There are serious ramifications for the continued payment reductions in the Medicare home health regulations, Steven Landers, MD, MPH, CEO of the National Alliance for Care at Home, said. Beyond the lack of access to home health services, the whole payment structure has been decimated, he said. This year, the home health payment program will total just over $15 billion, down from $17.8 billion in 2019. The cuts are making it harder for agencies to have the purchasing power to staff agencies. Another negative development for home care is the passage of the “Big Beautiful” bill, which will place pressure on states to reduce home- and community-based services. The Medicaid work requirements in the law may hurt personal care workers who use Medicaid as their health insurance, he noted. While home care is not the most powerful lobbying contingent in Washington, “sometimes right beats might,” Landers said. Landers’ past positions, which included his role as director of home care at the Cleveland Clinic, helped him see the value of home care and how policy making in Washington affected the care regular people receive. As part of his tenure, he would like to see home care providers be able to deploy new care models such as the Medicare Care Choices Model. Landers sees the Alliance being a partner with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to combat rampant hospice fraud.

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Show contributors:
McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger; Steven Landers, MD, MPH, CEO, National Alliance for Care at Home