrong Policy At The Wrong Time’: Home Health Industry Continues To Fight CMS Cuts

The Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Health Care recently held a hearing centered around home health care and aging in place in the U.S. The hearing covered a number of topics, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) home health payment cuts, referral rejection rates, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) view of […]

NAHC, PQHH Sound The Alarm Over ‘Irreparable Fracturing Of The Foundation Of Skilled Home Health Care In America’

Two of home health care’s biggest advocacy organizations have joined forces on a proposed payment rule pre-comment letter addressed to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). On Friday, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH) submitted a joint comment letter that called for […]

3 Ways To Modernize Medicare’s Home Health Benefit

Home health stakeholders often talk about the need to modernize the Medicare home health benefit. What they are often getting at is the need to make it easier for providers to deliver crucial care, while, in turn, creating better access to care. “We constantly need to be thinking about what’s ahead, how to improve this […]

Home-Based Care Stakeholders See Public-Private Partnerships As Way To Address Workforce Shortage

Following the U.S. Senate’s request for information (RFI) regarding solutions to the national health care workforce crisis, the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH) submitted a comment letter on Saturday. The letter detailed the challenges the home-based care sector has been facing, and also included possible solutions. Among the potential solutions is recent state legislation […]

8 Quotes That Tell The Story Of Home-Based Care In 2022 — And Beyond

The quotes that cracked this Home Health Care News list were not only memorable, frank and informative, but they also paint a complete picture of the home-based care landscape in 2022. The words from the industry leaders highlighted here weigh in on everything from tensions with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to staffing shortages kneecapping industry […]

Final Rule ‘Blunts Immediate Impact,’ But CMS-Home Health Industry Core Disagreement Remains

Nearly five months after the unveiling of the proposed payment rule caused a stir among home health stakeholders and advocates, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final payment rule on Monday. Back in June, CMS proposed a 4.2% aggregate decrease for 2023, a cut the industry at large felt would […]

As Labor Competition Heats Up In Health Care, Home Health Sector Left Behind

Home health providers are dealing with a number of headwinds — inflation-induced financial challenges, labor shortages, pandemic pressures and more — that will only worsen if the proposed payment adjustments for 2023 become finalized. That’s the major takeaway from a recent labor cost study from the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH). The study was […]

Home Health Stakeholders Weigh In On Industry ‘Tailspin’ Following Proposed Payment Rule

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a fairly negative proposed payment rule for the home health industry on Friday. Specifically, the proposal includes a 4.2% decrease to payment rates that, if finalized, dumps cold water on an industry that’s just starting to heat up again. Though CMS’ unveiling of the proposed […]