FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-3943
July 30, 1998
No. HL-23
Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Chairman, Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Ways and Means, announced today that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on payment systems for Medicare's home health benefit, specifically implementation of the prospective payment system as mandated in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The hearing will take place on Thursday, August 6, 1998, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
In 1997, Medicare spent more than $17 billion for 270 million home health care visits. That same year, nearly 1 out of 10 beneficiaries received home care, averaging 80 visits per beneficiary. Almost half of these visits were unskilled home health aide visits. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that Medicare home health care spending in 1998 will be even higher.
In response to rising costs and recommendations that the home health benefit be better defined and home health care agencies be held more accountable, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33) included several provisions, which were also supported by the Administration, to strengthen Medicare's home health benefit. These provisions require the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to design and implement a prospective payment system (PPS) for home health care by October 1, 1999. The PPS is expected to establish similar payments for similar services, encourage more efficiency in home health operations, and improved the quality of care for patients served. To transition into that system, an interim payment system would be established for the two years prior to implementation of the PPS to begin moving agencies towards a more uniform payment rate.
Recently, an internal HCFA memo came to the attention of the Subcommittee indicating that implementation of the PPS for home health was in jeopardy, which means that the interim payment system would remain in effect for a longer than intended period of time.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Thomas stated: "Because of HCFA's admitted inability to enact a prospective payment system for home health care in a reasonable time frame, home health agencies will be paid under the interim payment system for longer than Congress intended. We must now consider appropriate refinements to the interim payment system and examine creative alternatives which ensure that our seniors have access to home health care services."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The Subcommittee will focus on HCFA's ability to enact PPS for Medicare's home health benefit and potential limitations on reforms to revise the interim payment system. In addition, the hearing will examine the impact of the interim payment system in the States, its effect on both new and old home health agencies, and other appropriate policies aimed at improving the home health benefit for Medicare's beneficiaries.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, August 20, 1998, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Health office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, at least two hours before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are required to submit their statements on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.