As was talked about a number of times at our Annual Meeting in Lawrence - your voice does make a difference! NAHC has sent this out, asking us all to contact our legislators...as well you can access the website just set up for the Deficit Reduction Committee to make comments. Please pass this along to your staff and any patients, friends or family that will help by making comments in support of Home Care and Hospice.

Jane Kelly, Executive Director
Kansas Home Care Association


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As most of you know by now, the new Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (also known as the “supercommittee”) is charged with coming up with a proposal by November 23 to achieve between $1.2 and 1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. If the bipartisan 12 member supercommittee, equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, is able to report out by majority vote a proposal to achieve this goal, Congress must then vote up or down on the proposal without amendment by December 23.

The supercommittee is co-chaired by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-TX). The other members are Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Max Baucus (D-MT), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Rob Portman (R-OH), Representatives Dave Camp (R-MI), Fred Upton (R-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), James Clyburn (D-SC), and Xavier Becerra (D-CA). The supercommittee has launched a website — www.deficitreduction.gov. You can watch the panel’s deliberations and suggest how they can meet their goal of at least $1.2 trillion in savings. You might suggest expanding the use of home care and hospice to achieve savings (see Report: Home Health Care Saves Billions for Medicare; Hospice Use Saves Money for Medicare, Duke Study Finds).

If the supercommittee fails to report out a proposal or the supercommittee proposal fails to get enacted, most government programs including defense would face an across the board cut in FY 2013 (a “sequester”) to achieve $1.2 trillion in savings. The Medicare sequester would be limited to 2 percent of Medicare provider payments (no Medicare beneficiary cuts). Medicaid, veterans, and some other selected government programs would be exempt.

There are no restrictions on what cuts the supercommittee may propose. Also, the supercommittee could report out something less than $1.2 trillion in savings which, if adopted by Congress, would reduce the size of the sequester.

The Alliance for Health Reform, in conjunction with the Kaiser Family Foundation, held a briefing earlier in the week to discuss the effects of the debt ceiling package and the supercommittee it created on the health care sector. To better understand the supercommittee and its role in more depth, visit http://www.kff.org/ahr091211video.cfm and click on the “Full Video” link to view the archived webcast of this briefing.

Although there is much skepticism on Capitol Hill about whether a majority of the supercommittee will agree on a proposal because of sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats over potential new revenues and entitlement cuts, there is some momentum building that could result in a deal. The supercommittee has begun to meet and reportedly is mulling over proposals that surfaced in previous deficit reduction efforts.

Because the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (commonly known as the “Simpson-Bowles” commission), the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and the Congressional Budget Office have suggested home health and hospice cuts and copays, we know these proposals are on the table for consideration by the supercommittee. These proposals have also surfaced in lists that have circulated on Capitol Hill of potential Medicare cuts. Proposals to accelerate the rebasing of home health rates and cut or eliminate home health and hospice inflation updates have also surfaced.

The President is scheduled to come out with his proposed entitlement reforms, which could include Medicare and Medicaid cuts, by next Monday, September 19. The Congressional authorizing committees with jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid—Senate Finance, House Ways and Means, and House Energy and Commerce—have until October 14 to submit their deficit reduction recommendations to the supercommittee.

CALL TO ACTION

We must do everything we can to stop home health and hospice cuts and copays from being included in whatever package is assembled by the supercommittee. The home care and hospice communities in the 11 states that have a Member of Congress on the supercommittee (Michigan has two) have a special role to play since they can reach out directly to them as constituents. Others of you live in states with Members on one or more of the authorizing committees or in the Congressional leadership. In fact every state but five has a Member of Congress who fits into one or more of these three categories.

We prepared the attached grid with suggested targets for each state. For the five states without a Member on the supercommittee, the authorizing committees, or the leadership, we have suggested a Member on one of the other committees with some influence on the outcome. Of course, we should not neglect to weigh in with all our Members of Congress, but it helps, particularly in the larger states, to narrow the focus a bit for special attention.

Please take a moment to review the grid and take action to ensure that our message—no home health or hospice cuts or copays—gets to those Members of Congress in your state who are best positioned to influence the outcome. For phone calls, the numbers are listed on the grid. When calling ask to speak to the staffer who handles Medicare issues.

To send an email, go to the NAHC Legislative Action Network. For home health, click here--Write Your Legislators; for hospice, click here--Write Your Legislators. There you will find numerous studies, talking points, and a sample message that you may edit to include your experience and the harmful impact home health and hospice cuts and copays would have on the patients you serve in your state and district. Please let us know what response you get from these targeted offices.

For other advocacy ideas, see NAHC Report (August 5, 2011).

Thanks,
NAHC Advocacy Team