The Senate on Thursday voted 59-35 to pass a bill delaying statutory cuts to the Medicare program. The House passed its own version of the legislation on Dec. 7.
Specifically, the bill extends a “holiday” around Medicare sequestration, which translates to a 2% cut for home health agencies and other Medicare-reimbursed providers. Once President Joe Biden signs off on the legislation, which he is expected to do, sequestration will be delayed until April 1, 2022.
At that point, the normal 2% level will drop to 1% for another three months.
Post-acute care advocates like the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH) and others have been advocating for a continued delay on sequestration for some time. PQHH applauded the Senate’s action in a statement shared with Home Health Care News on Friday.
“The sequestration moratorium provided by Congress has been incredibly valuable to the home health sector due to the challenges of providing care during the public health emergency, coupled with the continued changes to Medicare home health payment policy,” PQHH Executive Director Joanne Cunningham said.
Operationally, a continued pause on sequestration will help home health providers navigate with rising labor and equipment costs, along with potential volume disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress first suspended the 2% sequestration cuts as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in 2020.
Home health agency benefits costs are expected to grow at a rate that is 15.3 percentage points higher in 2021 than in 2020, according to PQHH. Wages are also expected to grow at the same rate in 2021 as they did in 2020.
“This continued relief will help to stabilize our sector as the costs of providing care to Medicare’s most vulnerable seniors continue to rise,” Cunningham continued.
The House and Senate legislation additionally blocks statutory PAYGO cuts to Medicare, which could amount to a maximum 4% cut to Medicare payments.
“At a time when our country is relying so heavily on our health care providers to help get us back to normal, we cannot ignore the financial realities they face,” Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said in a statement. “Almost half of Maine hospitals finished last year with a negative operating margin, and many providers are struggling to stay open.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, echoed those sentiments.
“As New Hampshire grapples with the worst rate of new COVID infections in the nation, our front-line providers need to use every resource available to respond to the surge and treat patients,” Shaheen said. “The last thing they should have to worry about is their bottom line when they’re working around the clock to save lives.”
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