Orrin Hatch: “As we begin to wrap-up the 105th Congress, there remains one essential item of business which I strongly believe…”

“As we begin to wrap-up the 105th Congress, there remains one essential item of business which I strongly believe warrants Senate action before we adjourn for the year. Over the past year, numerous concerns have been raised by home health care agency officials and Medicare beneficiaries over the new Medicare payment system established in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. As a strong home health care advocate in the Senate for virtually my entire career, I am well aware of the importance home health care is for Medicare beneficiaries with acute needs such as recovering from joint replacements and chronic conditions such as heart failure. Utahns have consistently told me they prefer to receive care in their homes rather than in institutional settings such as hospitals and nursing homes. In fact, patients actually do better in their recovery while at home than in a nursing home or hospital. And, clearly, the costs associated with home care are far less than what is charged in an institutional setting.”