In preparation for the upcoming Legislative Session which begins on Feb. 7, the Association and its Advocacy team have been busy meeting with key state legislative leadership committees.  The primary focus of meetings has been on the safety of home care staff along with funding to support any new safety initiatives.  Our goal is to ensure a doable process to mitigate risk and enhance safety, yet neither can be addressed without supporting the costs and administration of such changes.

 

At our Board meeting Friday, Jan. 26, the Board approved our 2024 Legislative Agenda.  

 

To emphasize the priority that Senate leadership is putting on safety and mitigating workplace violence, we fully anticipate any safety initiatives to be addressed in Senate Bill 1 to be raised later in February.  The Association has met with both Public Health Committee Co-Chairs and Vice Chairs along with the Chief of Staff for Senate Dems President Martin Looney to brainstorm workable solutions. 

 

It is imperative this Legislative Session that your VOICES are heard through meetings with your legislators in district, the public hearing process, and written testimony sharing your stories and the impact on your staff, as well as any anticipated challenges.

 

We URGE your support this session! Stay tuned…

 

On Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent the final Medicaid Access Rule (CMS-2442-F) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance. OMB review is the last step in the process prior to release of a regulation in the Federal Register. Although the rule is with OMB for final clearance, it is important to note that this can take several weeks or months to occur. Due to the controversial nature of some of the provisions, the rule may not be released until spring. Though these are estimates and subject to change, it is important to note that the Final Rule’s timetable on the OMB website projects an April 2024 release.

 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (CAA 2023) established a new Medicare benefit category for marriage and family therapist (MFT) services and mental health counselor (MHC) services furnished by and directly billed by MFTs and MHCs, respectively. Through the CAA 2023 these services were added to covered hospice care services under section 1861(dd)(2)(B)(i)(III) of the Act and section 1861(dd) of the Act was revised to state that the hospice interdisciplinary group (IDG) is required to include one social worker, one MFT, or one MHC. This raised many questions in hospices around how to incorporate the MFT/MHC into the IDG and how these services intersect with medical social services.

In light of the increasing need for post-acute care, hospitals are grappling with challenges tied to ensuring patients are directed to the most suitable post-discharge care setting.

 

While referral volume to home health agencies continues to be higher than pre-pandemic levels, rejection rates continue to be a major pain point for providers.

 

Home health agencies are not only getting more referrals in total, but they are also seeing an uptick in referrals per patient. This surge is a consequence of acute care providers facing challenges in promptly arranging post-acute care for their patients.

 

Rejection rates for home health agencies reached a record high, averaging 76% in December 2022. That’s a significant rise from the 54% seen in 2019.

Home care companies and certified home health agencies can build partnerships to address patient monitoring to reduce hospitalization and preventable events and improve patient satisfaction. 

 

There is a lot of room for improvement in the relationship between non-medical home care and home health agencies, says Sarah Barker, owner of Connect Forward Training in San Diego, Calif.

 

“More proactive referrals could be made from both types of agencies to the other,” she explains.

 

Because home health is a physician-ordered, insurance covered benefit, it only offers the patient intermittent, short visits. Patients often need more care than that, adds Gabrielle Pumpian, chief development officer at Cheer Home Care in San Diego, Calif.