On Wednesday, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) introduced a resolution — H. J. RES. 58 — for congressional disapproval of the 2025 home health payment rule. Last November, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled its home health final payment rule for 2025. The rule included an 0.5%, or $85 million, estimated aggregate […] The post House Lawmaker Introduces Resolution To Block Home Health Payment Rule appeared first on Home Health Care News.
On Wednesday, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) introduced a resolution — H. J. RES. 58 — for congressional disapproval of the 2025 home health payment rule.
Last November, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled its home health final payment rule for 2025. The rule included an 0.5%, or $85 million, estimated aggregate increase to 2025 home health payments. It also included a permanent prospective adjustment of -1.975%.
The 2025 home health final payment rule marked the third year in a row where CMS implemented permanent cuts to payments.
At the time, home health providers and industry stakeholders were vocal in their pushback.
“While not surprising, it is disappointing to see CMS continue the pattern of payment reductions for home health care providers, since we have repeatedly raised concerns about ongoing payment reductions during a time of rising operational costs,” Tony D’Alonzo, division director of clinical strategy, innovation and care delivery at Bayada Home Health Care, previously told Home Health Care News.
In 2024, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice — now The National Alliance for Care at Home — refiled a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenging Medicare home health payment calculations.
The previous year, the Preserving Access to Home Health Act of 2023 was introduced. The legislation aimed to stop cuts to home health payments.
Mollie Gurian, vice president of policy and government affairs at LeadingAge, noted any move around the home health payment rule shouldn’t impede CMS from rulemaking activities.
“Although we raised significant concerns about several components of the proposed home health rule—the acceptance to service policy, new National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) reporting requirements, and the payment rate cuts—we want to be sure that any congressional action around this rule does not preclude [CMS] from its normal rulemaking that undertakes regular market basket, wage index, and other payment adjustments for home health agencies,” she told HHCN in an email statement.
Gurian also emphasized the need for action on home health payment reform.
“We appreciate that Rep. Clyde’s bill underscores how the rule exacerbated issues with home health payment adequacy, and we look forward to working with Congress and the new administration on regulatory relief in those areas,” she said in the statement.
The resolution has been passed over to the Committee on Ways and Means, and to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
The post House Lawmaker Introduces Resolution To Block Home Health Payment Rule appeared first on Home Health Care News.
