Political Quotes

“One of the most important pieces of this package is the extension of the Independence At Home Medical Practice Demonstration Program, which allows participating high-need Medicare beneficiaries who have multiple chronic conditions to receive Medicare coverage for home-based primary care. This program is currently in its fifth year and has been found to save Medicare dollars, but Medicare needs more time to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the program. This health extenders package has responsible offsets. One of these offsets would allow for Medicare reimbursement of outpatient physical therapy or occupational therapy services provided by a therapy assistant. These providers are reimbursed at 85 percent of the physician rate, and therapy assistants must have a State license and abide by Medicare supervision requirements. Additionally, lottery winnings and other lump sum income of over $80,000 would count toward income eligibility under Medicaid's modified adjusted gross income rules. In certain cases, individuals could remain eligible if being ineligible would lead to undue medical or financial hardship. Similar to the Championing Healthy Kids Act, this bill modifies the level of funding in the Prevention and Public Health Fund. By law, this fund is required to receive $2.5 billion in annual appropriations, which must be used for prevention, wellness, and public health initiatives administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.…”