Carroll Area Nursing Service hosted Iowa 4th District Representative Randy Feenstra yesterday (Tuesday) to share their concerns over pending cuts to payments that could force them and similar agencies to reduce their services or close their doors. On Jan. 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is poised to implement a 7.69-percent cut to base payments for home health services. CANS nurses say this will disproportionately impact rural areas where patients tend to live long distances from the nearest hospital or nursing home. Feenstra says it is unlikely the cuts will happen, but he says the slow response from Congress on the issue is unacceptable.
CANS provides in-home medical care to seniors recovering from surgery or requiring limited assistance short of a nursing home. They also help parents care for children with cerebral palsy, birth defects, or other similar conditions, where skilled nursing plays a critical part in keeping patients at home. The nurses say they’ve been forced to cut services over time as CMS limits payments or enforces regulations making care nearly impossible to maintain. Feenstra says their patients are the individuals CMS was created to protect, and the government is failing them.
Senators Debbie Stabenow and Susan Collins introduced the Preserving Access to Home Health Act late last month, which would block CMS from cutting payments through 2025. Feenstra notes it is unlikely there will be much movement in Congress on the topic soon.
CANS staff also pointed to rising input costs as a chief concern. Nurses can drive up to three hours per day traveling between patients, and high gas prices put pressure on the company to remain afloat on essentially fixed revenues. They note inflation is taking its toll on medical supplies and patients, who typically have little room in their household budgets for rising costs.
