New legislation aims to preserve reimbursement from family hospitals until 2030
This week, five federal policymakers introduced legislation that would allow CMS exemptions to extend hospital reimbursement for five years.
Three delegates – Vern Buchanan (R-Florida), Lloyd Smucker (R-Pennsylvania) and Dwight Evans (D-Pennsylvania) – introduced a bill Thursday, along with a pair of Senators – Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Raphael Warnock (Raphael Warnock) (D-Georgia) – introduced their companions.
CMS’s Home Hospital Waiver was established in 2020 and allows eligible hospitals to treat certain patients in their homes with the same acute care as traditional hospitals. This exemption provides flexibility for Medicare reimbursement and requires participating hospitals to meet safety and quality standards, including 24/7 remote monitoring and in-person access.
Currently, the exemption will expire at the end of September. The newly introduced bill aims to extend the exemption program until 2030.
The legislation will ensure that more than 200 hospitals in 34 states can continue to provide at-home hospitals.
Research by the American Medical Association shows that at-home hospital programs reduce patient mortality and health care spending. This care model reduces mortality by minimizing infections obtained by patients’ exposure to hospitals and with more personalized and comfortable care in familiar environments. It reduces spending by eliminating the need for expensive hospitalization resources and reducing post-charge complications, resulting in fewer readmissions.
The AMA study also shows that 35% hospice services and 15-20% emergency care and emergency care services can be provided at home. With proper reimbursement, the organization believes that at-home hospital programs can provide up to a quarter of the country’s post-acute and long-term care.
“This legislation will provide patients with a safe and innovative way of collecting data. This legislation will provide more time to continue to collect data and will also provide much-needed stability for new and existing programs,” said Ama Hrobsky, senior vice president of AMA, in a statement.
CMS also published studies showing that treating patients in a familiar setting speeds up recovery time and reduces the risk of adverse events and death.
This week’s legislation will require more research from CMS and HHS to compare home care with hospitalizations such as infection rates, readmission levels, patient satisfaction and quality of care.
Billing has been supported by several groups representing providers and patients, including AMA, the American Hospital Association and Moving Health Residence.
“CMS itself found that hospitals at home save an average of nearly $2,000 compared to inpatient care. It’s time to long-term access to this life-saving model of care,” Krista Drobac, founder of Moving Health, said in a statement.
Photo: Willowpix, Getty Images
