Legislation Aims to Remove Home Health Therapy Barriers

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers have reintroduced legislation that would enable occupational therapists to open Medicaid home health cases.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers have reintroduced legislation in the House and Senate that would enable occupational therapists to open Medicare home health cases, making home health therapy services more accessible.

The two identical bills, H.R. 3127 in the House and S.1725 in the Senate, more commonly known as the Medicare Home Health Flexibility Act of 2019, aim to change the current Medicare rules, which allows nurses, physical therapists, and speech-language pathologists to establish eligibility for home health services, but not occupational therapists. The legislation is being hailed as an attempt by lawmakers to reduce delays in care, as well as to make it easier for older adults to access home health care.

“It’s commonsense that the earlier seniors can start needed therapies, the sooner treatments can start having a positive effect,” Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Finance Health Care Subcommittee and Sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “Home health services are a critical part of our health care system, and I am proud to partner with Senator [Todd] Young on this legislation that will help to streamline the process for initiating Medicare home health therapy services for Maryland seniors and others nationwide who need home care while recovering from injury or illness.”

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Trump’s Immigration Policies Bad for U.S. Elder Care Industry

Immigrants account for a quarter of the long-term care workforce. Who will care for the elderly, if Trump has his way on immigration?

The Trump administration’s proposed immigration policies could mean bad news for the long-term care industry.

According to a study published this month by Health Affairs, immigrants account for nearly a quarter of the long-term care workforce, which historically has seen high turnover and poor retention rates. The study found that immigrants make up 23.5% of the long-term care workforce, including 12% naturalized citizens, 8% legal non-citizens, and 3.7% undocumented immigrants, as well as accounting for 18.2% of healthcare workers as a whole.

“We rely heavily on immigrants to care for the elderly and disabled, particularly in their everyday care,” said Dr. Leah Zallman, the study’s lead author, an assistant professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School and the director of research for the Institute for Community Health at the Cambridge Health Alliance. “These policies are going to leave millions of elderly and disabled stranded without care.”

The study concludes by saying, “Curtailing immigration will almost certainly move us in the wrong direction, worsening the shortage and the availability of high-quality care for elderly and disabled Americans.”

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.