Mar 29, 2023

Personal Home Care Stakeholders Zero In On Core Focuses In DC Visit The Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) took to Capitol Hill Wednesday to educate lawmakers – and their staff – about home care and to highlight critical policy issues. The effort is part of the organization’s National Home Care Advocacy Day, which involved roughly 130 members from more than 21 states. The overall goal is to activate forward momentum among policymakers regarding home care issues. “It’s really important when you come to advocate on Capitol Hill that you’re very specific on what you’re going to talk about,” HCAOA CEO Vicki Hoak told Home Health Care News. “No. 1 being, ‘What is home care,’ and having our members explain that we are different from home health, which is always something that we deal with when we go into any of the offices here in D.C., because they’re very focused on Medicare.” Advertisement In addition to educating lawmakers about the general ins and outs of home care, HCAOA has zeroed-in on four key policy issues. One of these policy priorities is the need for legislation that supports home care for veterans, such as the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act . Another priority is the need for legislation that will support a non-immigrant visa program to serve the needs of seniors. Advertisement The organization views a visa program as one of many solutions to the workforce crisis that has hit home care especially hard. Specifically, home care will likely see a 34% increase in the demand for workers over the next decade. This is because the American senior population is estimated to spike from 42 million to 84 million by 2050, according to an HCAOA position paper. The Homecare for Seniors Act, in particular, would allow seniors to use their health savings account (HSA) to pay for home care services. “Right now they’re not permitted to use their HSA to pay for home care,” Hoak said. The organization is also advocating for a regulatory framework for medically complex patients receiving private-duty nursing (PDN) services. “States that have chosen to cover PDN under their Medicaid program require PDN providers to enroll as Medicare-certified home health agencies, and therefore, are required to follow the home health conditions of participation, which are intended for traditional intermittent home health services, not continuous PDN,” HCAOA wrote in its position paper. “As the public health emergency unwinds, legislators and regulators should establish a standardized approach for PDN to ensure patients receive access under the federal Early Periodic Screening Diagnostic Treatment (EPSDT) law.” HCAOA decided on these policy priorities by focusing on the challenges that are impacting home care providers the most. “All of these issues really direct more care – and more funding – into the home, and really deter people from receiving care and higher cost facilities,” Chani Feldman, chief clinical and government affairs officer for MGA Homecare, told HHCN. Ultimately, Hoak believes HCAOA is in a great position to gain traction on the issues that are important to providers. “I have been advocating for home care now for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen or heard home care mentioned as frequently as it is right now in the halls of the Capitol,” she said. “President Biden mentioned home care in the State of the Union address, there have been hearings on addressing our growing elderly population, so I’m very optimistic. I think we’re at a pivotal point in this country.” Share