Tag: US Congress

Talking Home Care: NAHC’s Calvin McDaniel on the 2018 Midterm Elections

Calvin McDaniel of NAHC joins us to talk about the implications of the 2018 Midterm Election on the home care industry.

Kelleher and McDaniel

On this week’s edition of Talking Home Care, we are joined by Calvin McDaniel, Director of Government Affairs for the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). Calvin oversees NAHC’s legislative priorities on Capitol Hill, and collaborates with the Alliance and other state associations on shared, industry-wide priorities.

Our discussion recaps the 2018 Midterm Elections and what to expect in the 116th Congress, which will be seated in January 2019. Enjoy!


You may listen to the podcast by clicking the play button below, downloading it directly, or subscribing through iTunes or Google Play. (Length: 29 minutes; Size: 23.2 MB). If you enjoy it, please give us a five-star review so others can find it.

Host: Patricia Kelleher is the Executive Director of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.

Guest: Calvin McDaniel, Director of Government Affairs for the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC).

2018 Midterm Elections Recap (Updated Monday, 11/19):

  • Democrats regained control of the US House of Representatives, gaining 37 seats so far and holding a majority of 233 seats to Republicans’ 198 seats.
  • Republicans held control of the US Senate picking up two seat as and expanding their Senate Majority to 52 seats to Democrats’ 47 seats. The Mississippi senate seat is heading toward a run-off election on November 27th.
  • On the state level: Democrats flipped nearly 400 state legislative seats nationwide, flipped seven Republican-held governor seats, and took full control of the legislature and Governors’ mansion in seven states.
  • Lastly, three states: Idaho, Nebraska and Utah voted to expand Medicaid. And a fourth state, Maine, elected a democratic governor, who will likely do the same.
  • Overall, nearly 116 million voters cast ballots, representing over 40% of eligible voters and represents the largest midterm voter turnout in 104 years.
  • It is expected that Representative Richard Neal (D-MA) will become the Chairman of House Ways & Means, and Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) will become the new Chairman of the Rules Committee. This greatly increases the Massachusetts’ Congressional Delegation influence on Capitol Hill.

The most important takeaway from our conversation with Calvin is that HCA members should prepare for an incredibly active two years of advocacy. Take hold of your responsibility to engage your elected officials on behalf of your organization and join us in the fight on the many issues facing our industry. Be it an email to a legislator, inviting them to your offices for a tour or on a home visit, or taking time to join us in D.C. for one of the many fly-in events, it takes an army of voices to accomplish a common goal. To get involved, email Jake Krilovich.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

HCA Submits Comment on Medicare Changes; Submit Your Comments Now!

On July 1st, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule which includes several changes to the home health benefit for 2019 and beyond. The public comment period closes this Friday August 31, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. As of this blog posting, 760 comments have been submitted to CMS which is encouraging, but far from the more than 1,300 comments submitted last year in response to the HHGM proposal which was ultimately withdrawn.

You can view the HCA’s written comments here and can download the word document here.

You may submit your own comments to CMS here.

Here are some of the key changes proposed, and an overview of HCA’s response:

Home Health Wage Index Changes

  • The 2019 proposed payment rates increase by 2.1% which represents a $400 million increase.
  • HCA of MA has long expressed concerns to CMS over inequities in how the wage index is calculated for home health agencies compared to hospitals. HCA urges CMS to adjust the 2019 home health agency wage index to reflect a policy to limit the wage index disparity between provider types within a given CBSA.

Proposed Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) for CY 2020

  • Implementation: As the proposed PDGM would mark a major change in the way home health agencies will be reimbursed, the HCA urges CMS to delay implementation by one year to ensure that there is no disruption in access to services for beneficiaries and evaluate the accuracy of the model and its effect.

  • LUPA Thresholds: CMS proposes to set the LUPA visit threshold at the 10th percentile for each payment group. HCA believes this is complex and will complicate the care planning process for home health agencies. HCA urges CMS to retain the current LUPA thresholds and revisit them in future years.

  • Behavioral Assumptions: CMS proposed three ‘behavioral assumptions’ in the PDGM totaling -6.42%. However, these assumptions are not based in data or evidence. HCA believes that two of the three assumptions already exist in the current PPS methodology including; that agencies are already incentivized to both report the highest playing diagnosis codes and to develop and deliver plans of care that exceed the LUPA threshold. This could result in an over estimated impact of behavioral assumptions and the HCA urges CMS to eliminate the Clinical Group Coding and LUPA threshold assumptions.

  • Split percentage payment approach: HCA believes that changing from a 60 to 30 day billing period will be very disruptive to agencies’ operations and increase back-office costs. Therefore, HCA urges CMS to continue the split payment approach at the current 60/40 and 50/50 splits for early and late periods, respectively, to give agencies cash flow breathing room.

  • Certification and Re-certification of Patient Eligibility: HCA has long advocated for regulatory language to align with sub-regulatory guidance as it relates to documentation of the patient’s eligibility. HCA is encouraged by CMS’ proposal to eliminate the requirement that the physician provide an estimate of how much longer skilled services are required and we request that CMS consider revisions to the physician’s burden of the F2F encounter as a condition of payment. 
  • Remote Patient Monitoring: HCA strongly supports the proposal to recognize remote patient monitoring costs as an administrative cost on the HHA cost report. HCA does recommend however that CMS remove the regulation that does not allow remote patient monitoring to be used as a substitute for in-person home health services. 
  • Home Health Value Based Purchasing Model: HCA has long supported the HHVBP model aiming to improve quality by giving HHAs incentives to provide better quality care. However, HCA urges CMS to modify the HHVBP to recognize stabilization in the scoring because in many cases, stabilization (instead of improvement) is an appropriate goal for some patients.

House Ways and Means Chair Seeking Public Feedback on Medicare Reform Proposals

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released draft legislation that would seriously change the benefit structure of Medicare. Proposals included in the draft legislation range from increasing the Medicare Part B deductible for new enrollees to increasing income-related premiums under Parts B & D. Of greatest concern to home care and its members is the suggested implementation of a home health copay. The home health copay proposal in the draft legislation was also included in the President’s FY14 budget. It would impose a $100 copay on home health episodes not preceded by a hospital or nursing home stay, beginning in 2017 and applying to those who become newly eligible for Medicare in 2017 or later.

The Home Care Alliance joins the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC)  in opposition to shifting additional costs onto Medicare home health beneficiaries in the form of more out of pocket expense. With respect to the proposed home health copayment, Congress eliminated such a “sick tax” on beneficiaries back in the 1970s when it was found that such copayments were ineffective at saving the Medicare program money, as people had to seek more costly care options. Home health copayments would be just as harmful – if not more so – today with a rise in the number of beneficiaries needing home health services as Baby Boomers start to retire. If reinstated, the Medicare home health copayment will likely lead to more people seeking care in much more costly care settings such as hospitals, nursing homes and emergency rooms.

Alliance members are encourage to submit comments to the Ways and Means Committee in opposition to a copayment via email to entitlementreform@mail.house.gov by August 16, 2013.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

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