David Thomas: “Mr. Speaker, this bill, H.R. 4567, is one that is needed for a number of reasons. Most people will probably focus on…”

“Mr. Speaker, this bill, H.R. 4567, is one that is needed for a number of reasons. Most people will probably focus on what they consider to be the major provision, and that is a modification in the home health care payment structure. In the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, after extensive negotiations with the administration, we were able to get the administration to change their 100 percent structure to a blended arrangement which we thought would at least modify the perniciousness of the administration's approach. We could not get them to go farther. That position became the interim payment structure that we are operating under now. Once we were able to examine what the administration really wanted, we discovered that it was lacking in a number of provisions in assisting on a broad base home health care agencies previously established, newly established and between States. Not only was it not adequate in its interim payment structure form, but we were told in August by the Health Care Financing Administration that, because of their computers' difficulties with the year 2000 problem, they would not be able to honor the date that they said the prospective payment system replacing the interim payment system would go into effect.”