PRINTER'S NO. 1924
No. 210 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY MOWERY, M. WHITE, PUNT, ORIE, HELFRICK, ERICKSON,
BOSCOLA, COSTA, KITCHEN, LAVALLE, STOUT, MUSTO, TARTAGLIONE,
SCHWARTZ, ROBBINS, MELLOW, KUKOVICH, LEMMOND, GREENLEAF,
WAUGH, RHOADES, HUGHES, EARLL, CONTI, STACK, O'PAKE, SCARNATI
AND BODACK, APRIL 17, 2002
REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, APRIL 17, 2002
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress of the United States to permanently
2 eliminate the 15% cut in the Medicare home health benefit
3 scheduled to go into effect on October 1, 2002, and extend
4 the 10% rural add-on to Medicare home health providers; and
5 calling upon the President to support Congress in this
6 effort.
7 WHEREAS, There are 321 Medicare-certified agencies in the
8 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania providing critical care each year
9 in the homes of nearly half a million Pennsylvanians; and
10 WHEREAS, Home health patients who receive Medicare services
11 are typically the sickest, frailest and most vulnerable group of
12 Pennsylvania's elderly population; and
13 WHEREAS, Congress in 1997 sought to cut growth in the
14 Medicare home health benefit by $16.2 billion over five years
15 but resulted in cutting more than $72 billion; and
16 WHEREAS, Nearly one million fewer Medicare beneficiaries are
17 qualifying for Medicare-reimbursed home care than in 1997; and
18 WHEREAS, Additional cuts in the Medicare home health benefit
1 would force many low-cost, efficient Pennsylvania agencies that
2 are struggling under the current system to go out of business,
3 thereby harming access to Medicare beneficiaries; and
4 WHEREAS, Total elimination of the 15% cut has been postponed
5 for the past two years; and
6 WHEREAS, The impending 15% cut is making it difficult for
7 home health agencies to secure lines of credit and is
8 discouraging investment in advanced technologies and staff
9 benefits; and
10 WHEREAS, Sixty-five members of the United States Senate have
11 joined in a bipartisan letter that recommends the elimination of
12 the 15% cut; and
13 WHEREAS, One hundred and thirteen members of the United
14 States House of Representatives have joined in a bipartisan
15 letter that recommends the elimination of the 15% cut; and
16 WHEREAS, The Senate Budget Committee has voted to set aside
17 the funds necessary to do away with the 15% cut; and
18 WHEREAS, The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC),
19 the group established by Congress to advise it on Medicare
20 policy, has called upon Congress to permanently eliminate the
21 15% cut in the Medicare home health benefit; and
22 WHEREAS, MedPAC has reported that there are three factors
23 that can lead to an increase in cost for rural home health
24 providers: travel, volume of services and lack of sophisticated
25 management and patient care procedures; and
26 WHEREAS, Medicare home health services are delivered to a
27 large rural population in Pennsylvania that often live miles
28 apart, thereby increasing the cost of providing home health
29 services in these areas; therefore be it
30 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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1 urge Congress to permanently eliminate the 15% cut in the
2 Medicare home health benefit and extend the 10% rural add-on to
3 Medicare home health providers; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 urge the President to support Congress in this effort to
6 eliminate the 15% cut in the Medicare home health benefit and
7 extend the 10% rural add-on to Medicare home health providers;
8 and be it further
9 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
10 the President of the United States, the Vice President of the
11 United States, the Speaker of the United States House of
12 Representatives and to each member of Congress from
13 Pennsylvania.
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