The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) has written to congressional leaders urging them to work together to enact legislative proposals by year’s end that will prevent tens of billions of dollars in harmful Medicare rate cuts to health care providers.

NAHC strongly urges you to go to their online advocacy center and send a message to your members of Congress to stop the massive looming Medicare cuts. The message has been pre-written and it will take you literally only seconds to send it with a few clicks. Please do this immediately!

The letter, which was sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), asks Congress to take action soon to delay or avert scheduled cuts to Medicare that are a result of both the re-imposition of across-the-board sequestration reductions, as well as required cuts due to the budgetary impacts of the American Rescue Plan of 2021, the massive COVID-19 relief package that became law in March 2021 (these are the so-called “PAYGO” cuts). Absent additional congressional action, these combined 6% cuts to Medicare will take effect on January 1, 2022.

America’s front-line health care providers continue to struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a historically challenging workforce shortage, both of which have placed unprecedented stress on the entire health care system. Home health and hospice providers are working tirelessly to deliver the best care for patients, families, and communities, despite battling major operational pressures. Ongoing financial challenges for home care providers include higher expenses for labor and supplies, lost revenues due to forgone routine visits, and increased emergency costs associated with COVID-19 surges, among others.

The pandemic remains a major threat to both patient safety and provider operational capacity. Allowing the combined scheduled Medicare cuts to take effect on January 1, 2022, will reduce access to high-quality, home-based medical and social services for those individuals and families who have never needed them more.

NAHC is grateful that Congress has in the recent past taken action to delay scheduled Medicare cuts during the pandemic. This necessary relief has mitigated harmful disruptions in service delivery and access to high-quality home health and hospice care. Sadly, many of the pandemic conditions that justified the waiver of these reductions in the recent past are still with us, impacting home care providers’ ability to fully respond to the needs of the communities they serve. As such, NAHC is respectfully asking that Congress pass legislation before the end of this year that will avert the impending 2% sequestration and 4% PAYGO-induced Medicare reimbursement reductions.

Click here to add your voice to NAHC's by telling Congress to prevent these devastating Medicare cuts.