Since the release of the CY2023 Home Health Proposed Rule on June 17^th, LeadingAge has been engaging in advocacy on all fronts to prevent the deep cuts to Medicare home health agencies proposed by CMS. Actions to date include: a summary of the rule, a members only guide to commenting on the rule, and our letter and action alert to Secretary Becerra and Administrator Brooks-LaSure on the devastating potential impact of post-acute care cuts. All of these can be found on our home health advocacy landing page (you need to be signed into your LeadingAge account to access the resources).

Last week, Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) introduced the Preserving Access to Home Health Act of 2022 (S.4605/H.R. 8581). The bill would:

1. Prevent CMS from implementing any permanent or temporary adjustment to home health prospective payment rates prior to 2026. This would delay cuts currently proposed by CMS for 2023 and beyond, allowing more time for CMS to refine its proposed approach to determining budget neutrality in home health (and for LeadingAge to advocate for methodological changes);

2. Ensure that any adjustments CMS determines to be necessary to offset increases or decreases in estimated aggregate expenditures are made by 2032, such that no cuts would be delayed beyond the end of the budget window. This provision is to ensure that the bill would not carry a large Congressional Office Budget Score so that it could move easily on legislative vehicles later this year; and

3. The legislation is intended to be self-implementing. It would become effective as of the date of enactment and includes instructions allowing for implementation by program instruction or other means.

Please take action and ask your legislators and ask them to co-sponsor S.2605/H.R. 8581!