Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act, which I have introduced with my friend and colleague from Maryland, Senator Cardin. Our legislation aims to help ensure that our seniors and disabled citizens have timely access to home health services available under the Medicare program. Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists are all playing increasingly important roles in the delivery of healthcare services, particularly in rural and medically underserved areas of our country where physicians may be in scarce supply. In recognition of their growing role, Congress, in 1997, authorized Medicare to begin paying for physician services provided by those health professionals as long as those services are within their scope of practice under State law. Despite their expanded role, these advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants are currently unable to order home healthcare services for their Medicare patients. Under current law, only physicians are allowed to certify or initiate home healthcare for Medicare patients, even though they may not be as familiar with the patient's case as the nonphysician provider.…”