Political Quotes

“this system also gives a competitive advantage to high-cost agencies over their lower cost neighbors, since agencies in a particular region may have dramatically different reimbursement levels regardless of any differences among their patient populations. And finally, this system may force low-cost agencies to stop accepting patients with more serious health care needs. That is exactly the opposite of what we should want. I simply do not think that this is what Congress intended. To rectify this problem, today I am pleased to introduce legislation along with Senators Chafee, Jeffords, Leahy, Feingold, Snowe, Durbin, Harkin, Reed and Santorum. The Medicare Home Health Equity Act will level the playing field and make certain that home health agencies that have been prudent in their use of Medicare resources are not unfairly penalized. The legislation will also ensure that home health agencies in the same region are reimbursed similarly for treating similar patients. Instead of allowing the experience of high-cost agencies to serve as the basis for the new cost limits, the bill we are introducing today sets a new per beneficiary cost limit based on a blend of national and regional average costs per patient.”