Health Policy Expert Recommends CMS Reconsider Home Health Cuts
In a recent editorial, noted health policy expert Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, Chair of the Department of Health Policy & Management at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, took the recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cuts in home health to task. Citing the successes of home health throughout the health care system as evidence, Thorpe decries the cuts and finds them to be both politically and fiscally irresponsible. Thorpe goes on further to state that, “…the one notion Democrats and Republicans can all rally behind is that quality, innovative, and cost-effective health care begins in the home.”
Those of us who spend our days in home health know, first hand, the value of the work we do. More than any other care delivery system in the country, home health reduces readmissions to hospitals, decreases nursing home admissions, and helps patients with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and hypertension, to be monitored and receive medication in the comfort of their own homes.
The kind of cuts CMS has implemented are counterproductive to the quality care and positive outcomes I see in the field everyday. Home health plays a dynamic role in the care of the elderly and those with disabilities and chronic medical conditions. Now is not the time to be making cuts. Instead, with so many Americans in need of our help, CMS should be increasing funding, not taking it away.
Describing home health as a “fresh window of fiscal and political opportunity” Thorpe stresses that the nation “cannot underestimate the extensive savings achieved through in-home health services.” If politicians cannot get behind the logic of the emotional and physical reasons for resisting cuts to home care, certainly they can be moved by fiscal realities.
To further underline his point, Thorpe cites a recent poll by the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) that indicates three-fourths of likely voters oppose a rule offered by CMS in July that would result in nearly $20 billion in funding cuts for home health services.
You can read Dr. Thorpe’s full article on the Huffington Post. It is an enlightening piece and I encourage you all to make sure your elected officials receive a copy of this article. In addition, pick up the phone and call their offices. Make sure they understand your views on this issue. The more we express our outrage at the CMS cuts, the sooner much needed funding can be restored.
Category: Ginny's Blog, Healthcare Reform