NOW is the time!!

[ventana]

We all need to contact our representatives to get them to support this bill

 

this is a summary article

 

Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act Introduced in the 113th Congress

 

2013-06-26

by Sandy Harding, AAPA senior director of federal advocacy

 

Today, U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) introduced HR 2504, the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2013. The legislation would allow PAs, NPs and clinical nurse specialists to order home health services for Medicare beneficiaries.

In an AAPA letter of support, AAPA President Lawrence Herman applauded the leadership of the bill’s sponsors, saying that the legislation will do much to improve access to and continuity of needed care for Medicare beneficiaries.

In her press statement, Rep. Schwartz stated, “These highly skilled healthcare professionals play a central role in the delivery of primary care, particularly in medically underserved areas, and are crucial to coordinating team-based care.”

All PAs are urged to contact members of Congress in support of this bill by visiting AAPA’s Legislative Action Center.

 

 

 

the AAPA has actually created a link to do this very easily. (I normally don't say they do something well, but in this case, they seem to be doing it well.)

 

http://www.capwiz.com/aapa/home/

 

please take 3 min. to click on this link, and send an e-mail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It would be amazing if people would actually place a phone call to the representatives to get them to sign on. If you're not aware of it. There's new regulations stating that anyone ordering DME will need to have a face-to-face sign off by a physician only, this is going to very negatively effect a lot of specialty PAs who may well ordered DME, it's not just about primary care anymore. It's about all of us.

[ventana]

[h=3]Representatives Walden and Schwartz Introduce Bipartisan Legislation that would Allow Nurse Practitioners and Other Skilled Health Care Providers to Order Home Health Services Under Medicare[/h][h=6][/h]June 27, 2013 09:07 AM

U.S. Representatives Greg Walden (R-OR) and Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), along with 19 other co-sponsors, introduced bipartisan legislation today to ensure that seniors and disabled citizens have timely access to home health services under Medicare.

The Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2013 will allow physician assistants (PA), nurse practitioners (NP), clinical nurse specialists, and certified nurse midwives to order home health services for Medicare beneficiaries.

“This common-sense bill will reduce unnecessary and duplicative burdens on health care providers and patients in need of home health services,” Representative Greg Walden said. “Particularly in rural areas like central, southern, and eastern Oregon where physicians are scarce, these clinicians play an increasingly important role in the delivery of primary health care services. Not only are they serving on the front lines of primary care, but also in many areas they are the only option readily available.”

“We have a responsibility to provide America’s seniors with high quality, cost effective health care. A key part of that is ensuring they have timely access to health care services in the privacy, comfort and security of their own homes,” Representative Allyson Y. Schwartz said. “These highly-skilled health care professionals play a central role in the delivery of primary care, particularly in medically underserved areas, and are crucial to coordinating team-based care.”

Currently, Medicare recognizes PAs, NPs, clinical nurse specialists, and certified nurse midwives as authorized providers who are able to perform many services for Medicare beneficiaries, including ordering nursing home care and prescribing medicine. However, they are not able to order less costly and less intrusive home health care services. Even in states such as Oregon that have explicitly expanded their laws to allow other medical providers to order home care, Medicare will still not certify payment for these services until a physician signs the order.

Those seniors and disabled citizens who see these medical professionals as their primary care providers often need an extra office visit with an unknown physician in order to get the care they need. In such situations, this impediment merely amounts to extra administrative and paperwork burden, and creates an unnecessary step that fails to recognize current training and scope-of-practice guidelines. As a result, patients in need of home health care services are either placed in more expensive health care settings, or experience a delay in receiving the care they need. This legislation will relieve that burden for our most vulnerable citizens.

If enacted, this legislation could produce significant savings for Medicare, with one study estimating that the plan would save over $100 million over ten years.

In the rural eastern Oregon town of Enterprise, Theresa Russell serves as the only permanent primary care provider in her clinic, Olive Branch Family Health. As an NP, current law allows her to treat patients in home health settings, but she must wait for a physician’s signature to do so. In rural towns like Enterprise, that wait time can stretch for a week, or sometimes even a month.

This commonsense, bipartisan change in the law would allow NPs like Theresa to make the decision and speed rural health delivery to seniors.

“Under current law, NPs not being able to order home health for Medicare patients results in delay for the patient and interruptions in continuity of care,” Theresa Russell said. “This also leads to increased cost of care when a patient of mine needs to be seen by an additional provider.

“Studies have shown that the expanded use of these professionals can result in dramatic decreases in expensive hospitalizations and nursing home stays,” said Val Halamandaris, President of National Association for Homecare and Hospice. “We appreciate the outstanding leadership [Reps. Walden and Schwartz] have shown in helping make home and community based services more readily available to our nation’s elderly population and those with disabilities.”

This bill is supported by prominent national health care groups, such as the National Association for Home Care and Hospice, the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the American College of Nurse Midwives, and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

For the full text of the bill, please click here. Watch Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) discuss the bill

Back

[MedicinePower]

Email sent. FYI, while emails are good I know that the Reps/Senators highly value actual phone calls. Calling and saying, "I support this bill, I hope you would also" goes a long way.

[rcdavis]

Done. On same homepage, the other OA issues are compensation for emr use by pa... Which we should also support.

[ventana]

Bounce. We really really need to be proactive on this. Come on folks this is a big deal...... Will more people take the 2 minutes to email? Better yet s a call to the reps office and talking with a living person

[ventana]

Bounce. We really really need to be proactive on this. Come on folks this is a big deal...... Will more people take the 2 minutes to email? Better yet s a call to the reps office and talking with a living person

[Guest JMPA]

he is a republican, he must not be supported in any way

[Acebecker]

Emailed. Hope this flies.

[ventana]

he is a republican, he must not be supported in any way

 

 

I don't understand your comment in any way?

 

This deals with the ability of PAs to order home care for our patients.....

 

please explain??

[Guest JMPA]

I don't understand your comment in any way?

 

This deals with the ability of PAs to order home care for our patients.....

 

please explain??

 

political sarcasm

[ventana]

The reply from one of many......

we can save medicare 1/3 of a BILLION dollars over the next 10 years.....   

 

Have you written you representative???  They are saying this might (might) have a chance this year.....   take 10 min and write in or call

Just click the below link and follow directions

http://capwiz.com/aapa/home/

 

 

 

Dear Jeff,

Thank you for contacting me about home health care and the Home Health Care Planning and Improvement Act (S.1332) introduced by Senator Collins. I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this legislation.

Research shows that quality health care can be provided at home where patients are more comfortable, and this care can prevent expensive hospitalizations and stays at nursing homes for patients with chronic conditions. Home care can also be effective when used after a hospital stay or an outpatient procedure. A recent study found that, on average, Medicare saves $5,311 when home care is used for rehabilitation instead of a skilled nursing or inpatient rehabilitation facility. I believe we should make it easier for patients to use these high quality and low cost home care services.

As you know, S.1332 would allow advanced practice registered nurses, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants to order home health services for their Medicare patients. Currently, these practitioners are allowed to provide home health care services, but a physician must still order the services for Medicare to pay for them. This process can cause delays and is often confusing for beneficiaries. In addition, it has been estimated that allowing non-physician health care providers to order home health care services could save Medicare up to $309.5 million over the next 10 years.

I will continue working with my colleagues to improve health care delivery in this country, in particular for our seniors. I appreciate your reaching out to me about this issue, and I hope that you will contact my office again in the future about issues of importance to you.

Sincerely,

[EMEDPA]

done, both house and senate.

hope this works V!

[Will352ns]

Done.  I will pass it on to my classmates.