Industry Note:
Copay Proposals Dog Home Care Providers
Published on Thu May 03, 2012
The specter of copays continues to plague home care providers this budget season. After being endorsed by the Medicare Pay-ment Advisory Commission and Obama Admini-stration already this year, Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has proposed a budget plan that includes a 20 percent copay for all Medicare services. That would translate into a $600 per episode copay for home health and a hospice copay of more than $2,000, says the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. "Studies have shown that copays would threaten access to care and cause a big increase in more costly hospital and nursing home care," the trade group protests.