Comments Submitted Regarding Medicare Home Health Proposed Rule for 2021

The Center for Medicare Advocacy (Center) submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about the Calendar Year 2021 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update; Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements; and Home Infusion Therapy Service Requirements. The Center’s comments to the proposed rule address payment, quality, telehealth, home infusion benefits, and frequently heard beneficiary access experiences, as follows:

• The home health payment system, which often results in home health agencies denying services to people with longer-term and chronic conditions.
• The lack of needed updates to quality rules, which often leave patients who need maintenance care without access to necessary, quality services.
• The rapid embrace of telehealth, as a result of the pandemic, which raises many concerns about how to maximize access to care for beneficiaries while carefully minimizing misuse of virtual services.
• The need to expand, not narrow, the allowable drugs and biologicals available for coverage via home infusion.
• A summary of concerns received by the Center that drive our advocacy to change and improve the Medicare home health program.

The Center for Medicare Advocacy’s comments are available in full here: https://medicareadvocacy.org/center-comments-on-proposed-home-health-rules/