Re: Home Care Press Release

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Subject: Home Care Press Release

Date: Wednesday, August 05, 1998 4:55 PM

>From the news wire - Comments

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Texas Association for Home Care

(TAHC) is gearing up for what it calls the " last and best chance to rescue

thousands of elderly Texans from hospitalization or premature confinement

in nursing homes " and to save Texas taxpayers from an exponentially

mounting tax burden to cover the cost of institutionalizing those patients.

On Thursday, August 6, the U.S. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee,

chaired by Congressman Bill (R-CA), will conduct a public hearing on

Medicare home health care reimbursement; specifically, implementation of

the Prospective Payment System (PPS) mandated by the Balanced Budget Act of

1997 (BBA). The hearing will be conducted in the main committee hearing

room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C., beginning at

10 a.m. TAHC estimates that Texas taxpayers will pay $81-million-per-year

in additional taxes because Congress cut Medicare reimbursements for home

health care to the bone when it passed the BBA last summer. In reality, the

cuts could end up costing Texans hundreds of millions more if the PPA is

not implemented within the timeframe mandated by Congress. And despite all

that extra tax money, thousands of seniors already are losing their home

health care benefits every day, TAHC says.

According to TAHC, when it passed the BBA, Congress directed the Health

Care Financing Administration (HCFA) (the federal agency that administers

Medicare) to implement a new reimbursement system for home health care

called the Interim Payment System (IPS). The IPS places a annual cap (an

absolute maximum) on the total amount that Medicare will reimburse a home

care agency for each of its patients per year, and it sets that cap at less

than the average patient cost in 1993 -- five years ago.

Not only was the cap set at impossibly low levels, but HCFA made no

allowance for variations in patient needs. As a result, hundreds of Texas

home care agencies already have been forced to close their doors, or are on

the verge of closing. Those that are able to stay in business are being

forced to accept or retain only patients whose needs are minimal; the cap

makes it impossible for patients to properly care for patients with chronic

or long-term needs. These patients are being forced into institutions such

as hospitals and nursing homes.

Even more troubling to TAHC and its member agencies is that it now appears

that the IPS -- which Congress intended to be a temporary system, pending

HCFA's formulation of a more equitable Prospective Payment System (PPS) by

October, 1999 -- likely will become a permanent or, at least, long-term

system. Recently, HCFA circulated an internal memorandum indicating that

implementation of the PPS for home health is in jeopardy due to the HCFA's

inability to resolve its own " Year 2000 " computer problems.

" TAHC appreciates that Congressman Archer is interested in the home health

care issue, " said Sara Speights, director of public and government affairs

for TAHC, which represents more than 1,200 licensed home care agencies in

Texas. " It is hard to imagine any issue that is more crucial to the health,

independence and quality of life of hundreds of thousands of Texans. "

In addition to focusing on HCFA's ability to enact the PPS and problems

presented by the IPS, the subcommittee will examine the impact of the IPS

in the states, its effect on home health agencies and other policies aimed

at improving the home health benefit for Medicare beneficiaries. The

subcommittee will hear invited testimony only, however, any individual or

organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written

statement for consideration and inclusion in the printed record of the

hearing.

Ann Brock, president, administrator and co-owner of Guardian Home

Care of Houston, will testify on Thursday as a provider representative from

Texas. Brock is most concerned that any reimbursement system authorized by

Congress must be flexible enough to address specific patient needs. " All

our patients are equally entitled to Medicare benefits, and they must have

equal access to the home health care that is appropriate to their own

conditions and circumstances. "

" I will be in Washington on a mission, " Brock said. " I want to help

Congress to understand the personal impact of the IPS on taxpayers and on

agencies, but most of all on patients. Home health care gives them

independence, and it is this independence that keeps them going. " SOURCE

Texas Association for Home Care

© PR Newswire. All rights reserved.

R. Kovacek, MSA, PT

KovacekManagementServices, Inc.

The FOCUS Group, Inc.

20225 Danbury Lane

Harper Woods, MI 48225

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