Action Alert: Congress Continues To Consider Cuts To Homecare Programs, USA

Congress needs to hear loud support for homecare programs, particularly for the home oxygen benefit and for changes to competitive bidding. Medicare bills are percolating in Congress right now and cuts to homecare are being considered.

The Senate Finance Committee is moving forward on a bill that would expand as well as reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover more children. This bill would have a large price tag in the $40 to $50 billion range. That means that under the current pay-as-you-go rules, Congress will be looking for offsets (spending cuts elsewhere) or tax increases to pay for the SCHIP bill. Some targets could yield a lot of money - for instance reducing payments to the Medicare Advantage plans or increasing tobacco taxes. Cuts to home medical equipment would yield much smaller savings, but apparently HME cuts are on the table, according to CongressDaily. Earlier this week, Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) discussed possible cuts with several other committee members - ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).

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