this is an Isakson-Shaheen budget amendment that creates a deficit-neutral fund for the purpose of converting our appropriations and budget process to a 2-year process where we budget and appropriate in odd-numbered years. We would budget…

I call up amendment No. 138. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The assistant bill clerk read as follows: The Senator from Georgia [Mr. Isakson], for himself and Mrs. Shaheen, proposes an amendment numbered 138. The amendment is…

I appreciate the recognition, and I ask unanimous consent--I was going to ask that Senator Shaheen be allowed to follow me. She is on the floor now and so she will. I am pleased to stand and talk about amendment No. 138, sponsored by…

I just to want to thank the distinguished Senator from New Hampshire for what she has done in supporting this, and I thank my other colleagues who are supporting it. This is an idea whose time has come. I urge every Member of the Senate…

I have had a personal experience with one of my children many years ago where they were recovering over an extensive period of time, and the home health care, from the standpoint of the mental health of the patient, is far superior to…

I think is terrific.

I just want to thank all five of you for your testimony. It has been very illuminating hearing for all of us.

We need to find it and we need to implement it sooner rather than later.

But obviously, you do not think so.

I think there are some people--some people; I am not speaking about you--who are driving people away from home health care and into hospitalization, which is less good for the patient's mental health and much more expensive in terms of…

Home health care, particularly for the elderly, but in long-term recovery, is a better environment and a less expensive environment for a patient to be healed in than a hospital is.

I commend the movement away from that and the movement towards reimbursement based on quality.