Post-Balanced Budget Act

POST-BALANCED BUDGET ACT

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I want to discuss the upcoming budget resolution and its impact on home health agencies. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Post-Balanced Budget Act reductions in home health care have totaled more than $72 billion between fiscal years 1998 and 2002. This is more than four times the $16 billion that CBO originally estimated for that time period and it is a clear indication that the Medicare home health cutbacks have been far deeper than Congress ever intended.

As a consequence of these reductions, cost-efficient home health agencies across the country have experienced acute financial difficulties and cashflow problems which have inhibited their ability to deliver vital care. Home health spending has been cut in half since 1997. More than 3,400 home health care agencies have either closed their doors or stopped serving Medicare patients. Moreover, the number of Medicare patients receiving home health care nationwide has dropped by 1.3 million, more than a third. This points out the most central and critical issue: Cuts of this magnitude simply cannot be sustained without ultimately affecting patient care, without ultimately diminishing the provision of care to some of the most vulnerable citizens in our Nation.

It, therefore, is my intent to offer an amendment to the budget resolution this week calling on the Senate to stabilize and promote fairness in Medicare home health reimbursements by avoiding further cuts in home health spending, preserving the full market basket update, and restoring funding for this important benefit, including the extension of the 10 percent rural add-on reimbursement I have discussed today. I hope all of my colleagues will join me in supporting this amendment.

I yield the floor.