Lawmakers Set Sights On Eliminating Age Restrictions For Medicaid Buy-In Program

U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have set their sights on lifting age-based restrictions in the Medicaid buy-in program. Their proposed legislation has the potential to widen the addressable market for home care providers. On Wednesday, the policymakers introduced the Ensuring Access to Medicaid Buy-In Programs Act. If enacted, the legislation would […]

Competition Heats Up For New York CDPAP Contract

PALCO, a financial management service (FMS) provider based in Little Rock, Arkansas, has announced its participation in the bidding process to become the exclusive administrator of New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). The company, along with Alpharetta, Georgia-based Public Partnerships LLC, is one of the organizations to publicly surface as one of the […]

How The Supreme Court’s Chevron Decision Could Help Stop Home Health Cuts

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upended the Chevron doctrine precedent. For home health industry purposes, that means a potentially weakened Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) moving forward. The news comes just two days after the home health proposed payment rule was released, which included significant cuts for the third straight year. Broadly, […]

‘An Absurd Amount of Denials’: New Legislation Seeks to Streamline Access to Home Health Services, Improve Senior Care

A group of bipartisan lawmakers this week reintroduced legislation aimed at curtailing restrictive – and often flawed – prior-authorization processes within Medicare Advantage (MA). As it has been to most other parts of health care, prior authorization has long been problematic for home health providers and patients. That’s been increasingly true as more insurers have […]

Congresswoman Kat Cammack Introduces Legislation To Block 80-20 Rule

One policymaker is attempting to put a halt to the 80-20 rule. At the start of the week, the “Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services” rule was finalized. The 80-20 provision is, arguably, the most controversial component of the Medicaid rule. In summary, the provision calls for 80% of Medicaid payments for home- and community-based services […]

‘The Devil Is In The Details’: Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act Is Introduced

A group of policymakers has introduced legislation aimed at strengthening the long-term care workforce. The Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act was introduced on Tuesday by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), along with Sens. Bob Casey (D-Penn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.). The impetus behind the bill is the instability in the caregiver workforce, which […]

Home-Focused PACE Model Continues To Gain Traction Across US

A Georgia House Bill that would create a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) was passed by the state senate earlier this month. House Bill 1078 passed in a 49 to 1 senate vote. Specifically, the bill creates a new adult day center licensure exclusion in order to authorize the Department of Community […]