Minnesota state legislature approved a bill this week that would give home care workers the right to unionize. The state’s House of Representatives passed legislation Monday by a vote of 68-66, which would allow unions to negotiate on behalf of providers serving clients that receive government subsidies such as Medicaid. Minnesota’s Senate passed the bill […]
Category: Legislation
The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare today thanked Pennsylvania lawmakers for supporting access to coordinated home-based care. The bipartisan group of Pennsylvania legislators requested that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extend the grants provided in the Medicare Coordinated Care Demonstration (MCCD) beyond its current expiration date of June 2013. The program, which […]
The bill that would put an end to Round 2 of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Competitive Bidding program has been gaining momentum in the House. Only two weeks after its introduction by Rep. Tom Price, M.D. (R-Ga.) and Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), H.R. 1717 has garnered the support of 19 House […]
The Vermont House approved a bill last week that would allow home care workers in the state to receive workplace benefits through unionization. In an 95-41 vote, the House voted in favor of home care bill S.59, which proposes to establish a Direct Support Provider Workforce Council for the recruitment and retention of home care workers, […]
A Massachusetts hearing this week weighed the need for home care legislative measures within the state. As one of just five states that do not currently have licensure or certificate-of-need process for home health care providers, more oversight is needed, home care representatives and elected officials told Massachusetts’ Joint Committee on Health Care Financing Tuesday according […]
Last night, the efforts of two Congressmen introduced a bill that will prevent the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing Round 2 of its competitive bidding program. H.R. 1717, the Medicare DMEPOS Market Pricing Program Act of 2013, will stop the bidding program, forcing CMS to adopt a market-based approach to determine prices […]
This month, the Illinois House of Representatives approved a supplemental spending bill that provides funds for community care to keep seniors in their homes. Approved in a landslide 115-2 vote, the legislation allocates $173 million for home health services. The approval is the latest in a string of events that began in mid-March with a […]
One goal of President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal, submitted last week to Congress, is to reduce the nation’s debt deficit, but the home health care industry may suffer as a result, according to two Forbes columnists. In order to achieve deficit reduction while simultaneously increasing discretionary spending by about $1.4 billion, the budget has […]
On December 15, 2011, as part of his “We Can’t Wait” program, President Obama pledged to end federal regulations excluding home care workers from minimum wage and overtime protections, according to the Paraprofessional Health Institute (PHI). Sixteen months later, millions of home care workers across the U.S. are still waiting, according to a Thursday press […]
The home health care industry could experience some changes in 2014 such as Medicare copayments for new beneficiaries or increased fraud prevention measures for agencies receiving federal reimbursements. Some aspects of President Obama’s 2013 budget pertaining to home health care will likely remain for next year’s budget, expected to be released on April 10, according […]
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