Editor’s Picks: New Home Care Coalition, Lawmakers’ Gripes About CMS Rule

This week, HHCN readers were keyed in on a new coalition for Medicaid home-based care, as well as U.S. Representatives’ thoughts on key aspects of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid’s proposed payment rule. Readers also dove into the star rating system for home health agencies. Here in the newsroom, we were interested in one home health industry leader’s take on the Department of Labor’s minimum wage regulations.

HHCN Most Read

Addus, Other Home Care Providers Form Lobbying Group—Addus HomeCare and other national home care provider organizations formed The Partnership for Medicaid Home-Based Care, a coalition intended to advance the integrity and delivery of cost-effective, high-quality Medicaid home-based care.

Inside One Agency’s 5-Star Home Health Rating—Kaiser Health News discussed a Brookdale home health agency in Charlotte, North Carolina, and what is behind the high ratings it earned in a new star rating system for home health agencies.

House Lawmakers Slam CMS’ Proposed Home Health Cuts—More than 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives took issue with several key aspects of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed rule in a Sept. 18 letter to Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the CMS.

Weekend Reads

Home Health Aides and the Negative Consequences of “Fair Wage” Legislation: Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough— Marki Flannery, executive vice president and chief provider of operations at Visiting Nurse Service of New York, says fair wage regulation is almost certain to hurt the pocketbooks of individual home health aides while also diminishing access to the care that elderly Americans require in order to stay in their homes.

Written by Mary Kate Nelson