Legislation Extends Acute Hospital Care at Home to Lower Costs, Improve Care and Expand Access for Seniors Nationwide
WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Vern Buchanan, Vice Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and Chair of the Health Subcommittee, released the following statement after the House unanimously passed his bipartisan, bicameral Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act (H.R. 4313):
“At a time when our health care system is stretched thin, we need solutions like ‘Hospital at Home’ programs that help patients recover faster and get safe, high-quality care at a lower cost. My Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act will ensure that hundreds of hospitals, including dozens in Florida, can keep caring for patients in their own homes. With hospitals under strain and chronic disease on the rise, today’s unanimous vote to extend this proven model reflects the kind of commonsense, bipartisan action Americans deserve. With nearly 200,000 seniors in my district, I’m grateful my colleagues and I can preserve a model that expands access and delivers real results for patients.”
Click here or the image above to view Buchanan’s House Floor remarks.
“The Hospital at Home program has transformed hospital-level care for America’s seniors,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.). “Instead of having to stay alone in a hospital for treatment, seniors can receive care and recover at home surrounded by friends and family. With 23 hospitals participating in this program in his home state of Florida alone, I commend Health Subcommittee Chairman Buchanan for leading the charge to improve health outcomes and fighting to continue this program to give Americans better health care at a lower cost.”
Buchanan’s Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act extends the current “Hospital at Home” waiver program—first established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November 2020 to provide hospitals with increased flexibility to care for certain patients from the comfort of their homes—through 2030, allowing hospitals to continue participating and providing quality care to patients. A recent report from CMS shows that allowing patients to be treated in a more familiar environment and routine accelerates recovery time, lowers the mortality rate and reduces the risk of hospital-acquired infections and falls.
The Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act is cosponsored by Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.) Blake Moore (R-Uthah), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.). Find a list of supporting organizations here and all letters of support here.
In addition to being the Vice Chairman and most senior Republican on the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, Buchanan is also the Chairman of the Health Subcommittee, which has broad jurisdiction over traditional Medicare, the Medicare prescription drug benefit program and Medicare Advantage.
