Senator Collins Urges Colleagues to Support Her Bipartisan Legislation to Preserve and Expand Access to Home Health Services

Click HERE to read Senator Collins’ remarks on the Senate floor

Click HERE to watch Senator Collins’ remarks on the Senate floor. Click HERE to download high-resolution video.

Washington, D.C. – The highly skilled and compassionate care that home health agencies provide in Maine and across the country has enabled millions of our most vulnerable individuals to avoid hospitals and nursing homes and stay right where they want to be – in the comfort, privacy, and security of their homes.  As we look to the future, home health services will continue to be in high demand.  The Census projects that by 2030, the proportion of U.S. residents older than 65 will have nearly doubled from 2010.

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, spoke from the Senate floor about two bipartisan bills that would help to preserve and expand access to home health services.

“These two bills will help to ensure the viability and accessibility of home health services now and in the future.  By helping patients to avoid more costly hospital visits and nursing homes, we know that home health saves Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers millions of dollars each year,” said Senator Collins.  “At a time when health care costs are among our most pressing policy challenges, we should embrace cost-effective solutions like home health care.”

The two home health services bills Senator Collins spoke about in her remarks are:

• The Home Health Payment Innovation Act, introduced with Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), John Kennedy (R-LA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), would preserve access to existing home health services under the Medicare program while also providing a pathway for innovative approaches to using these services moving forward.  This legislation is endorsed by the National Association of Homecare and Hospice and the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare. 

• The Home Health Planning Improvement Act, introduced with Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), would improve the access Medicare beneficiaries have to home health care, particularly in rural and underserved areas of our nation, by allowing physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and certified nurse midwives to order home health services.