Congress should allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - CMS - In Brief - Brief Article - Editorial

Healthcare Financial Management, July, 2002

Congress should allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to implement the 15 percent reduction to Medicare home health payments because Medicare's payments for these services far exceed costs, the General Accounting Office (GAO) concludes in a recent report. The GAO found that Medicare paid home health agencies nearly 35 percent more than the cost of providing care during the first six months of 2001.

The 15 percent payment reduction was mandated under the Balanced Budget Act of 1 997, but implementation has been delayed several times. The status of the payment reduction remains up in the air as Congress considers several Medicare payment bills. To read the GAO report, go to http:/www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-663.