IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 79
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the regulatory burdens on
home health agencies.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 25, 1999
Ms. GRANGER (for herself and Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the
regulatory burdens on home health agencies.
Whereas 3.9 million elderly current use Medicare home health
services and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 included
a number of changes to the medicare home health ben-
efit;
Whereas a number of these changes had to be implemented
by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA);
Whereas a number of HCFA’s regulations to implement such
changes are administratively burdensome and divert
funds away from needed beneficiary care;
•HCON 79 IH
Whereas HCFA has implemented a branch office policy that
imposes arbitrary distance and supervision requirements
that are administratively burdensome and threaten access
to home health services, particularly in rural areas;
Whereas, in order to implement the shift of medicare pay-
ment for home health services from part A to part B,
HCFA has imposed a ‘‘sequential billing’’ policy that pro-
hibits home health agencies from submitting bills for pa-
tient services if a previous bill for that patient is under-
going medical review;
Whereas HCFA has expanded medical reviews of home health
claims so that processing has slowed down significantly
nationwide;
Whereas HCFA is requiring home health agencies to submit
patient data using the Outcomes and Assessment Infor-
mation Set (OASIS) in anticipation of and to assist the
development of a prospective payment system (PPS) for
home health services;
Whereas most home health agencies will not be reimbursed
for any of the costs or the increase in administrative re-
quirements associated with OASIS;
Whereas the slowdown in claims processing, coupled with se-
quential billing and implementation of OASIS, has sub-
stantially increased home health agency cash flow prob-
lems because payments are often delayed by three months
or more;
Whereas the vast majority of home health agencies are small
businesses that cannot operate with such significant cash
flow problems; and
Whereas there are many other elements of the medicare home
health program, such as the interim payment system,
•HCON 79 IH
which are creating financial problems for home health
agencies such that more than 2,200 agencies nationwide
have already closed: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that Con-
gress should actively oversee HCFA’s administration of
the medicare home health benefit, paying particular atten-
tion to—
(1) HCFA’s compliance with public notice and
comment requirements;
(2) HCFA’s consideration of input from the
home health community;
(3) the coordination and consistent application
of policies among HCFA’s central and regional of-
fices; and
(4) HCFA’s adherence to Congressional intent
when implementing changes.
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