March 24, 2021, Washington, DC—A top aging services organization urged the Senate to follow the House of Representatives’s lead and head off billions of dollars in imminent Medicare cuts—which could hurt millions of older Americans and care providers still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts would affect funding for quality care at skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospices, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) organizations that provide care for older adults.

On March 19, the House passed bipartisan legislation to prevent reimbursement rate cuts for Medicare providers, including several types of aging services providers that bill Medicare.  Previous legislation had suspended the 2% sequester cut to Medicare through the end of March 2021. 

Without further legislation, the cuts will be reinstated beginning April 1.

“Many care providers are still struggling to catch up from the crippling cost of COViD,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services. “Cutting support for older Americans in the middle of a pandemic makes no sense. The Senate needs to head off these billions of dollars in Medicare sequestration cuts by April 1.”

Sloan praised the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 1868, which would prevent Medicare rate cuts of up to 6% by extending the sequester suspension and exempting the American Rescue Plan from PAYGO rules. 

LeadingAge is helping its thousands of members contact their Senate offices to urge them to prevent the cuts. 

We represent more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-minded organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we use applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building to make America a better place to grow old. Our membership, which now includes the providers of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, encompasses the continuum of services for people as they age, including those with disabilities. We bring together the most inventive minds in the field to lead and innovate solutions that support older adults wherever they call home. For more information visit leadingage.org.