Reps push for more care in home
By HME News Staff
Updated 9:33 AM CST, Tue November 16, 2021
WASHINGTON – Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and James Comer, R-Ky., have introduced the Choose Home Care Act of 2021 to give medically appropriate patients the option to leave the hospital and recover at home rather than being discharged to a skilled nursing facility, the only current option under Medicare. H.R. 5514 would provide a time-limited, cost-effective benefit that combines Medicare-covered skilled nursing and therapy with essential personal care, transportation, meal supports, remote patient monitoring, respite care, telehealth and other services. “By combining this set of extended care services with traditional Medicare home health, seniors can leave the hospital and recover at home with increased patient and family satisfaction and reduced exposure to infectious disease — as well as significant savings to Medicare when compared with institutional costs,” Cuellar and Comer wrote in an op-ed in The Hill. Eligibility would be controlled by use of an assessment process that considers an individual’s place-of-care preferences, their medical conditions and their goals and family caregiver abilities. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Todd Young, R-Ind., have introduced a similar bill.
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